Nowadays manufacturing companies have to face conflicting issues continuously. Solving this type of problem means finding solutions that ensure a fair compromise between different objectives. In this work, a porthole die extrusion is considered as a specific case study. Usually, the main objective of this process is to find the combination of input parameters that allow the product quality to be maximized. However, product quality is not the only variable that companies have to take into account. In fact, it is also necessary to design the process in an efficient and sustainable way in order to reduce process cost and environmental impact. To this purpose, in this study the conflicting aims of product quality maximization and energy assumption minimization are considered and optimized. To pursue this aim an experimental investigation was executed, in order to build a preliminary database. The decision variables are the profile thickness and the process velocity. During the tests, the punch was measured in order to quantify the absorbed power along with the environmental impact of the process for changing conditions. In the same way, the mechanical properties of the extruded profile were measured by means of a tensile test, in order to assess the product quality. To solve this kind of problem the use of multi-objective optimization techniques is required in order to find the set of Pareto optimal solutions from which a single configuration will be selected according to specific business needs.
Multi-objective optimization of a cost-effective modular reconfigurable manufacturing system: An integration of product quality and vehicle routing problem
