Representation of Similarity and Dependency for Manufacturing Process-Based Product Modularity

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):  
Xiaoxia Lai ◽  
John K. Gershenson

Researchers have expanded the definition of product modularity from function-based modularity to life-cycle process-based modularity. In parallel, measures of product modularity have been developed as well as corresponding modular product design methods. However, a correct modularity measure and modular design method are not enough to realize modular product design. To apply the measure and design method correctly, product representation becomes an important aspect of modular design and imperative for realizing the promised cost savings of modularity. In this paper, a representation for retirement process-based modular design has been developed. Built upon previous representations for assembly and manufacturing-based product design, the representation includes a process similarity matrix and a process dependency matrix. The retirement process-based similarity is based on the similarity in components’ post-life intents (recycling, reuse, disposal), and either the degree of their material compatibility if the components will be recycled, or their disassembly direction or disassembly tools if they need to be disassembled from each other for retirement. Process similarity within a module leads to increased process efficiency (the elimination of non-value added tasks) from the sharing of tooling/equipment. Retirement process-based dependency is developed based on disassembly difficulty, one aspect of the physical interactions between components. Retiring components together as a module to eliminate disassembly and differential processing and reducing the disassembly difficulty between the modules can increase the efficiency of the retirement process. We have first presented which process elements we should consider for defining retirement process similarity and dependency, and then constructed the respective similarity and dependency factors tables. These tables include similarity and dependency factors, which, along with their quantifications, are used to determine a product’s modular architecture to facilitate the retirement process. Finally, a fishing reel is used to illustrate how to apply these factors tables to generate the similarity and dependency matrices that represent a product for retirement-process based modular design. Using these representations as input to the DSM-based modular design methods, we can achieve a design with a modular architecture that improves the retirement process efficiency and reduces retirement costs.


Author(s):  
Anand Balu Nellippallil ◽  
Vignesh Rangaraj ◽  
B. P. Gautham ◽  
Amarendra Kumar Singh ◽  
Janet K. Allen ◽  
...  

Reducing the manufacturing and marketing time of products by means of integrated simulation-based design and development of the material, product, and the associated manufacturing processes is the need of the hour for industry. This requires the design of materials to targeted performance goals through bottom-up and top-down modeling and simulation practices that enables handshakes between modelers and designers along the entire product realization process. Manufacturing a product involves a host of unit operations and the final properties of the manufactured product depends on the processing steps carried out at each of these unit operations. In order to effectively couple the material processing-structure-property-performance spaces, there needs to be an interplay of the systems-based design of materials with enhancement of models of various unit operations through multiscale modeling methodologies and integration of these models at different length scales (vertical integration). This ensures the flow of information from one unit operation to another thereby establishing the integration of manufacturing processes (horizontal integration). Together these types of integration will support the decision-based design of the manufacturing process chain so as to realize the end product. In this paper, we present a goal-oriented, inverse decision-based design method to achieve the vertical and horizontal integration of models for the hot rolling and cooling stages of the steel manufacturing process chain for the production of a rod with defined properties. The primary mathematical construct used for the method presented is the compromise Decision Support Problem (cDSP) supported by the proposed Concept Exploration Framework (CEF) to generate satisficing solutions under uncertainty. The efficacy of the method is illustrated by exploring the design space for the microstructure after cooling that satisfies the requirements identified by the end mechanical properties of the product. The design decisions made are then communicated in an inverse manner to carry out the design exploration of the cooling stage to identify the design set points for cooling that satisfies the new target microstructure requirements identified. Specific requirements such as managing the banded microstructure to minimize distortion in forged gear blanks are considered in the problem. The proposed method is generic and we plan to extend the work by carrying out the integrated decision-based design exploration of rolling and reheating stages that precede to realize the end product.


2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Sand ◽  
P. Gu ◽  
G. Watson

Product modularization aims to improve the overall design, manufacturing, operational, and post-retirement characteristics of products by designing or redesigning the product architectures. A successful modular product can assist the reconfiguration of products, while reducing the lead-time of design and manufacturing and improving the ability for upgrading, maintenance, customization and recycling. This paper presents a new modular design method called the House Of Modular Enhancement (HOME) for product redesign. Information from various aspects of the product design, including functional requirements, product architecture and life cycle requirements, is incorporated in the method to help ensure that a modularized product would achieve the objectives. The HOME method has been implemented in a software system. A case study will be presented to illustrate the HOME method and the software.


Author(s):  
Junfeng Ma ◽  
Gül E. Okudan Kremer

Sustainability has been the emphasis of intense discussion over recent decades, but mostly focused on addressing critical aspects of environmental issues. An increasing awareness of social responsibilities and ever-shifting customer requirements have led manufacturers to consider social sustainability during the design phase in tandem with addressing environmental concerns; thus, design for social sustainability has evolved as a new product design direction. Modular product design (MPD), has been widely used in both academia and industry because of its significant benefits in design engineering. Because of the potential synergy, investigating design for social sustainability in association with MPD holds promise as a field of investigation. In this paper, we introduce a novel MPD approach that uses the elements of key component specification and product impact on social sustainability. The key components carry core technologies or have the highest sustainability effects in a product (i.e., the most costly or environmentally polluting parts). Product competitiveness strongly relies on a few key components that should be a focal point during product development. However, to the best of our knowledge, key components have not been well addressed in modular product design. In this paper, we employ labor time as an indicator to measure social sustainability. A heuristic-based clustering algorithm with labor time optimization is developed to categorize components into modules. A coffee-maker case study is conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2009.19 (0) ◽  
pp. 259-261
Author(s):  
Akihiro Hirao ◽  
Tsuyoshi Koga ◽  
Takashi Niwa ◽  
Kazuya Oizumi ◽  
Kazuhiro Aoyama

2015 ◽  
Vol 760 ◽  
pp. 745-750
Author(s):  
Cristian Tarba ◽  
Sergiu Tonoiu ◽  
Petre Gheorghe Tiriplica ◽  
Ionut Gabriel Ghionea

The process of the product design consists in a plan for the product, its components and subassemblies. To obtain the physical entity building a manufacturing plan is needed. The activity of developing such a manufacturing plan is name process planning. Process planning is the relation between design and manufacturing. Process planning consists in defining the sequence of the steps that should be taken to make the product. Process planning is referring to the engineering and technological issues of how to make it.


Author(s):  
Jeyanthi B ◽  
Karpagam Chinnammal S ◽  
Karthikselvam R

Textile is the key component of every human life from birth to last rights. In the recent decade, textile sectors have shown tremendous growth through improved technology from raw materials to product design and manufacturing process. These extraordinary developments provide a path to find an innovative solution to the medical sector especially in the field of therapeutic textiles. This project is a small initiative to confer a solution for particular workforce such as truck drivers who are suffering from hemorrhoids disease. The main aim was to find an innovative therapeutic textile solution for this ailment based on ancient method of herbal treatment.


Designs ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charul Chadha ◽  
Kathryn Crowe ◽  
Christina Carmen ◽  
Albert Patterson

This work explores an additive-manufacturing-enabled combination-of-function approach for design of modular products. AM technologies allow the design and manufacturing of nearly free-form geometry, which can be used to create more complex, multi-function or multi-feature parts. The approach presented here replaces sub-assemblies within a modular product or system with more complex consolidated parts that are designed and manufactured using AM technologies. This approach can increase the reliability of systems and products by reducing the number of interfaces, as well as allowing the optimization of the more complex parts during the design. The smaller part count and the ability of users to replace or upgrade the system or product parts on-demand should reduce user risk, life-cycle costs, and prevent obsolescence for the user of many systems. This study presents a detailed review on the current state-of-the-art in modular product design in order to demonstrate the place, need and usefulness of this AM-enabled method for systems and products that could benefit from it. A detailed case study is developed and presented to illustrate the concepts.


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