Product Design and Manufacturing Processes for Sustainability

2006 ◽  
pp. 414-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. S. Jawahir ◽  
P. C. Wanigarathne ◽  
X. Wang
Author(s):  
Xiaoxia Lai ◽  
John K. Gershenson

Previously in this forum, we validated a product modularity measure and modular product design method and developed a way to extend these product modularity fundamentals to encompass the impacts of assembly process similarity and dependency. This paper expands the life-cycle process-based modularity representation to the manufacturing process and beyond. Modularity representation, including similarity and dependency, is an important aspect of modular product design and it is imperative for realizing the promised cost savings of modularity. The component-component similarity matrix is used to cluster components with similar manufacturing processes into one module. Similarities are based on component processing codes that represent their manufacturing attributes. Clustering these manufacturing process similarities leads to cost savings through module-wide sharing of process plans, manufacturing tools, and equipment, and the reduction of manufacturing tool and equipment changes during manufacturing. The component-component dependency matrix is based on physical interactions among the components that affect the material, shape, size, surface finish etc. of the components, and therefore affect the component manufacturing processes. If components are independent of other components not in the same module with respect to these physical interactions, the redesign of components in one module will not cause a cascade of design and manufacturing process plan changes for components not in the same module. A fishing reel example is used to illustrate the application of manufacturing process similarity and dependency representations, in association with a product modularity measure and a modular product design method, to form manufacturing process-based component modules. The work in this paper establishes how to represent manufacturing process similarity and dependency for use in product modularity decision making. The use of such modules improves the efficiency of manufacturing process planning, and reduces design and manufacturing process costs.


Author(s):  
Qi Hao ◽  
Weiming Shen

Manufacturing companies often face a harsh problem caused by misunderstanding between engineering and manufacturing departments. Based on different perspectives, they both strive to achieve some goals without fully evaluating the impacts of their decisions. Ambiguity in the description of responsibilities, interactions and processes makes collaborative product design and manufacturing very difficult to address. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of collaborative workflow technology which is made up of three major parts, workflow, software agents and Web services. We propose to use collaborative workflow technologies to facilitate heterogeneous processes of product design and manufacturing processes.


Author(s):  
Michael D. Arnett ◽  
Manuel A. Forero Rueda ◽  
Dennis A. Guenther

The emergence of a global economy has proposed new challenges for the product design engineer and provided new risks for the consumer. While the design and manufacturing processes have changed, the objective of providing a consumer product that is safe for public use still remains. This task becomes challenging for the product design engineer since the ability to oversee all aspects of the design, manufacture, and use is very limited and yet the mentality of “if you build it, you will be sued” is ever present. This paper considers three very different consumer products and all suffered a failure which resulted in harm done to the user. The first product is a multipurpose tool that, even though abuse was observed, contained a concealed danger as a result of poor design and/or manufacture that resulted in the injury. Second is a hanging chair that fell from the supporting fastener causing injury. Analysis and testing were unable to repeat the failure, thus severe abuse by the user proved to be the causal factor. Finally, a wine bottle opener caused injury as the user attempted to remove a part of the device from the packaging. In this case, the product itself was adequately designed to prevent injury for its intended use, but the packaging containing the product suffered from a faulty design. These cases exhibit different scenarios in which a consumer product caused injury to an end user and shows the varying entities that can bear the burden of negligence.


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