cim

SAMPLE OUTLINE

COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING

(COURSE OUTLINE)

Instructor: Dr. K. SAHU

Batch :PGP II (199?-9?)

TERM : V or VI

OBJECTIVE :

Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is a strategy that involves almost all the major functional departments of a modern manufacturing company. It is rapidly evolving into a competitive weapon that can ensure maximum efficiency, quality, flexibility and profitability of a company. Hence, it is essential for modern managers, especially in a developing nation like ours, to understand the applications of advanced technologies in manufacturing, and appreciate their business impact on the competitive dimensions of cost, flexibility, quality and deliverability.

COURSE CONTENTS:

• Production Economics - Justifying Automation
• Computer-Aided Design
• Computer-Aided Manufacturing (NC/CNC/DNC)
• Robotics
• Automated Materials Handling and Storage
• Group Technology
• Flexible Manufacturing Systems
• Computer-Aided Process Planning
• Computer Integrated Production Management Systems
• Computer-Aided Quality Control
• Implementing CIM

SEMINAR TOPICS:

• Integrating Expert Systems and Decision Support Systems
• Integrating DSS and Manufacturing Systems
• Integrating Expert Systems into MIS and CIM environments
• CIM and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications
• Knowledge Based Systems in Manufacturing
• Domain Experts from Manufacturing
• Manufacturing Systems for the 1990s
• AI in Manufacturing

(Schedule of lectures and seminars to be handed in class)

COURSE EVALUATION

Apart from the usual lectures, by the instructor, there will be a series of student seminars. Each participant will be asked to thoroughly review a relevant literature and present the same towards the later half of the term. Students are urged to be attentive during the seminar sessions. The ideas and concepts gathered throughout the lectures and seminars are to be incorporated into the project proposal (details enclosed) which you will be turning in at the end of the term. Relevant literature for the seminars will be provided by the instructor. Students are free to do their own literature survey, if possible, to supplement the paper.

The course grade will be determined by the following components :

• SEMINARS
  • PAPER REVIEW 15%
  • PAPER PRESENTATION 15%
• PROJECT 35%
• END TERM EXAM. 35%

REFERENCES :

• Computer-- Aided Design and Manufacturing by M.P. Groover and E.W. Zimmers, Jr.
• Automation, Production Systems, and computer-Integrated Manufacturing by M.P.Groover
• Computer Integrated Manufacturing: From Fundamentals to Implementation by Alan Weatherall
• CIM Systems : An Introduction to Computer Integrated Manufacturing by Mitchell (1991).
• Computer Aided Design in Manufacturing, by Valliere (1991)
• Computer Integrated Manufacturing : An Introduction with Case Studies, by Ranky (1992 or latest)
• Computer Integrated Manufacturing : Data Management Strategies, by Bray (1992 or latest)
• Computer Aided Manufacturing, by Chang-Wysky-Wang (1991)
• FMS/CIM System Integration Handbook, by Miller - Walker (1989 or latest).
• Flexible Manufacturing Cells and Systems, by Luggen (1991) or latest).

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COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING

PROJECT (PROPOSAL)

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Suppose you are advocating a CIM system for your company (chose any company where you have worked as a trainee or as an employee). You are asked to write a PROPOSAL. It would help if you could address the following issues while writing the proposal.

BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES FOR CIM

• What are the business objectives of your company?
• Specify the main products of your company and the market share of these products. How are these likely to change over the next five years?
• What are the main features of your company products which differentiate them from competition?
• Consider a business problem at your place of work, one that personally causes you grief. List the people and departments who contribute to, or suffer from that problem. For each entry on this list, identify what you think will be their attitude to the problem, and how important the matter is to them. From this, can you define a business case for solving the problem that takes into account the concern of all the interested parties?
• Consider the computer terminal you most recently used (business, not privately owned) and evaluate how it (and/or the system to which it was attached) may have been cost justified, who might have done the calculations and who you think approved the investment. Do you think it was a profitable investment?

ANALYSIS OF MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS

• discuss the currently existing manufacturing system. How has it been affected by computerization? What are the various islands of computerization?
• Discuss the available computer/automation hardware, and software.
• Discuss the existing computerized databases. Is it extensive? Does it include the following: item and structure data, engineering change data, suppliers data base, purchase orders, customers, sales orders, routing data and work centers, etc. Any thing else?
• Does the IS (Information Systems) department extend control to PCs and Shop Floor networks?

INFORMATION FLOW IN MANUFACTURING

• Show the information flow in your company. (Concentrate also on the info flow in the shop floor.)
• Discuss the areas of increased cost and complexity arising form changing a product's components when it is in the process of being manufactured; relate these to the information flow from design through development to process planning and manufacture.

COMPONENTS OF A CIM ARCHITECTURE

• Now, draw the ultimate CIM system for the company you work for, i.e., computerize everything not yet computerized, and link all existing computers. How many new computer systems are required, and how many different computers have to be connected together?

PRODUCT AND PROCESS DESIGN FOR CIM

• Discuss the advantages of automated process planning compared with traditional manual systems. What are the differences between retrieval and generative process planning system?
• Can you employ GT to classify the products manufactured by your company into part families? You need not go into details. Just give a few examples.

PLANNING AND CONTROL IN A CIM ENVIRONMENT

• For the company you work for, plot as a histogram the frequency of deliveries by supplier (e.g. hourly, twice a day, daily, twice a week, weekly, etc.). What does this say about how close or far your company is from JIT production?
• Low stock levels are a top priority of most manufacturing companies, a solution which is not necessarily the most economic but is atleast measurable. Do you believe that CIM systems might develop such a precision of control of capacity and material flow that stock levels might, in a controlled manner, be allowed to increase again?

TODAY'S AUTOMATION AND INTELLIGENT MACHINES:

• Analyze why GT has been so influential in the design of present day factories. Identify the advantages and opportunities it provides, and the constraints it imposes.

CUSTOMER/SUPPLIER COMMUNICATION

• Consider the flow of information between a manufacturer of advanced technology products and a supplier of a component item, i.e., the supplier is likely to suggest design changes to the component and these changes may affect other components in the product. What data needs to pass between the two companies and how would engg. change to be controlled? How would this communication be affected if different CAD systems were being used?

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