Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing 2. A growing demand for closer dimensional tolerances, resulting in a need for more economical means of working to higher accuracies. 3. A growing need for working with increased varieties of materials, heightening the need for more economical means of manufacturing. 4. An increasing proportion of cost of materials to total product cost due to increasing labour efficiency, thereby lowering acceptance scrap rates. 5. Pressure from the above factors to increase communication dcrossall manufacturing functions with a goal of minimizing production costs and maximi ing production rates, 5.3.1. GT as an Important Element of CAD/CAM Integration Another important factor for wide acceptance of GT is an increasing emphasis on the integration of CAD and CAM. GT applications provide a common database for effective integration of CAD and CAM, which leads to successful implementation of CIM. For the effective integration of CAD and CAM, one need to integrate the information: used by all the departments in a shop such as’ design, manufacturing, quality, etc. GT provides the much needed common language for the users. It gives a means to structure and save information about parts, such as design and manufacturing attributes, processes, and manufacturing capabilities. In fact, computerization and analysis such as integration of many types of part-related information is highly impossible without group technology. Thus the common database based on GT concept plays a vital role in the development and implemen- tation of CAD/CAM, effectively creating or modifying engineering product design. Automation is another key aspect of the integration of CAD and CAM. In this regard, the use of GT codes to retrieve data is useful during process planning. Process planners, rather than starting from scratch with each new part to be planned, can review the process Plan for a similar part and modify it to develop the process plan for the new part. In fact, this approach is the basis of the automated process planning which makes the automation possible. Also, many manufacturing plants are automat ing their operations by arranging their machines into cells. This concept of cellular manufacturing system is based on GT concept. 5.4, PART FAMILIES A part family isa collection of parts. which are similar either because of g shape and size or because similar processing steps are required in their manufacture pe eometricular Manufacturing and Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) 5 Gol ‘The parts which are similar in their design characteristics (i.e., shape and geometry) are ped ina family referred to as a design part fami 0 The parts which are similar in their manufacturing characteristics are grouped in a family referred to as a manufacturing part famil The characteristics used in classifying parts are referred to as “attributes”, 5.4.1. Illustration of the Part Family Concept Figure 5.1 and Figure 5:2 show two different part families. In Figure 5.1, the two parts are placed in the same family based on design characteristics, They have exactly the same shape and size, But they differ in terms of manufacturing requirements such as tolerances, production quantities, and material. 40 mm ¢ hole 40 mm ¢ hole Part { Pat2 |: i : Sai ! Material: Cold Rolled Stee! Material: Aluminium Tolerances: + 0.525 mm Tolerances: + 0.075 mm Finish: Two Coats Primer Finish: Sand and Buff Figure 5.1 Design part family Part 2 H j L i t i tT i T t Material: Mild steel Material: Mild stee! Tolerances: + 0.060 mm Tolerances: £0.060 mm Production: 500 pes / month Production: 500 pes / month Figure 5.2 Manufacturing part familyGe) Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing In Figure 5.2, the two parts are placed in the same family based on manufacturing characteristics. Although the design characteristics (i.e., size and shapes) of these two parts are quite different, they have similar manufacturing characteristics such as tolerances, production quantities, and material. The 10 parts shown in Figure 5.3 constitute a part family in manufacturing, but they cannot be grouped as a design part family. OG Figure 5.3 A family of parts with similar manufacturing process requirements but different design attributes. All parts are machined from cylindrical stock by turning; some parts require drilling and/or milling 5.5. METHODS FOR PART FAMILY FORMATION The three general methods for grouping parts into families are: 1. Visual inspection, 2. Parts clas ification and coding system, and 3, Production flow analysis. 5,6. VISUAL INSPECTION METHOD . jod is the simplest and least expensive method, 7 inspection meth Visual inspefacturing and Flexible Manufacturi collar Manu facturing System (FMS) 7 It involves looking at parts, photos of parts, or drawings of parts and arranging them into similar groups. Mustration: Consider a set of parts in Figure 5.4(a). These eight parts can be aranged/grouped into two part families (viz, prismatic parts and rotational parts) by visually inspecting their physical characteristics, as shown in Figure 5.4(b). This method is the easiest approach, especially for grouping parts by design characteristics, For obvious reasons, its utility is limited to companies having smaller number of parts, | (oO We Part family 1: Prismatic parts iP (a) Asset of parts with (6) Parts grouped into part families dissimilar features by visual inspection Figure 5.4 Visual inspection method H | : Part family 2: Rotational parts 57. PARTS CLASSIFICATION AND CODING METHOD Coding is a systematic process of establi Selected part features. Classification is the grouping of parts based on code values. ing an alphanumeric value for parts based on Parts classification and coding method is the most sophisticated, most difficult, most ‘ime-consuming, and widely uscd of the three methods. 1m parts classification and coding, the various design and/or manufacturing attributes of a Pit are identified, listed, and assigned a code number. Though several classification and coding systems have been developed, no system has been universally adopted. One of the reasons for this is that the information that is to be "resented in the classification and coding system will vary from one company to another “ompany, In other words, a coding system that is best for one company may not be best for “other company. Thus she classification and coding, system should be customized for a given | “mDany, —Gs] Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing 8.7.1. Design and Manufacturing Attributes Any parts classification systems fall into one of the following three categories: 1. Systems based on part design attributes, 2. Systems based on part manufacturing attributes. 3. Systems based on both design and manufacturing attributes. Parts classified by design attributes can be coded from information on the engineering drawing, This first category systems are useful for design retrieval and to promote design standardisation. | = In grouping of manufacturing attributes, in addition. to drawing information, other information such as operation sequence, lot size, machines used, production processes, surface finish, efe., are also considered, Systems in the second category y are used for computer-aided process planning, tool design, and other production related functions. The third category represents an attempt to combine the function: \s, and advantages of the other two systems into a single classification scheme. Table 5.2 lists the common design and manufacturing attributes typically included in GT classification and coding system. Table 5.2 Common design and manufacturing attributes Part design attributes Part manufacturing attributes Major production processes Basic external shape Basic internal shape Minor operations Rotational or rectangular shape Operation sequence Major dimensions Major dimension Minor dimensions Production time Material type | Tools required Part function Fixtures required Length to diameter ratio (rotational parts) | Bateh size Aspect ratio (rectangular parts) Machine tool Surface finish Annual production Tolerances wtace finishfacturing and Flexible ir FI cellular Manul 1g »xible Manufacturing System (FMS) 5.9 From Table 5.2, it may be noted that a certain amount of overlap exists between design and manufacturing attributes, This is because a part’s geometry is largely determined by the sequence of manufacturing processes performed on it. 57.2. Coding System Structure A GT code is a string of characters capturing information about an item. coding scheme is a vehicle for the efficient recording, sorting, and retrieval of relevant information about objects. A part coding scheme consists of a sequence of symbols that identify the part's design and/or manufacturing attributes. The symbols in the code can be all numeric, all alphabetic, ora combination of both types. There are three basic code structures used in group technology applications. They are: 1. Hierarchical codes (or monocodes or tree structure); codes or chain type structure); and 2. Attribute codes (or poly’ s or mixed codes). 3, Decision tree codes (or hybrid code: 1. Hierachical Code (or Monocode): the interpretation of & Each symbol amplifies the information contained in the t be interpreted alone. rach successive symbol depends on the In hierarchical structure, value of the preceding symbols. preceding digit, so a digit in the code canno Total population ‘Subgroup It Most important distinctions. ‘Subgroup Ill Subgroup | Distinctions Distinct Distinctions within withi within ‘subgroup | subgroup II subgroup Ill Figure 5.5 Structire of monocodes——_ wz) Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing The structure of these codes is like a tree in which each s information provided in the previous digit. The hierarchical coding using a tree structure as shown in Figure 5.5, ‘ymbol amplifies the System can be depicted Mlustration: The application of above tree structure can be best illustrat coding scheme for a spur gear. Figure 5.6 (b) shows the hierarchical cod shown in Figure 5.6(a). ted with 2 simple le for a spur gear Part Aifrotational (A) B if nonrotational 1 ifround aera with deviations | &~ 1) eee 2 if nonregular i eh secareaul titgear |(A-1-1) (4) Spur gear (A-1-1-8)| Bifexternal Aif intemal gear gear 3ifother 2ifspur gear | | 1 ifbevel gear (A-1=1-B-2) (A-1-1-8-1) (b) Hierarchical code for the spur gear Figure 5.6 Mlustration of hierarchical code structure (Source: David D. Bedworth et al.] ‘a For assign ver as For assigning a code, one has to start from the main trunk of the tree and ans in atio® PY Questions about the item being coded Continuing in the same manner tila branch of the tree and recording each choice of the answer, one can obkai th ot code number, Now using the above procedure, and referring Figure 5.6(b) the MN code for the Spur gear ig +A 1B2, From Fi a 5.6(b), it may also be noted that fF Bear the hierarchical cove would bea tints. Mert and demertts of monveade g systems a ’ (i) Monocode provides « we tatively SM large amount of information in a relat digits,Cellular Manufacturing and Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) 14 (ii) This tree structure works well for designing an existing ordered structure but is more difficult to usc in classifying things that have no apparent order. (ii) Defining the meanings for each digit in a hierarchical system (and hence the construction) is difficult. (iv) Monocodes are frequently used in design departments for part retrieval. But their utility is limited in manufacturing departments, because it is difficult to Tetrieve and analyse process-related information when it is in a hierarchical structure. 2, Attribute Code (or Polycode): In this structure, the interpretation of each symbol in the sequence does not depend on the value of preceding symbols. That is, each digit in this code represents information in its own right and does not directly qualify the information provided by the other digits. Attribute code is also known by other names ‘polycode’, ‘chain code’, ‘discrete code’ and ‘fixed-digit code’. Illustration: Figure 5.7 shows an example attribute code. For the spur gear shown in Figure 5.6 (a), using Figure 5.7 attribute code, we can obtain the polycode as “22213”. From Figure 5.7, it may be noted that a “3” in position 5 means that the part is a spur gear regardless of the values of the digits in any other positions. Merits and demerits of polycodes: (The major advantages of polycodes arc that they are compact and casy to use and develop. This attribute code system is popular with manufacturing departments because it makes it casy to identify parts that have similar features that require similar processing. (i) Because a polycode represents a class of items as a string of features, it is also particularly suitable for computer analysis. (iii) The primary disadvantage is that, for comparable code si detail present in a monocode structure, Also polycodes tend to be longer than ze, a polycode lacks the monocodes, , Class of Possible value of digits a | Digit > = os feature 1 |? 3 4 1 External | Cylindrical | Cylindrical Boxlike shape | without with deviations | deviationsComputer Aided Design and Manufacturing 2 | Intemal | None Center Brind shape hole center hole 3 | Number 0 12 35 of holes 4 | Typeof | Axial Cross Axial holes —— 5 Gear Worm | intemal | External teeth spur a Figure 5.7 Attribute code example (Source: David A. Bedworth et al.) 3. Decision-Tree (or Hybrid) Code: ‘ding and it combines both design and m: attributes. In practice, most coding systems use a hybrid construction to combine the best featur of monocodes and polycodes. To reduce es he length of a strict polycode, the first digit of such . 8, as in a monocode structure. ‘Then each subgroup can have its own po ; n 6, might be used to designate another subgroup, such as material, followed by another attribute code that w Ould describe the attributes, In this way, a hybrid code can be generated, Figure 5.8 illustrates the decision-teee coding system for a sheet-metal bracket, Hybrid code is relatively mote compact than & pure attribute code while ret ability to easily identify parts with sp taining thecellular Manufacturing and Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) 13 Note:- One of the best examples of a hybrid code is the Opitz code and classi fication system which is discussed in Section 5.8.1. Rectangular, a pies ‘eriphery. Irregular Single bend Square Tmo Beveled Radiused Round Holes With OM round | Without —_____ | El Bend <90" >90° Figure 5.8 Decision-tree classification for a sheet-metal bracket [Source: G.W. Millar) 57.3. Reasons for Using a Coding Scheme Three important reasons for using a classification and coding system are given below: 1 Design retrieval: Coding system often helps to minimize unnecessary variety of components in a nufacturing plant by making designers aware of existing similar components, Thus the “signer can develop a new part by using a design retrieval system, This type of design (ie, ” simply modifying the existing similar part) takes lesser time than the conventional design “¢, designing a whole new part from scratch). 2 , Automated, [process planning: With the part code for a new part, process plans can be searched and obtained for xis 'sting parts with identical or similar parts.Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing 3. Machine cell design: Using the part codes, one can design machine cells which are capable of producing all members of a particular part family. 5.7.4. Selection of a Coding System While selecting a suitable coding system, the following factors should be considered: + Objective of the classification system. Pr Robustness - capability of handling all parts now being sold or planned to be sold by the firm, Expandability - ability to cope up with future demands. Differentiation - ability to distinguish between different part families. Automation - for computer use. awe Efficiency - the code efficiency, the number of digits required to code a typical part, should be evaluated. 7. Cost- including initial, modifying, interfacing and operational costs. 8. Simplicity - case of use and training, 5.8. CODING SYSTEMS, Though more than 100 coding systems are availabl widely recognized in industries: le, the following coding systems are Opitz classification system, 2. MICLASS system, 3. DCLASS system, 4. KK-3 system, 5. CODE system, 6. CUTPLAN system, 7. RNC system, 8. Part Analog system, 9. Brisch system, 10. COFORM. In the following sections, we shall discuss the first five classification and coding systems.