Computer Integrated Manufacturing

Group name:
Yohannes Tesfu 0938/12
Robera oljirra 0570/12
Introduction

With the industrialization of and globalization of the world’s economy the manufacturing industry has
become an important key in the global economy with the demand for high quality product increasing
every day, competitive products, competitive prices the manufacturing industry has been adopting to
the changes occurring. This has led to the development and changes of the production system and
manufacturing technology we used to know to reduce waste, increase efficiency and improve quality.
Some of the changes are Lean Production, Agile Production and Automated Data.

1. Lean Production/Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is a manufacturing system philosophy originated from japan in the 1950s, centered
on eliminating waste from the production process as much as possible. To create an efficient and
effective production system. Some of the waste processes it deems to eliminate are production defects,
overproduction, waiting time, unnecessary steps and motion, over processing, under processing and
many more.

The core ideology or principle behind lean production is to produce only whats needed, when it’s
needed and how much the quantity is needed. This process is known as just-in-time system. The JIT
system based on the idea that inventory is a form of waste. A good production process should have no
inventory. Instead all the products, materials must flow continuously next to the other processing only
whats needed by the upcoming process.

To implement the just in time system manufacturers use many tools and techniques, optimizations to
increase the just in time process. The most important and forefront of the JIT system is the Kanban
system, which is a Japanese word for “card” or “signal”. It uses a system of visual signals that used to
manage the flow of production process, the materials and the products as well. The carding process are
used to signal when materials are needed in a production area, or when a production should resume or
start when finished products are ready to be moved to the next batch or process.

The Kizen process is a Japanese word meaning “continuous improvement” is another key aspect of the
lean production system. The idea is there is always room for improvement, small changes over time has
a significant improvement of the system. It encourages employees to be involved in the process of
improving the production system. Some processes include 5s’s, total productive maintenance and stream
mapping.

2. Agile Manufacturing

Agile manufacturing is a new idea emerged in the 1990s as a solution to the changing demands of the
global market. It is relatively new concept centered on creating a production system that is flexible and
responsive to the changing global customer needs and market demands. As agile manufacturing is
centered on speed and flexibility, agile is centered on reducing waste and improving quality.

To achieve agility manufacturers use many different types of systems and technology. One system is
called cellular manufacturing system. Which involves grouping machines and processes into separate
cells that are only used to manufacture the product family. It allows a wider range of production and
flexibility. This allow for a greater flexibility and faster response times. As cells can be reconfigures and
set up according to the manufacturing needs and requirements to produce the desired product. Another
example of agile manufacturing system is the quick response manufacturing system. QRM is a
production strategy that emphasizes speed and responsiveness to customer needs. It’s based on the idea
of reducing lead times and cycle times.

Market orientation plays a key role in driving the agile manufacturing process. The rise of internet
market has increased the demand for small batch specialized products has put a need for manufacturers
to use very flexible manufacturing systems using new technologies like 3D printing. To sum up agile
manufacturing is focused on the ability to quickly respond to changing customer needs and market
conditions, while maintaining a high level of quality and efficiency.

3. Automated Data Capture

Automated data capture (ADC) refers to the use of technology to automatically collect and store data
about the manufacturing process and products in the manufacturing system. The goal of automated data
capture is to improve speed, accuracy and efficiency in data collection and to reduce risk of errors or
mistakes.

Example of ADC is bar code scanning. Bar code is a series of vertical lines and spaces that represent data
about a products process or price. Bar codes can be scanned using a hand-held scanner or stationary
scanner while the data is entered into a database or other system.

The types of bar codes most used in manufacturing is the Universal Product Code (UPC), which is used to
identify consumer products price. Other types of codes are code 39, code 128 and interleaved 2 of 5.

Bar code scanning are the other technologies used in ADC such as Radio frequency identification (RFID)
and optical character recognition (OCR). RFID uses radio waves to identify products but OCR uses
software to recognize and interpret text documents or labels. ADC is important technology for improving
risk errors and mistakes, manufacturers can improve the quality if their products and processes and
reduce cost.

Conclusion

To sum up lean production is focused on eliminating waste and improving efficiency in the production
process. Agile manufacturing is focused on speed and flexibility and the ability to quickly respond to
changing customer needs and market conditions. Automated data capture is focused on improving
efficiency and accuracy of data collection in manufacturing.

Each of these topics has its own set of tools, techniques, and technologies that can be used to achieve
the desired outcomes. By understanding these topics and how they can be applied in the manufacturing
industry, manufacturers can improve their processes and products, and remain competitive in today's
global economy.