Composability of Unit Manufacturing Process Models for Manufacturing Systems Analysis

Author(s):  
Matteo M. Smullin ◽  
Ian C. Garretson ◽  
Karl R. Haapala

Manufacturing accounts for 31% of all energy consumed in the United States. Of increasing concern to industry decision makers is how to make their manufacturing processes more sustainable. Current sustainable assessment methods do not consider the parameters of unit manufacturing processes (UMPs) and, thus, do not provide the granular level of modeling required for accurate sustainability performance assessment. Further, there is little research within the field of sustainable manufacturing into how to recompose UMPs to form a unified model of a manufacturing system. This research attempts to rectify this deficiency by investigating the feasibility of composing (linking) disparate processes by incorporating the workpiece as an information repository. This enables modeling the information flows between processes as a co-product of the transformations imparted to the workpiece by the selected manufacturing processes. The result is a method for assessing the sustainability performance of a manufacturing system. This method would provide value to decision makers through more capable tools to better understand the sustainability performance of their manufacturing system.

Author(s):  
Zeyi Sun ◽  
Stephan Biller ◽  
Fangming Gu ◽  
Lin Li

Due to rapid consumption of world’s fossil fuel resources and impracticality of large-scale application and production of renewable energy, the significance of energy efficiency improvement of current available energy modes has been widely realized by both industry and academia. A great deal of research has been implemented to identify, model, estimate, and optimize energy efficiency of single-machine manufacturing system [1–5], but very little work has been done towards achieving the optimal energy efficiency for a typical manufacturing system with multiple machines. In this paper, we analyze the opportunity of energy saving on the system level and propose a new approach to improve energy efficiency for sustainable production systems considering the fact that more and more modern machines have multiple power states. Numerical case based on simulation model of an automotive assembly line is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Author(s):  
Matteo M. Smullin ◽  
Zahra Iman ◽  
Karl R. Haapala

Life cycle assessment software packages such as SimaPro, GaBi, and Umberto have become well-established tools for conducting environmental impact analysis. However, applications for broader sustainability assessment are limited. Recent research has developed an information modeling framework to compose models of unit manufacturing processes for sustainability assessment and has led to the definition of unit manufacturing process information modeling concepts. An engineer can use the framework to conduct manufacturing system-level sustainability assessments by composing models of unit manufacturing processes. Assessment results can aid engineers in selecting the superior manufacturing process flow for a given product. To demonstrate usefulness of the information framework, a prototype desktop application has been developed. The application was implemented in Windows Project Foundation (WPF) using C# as the coding language to create a graphical user interface. Mathworks MATLAB serves as the calculation engine. Unit manufacturing process models follow the framework and are read by the application, which produces a sustainability assessment for the manufacturing process flow. A manufacturing process flow for an automobile-like metal product acts is used to demonstrate the software application.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Castiglione ◽  
Erica Pastore ◽  
Arianna Alfieri

In production planning and control, assessing the performance of a manufacturing system is a multi-dimensional problem, in which neglected dimensions may lead to hidden inefficiencies and missed opportunities for gaining a competitive advantage. This paper proposes a data formalisation method to model a manufacturing system by simultaneously considering value creation and technical, economic, and environmental performance. The proposed method combines the techno-economic assessment of lean manufacturing and sustainable manufacturing with the data-driven approach, typical of Industry 4.0, to overcome the limitations of the lean approaches in addressing complex systems. The method is based on integrating Multi-layer Stream Mapping and a combination of Enterprise Input-Output and Material Flow Analysis. It also considers non-value-added activities such as transport and inventories. Pen and papers and digital approaches can simultaneously exploit the method as a shared architecture for formal data integration. The implementation of the method is shown through a numerical example based on a recycled plastic pipeline manufacturing system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Ojstersek ◽  
Borut Buchmeister

The presented manuscript represents a new simulation modeling approach, which evaluates the impact of collaborative workplaces on manufacturing sustainability in terms of workplaces’ cost, flow times and electrical energy consumption. The impact of collaborative workplaces on the manufacturing system and on its sustainable viability as a whole has not yet been explored, despite the fact that collaborative workplaces are increasingly present in different manufacturing systems. In the past, researchers have devoted a lot of time to research individually examining the collaborative machines, workplaces and various aspects of Sustainable Manufacturing. Investigating the impact of collaborative workplaces on an enterprise’s financial, social and environmental points of view is a very complex task, since we are talking about a multicriteria evaluation of manufacturing systems. The simulation approach is based on a newly proposed block diagram structure that allows for an evaluation of the impact of collaborative workplaces on Sustainable Manufacturing in its entirety. Using the input data of the real-world manufacturing system characteristics and Eurostat statistical values, numerical and graphical results of the proposed simulation evaluation are given, which, with a high degree of evaluation credibility, influences the introduction of collaborative workplaces in manual workplaces. The results obtained show a 20% reduction in the cost of collaborative workstations compared to manual assembly workstations, a 13.2% reduction in order throughput times, a negligible increase in energy consumption in operation mode of 3.28% and a 4.57% reduction in the idle mode. The new evaluation approach allows for a comprehensive consideration of the influence of the collective workplace when developing new or modernizing existing manufacturing systems from a financial, social and environmental point of view.


Author(s):  
Mahesh Mani ◽  
Jatinder Madan ◽  
Jae Hyun Lee ◽  
Kevin Lyons ◽  
S. K. Gupta

Manufacturing industries lack the measurement science and the needed information base to measure and effectively compare performance of manufacturing processes, resources and associated services with respect to sustainability. The current use of ad-hoc methods and tools to assess and describe sustainability of manufactured products do not account for manufacturing processes explicitly and hence results in inaccurate and ambiguous comparisons. Further, there are no formal methods for acquiring and exchanging information that help establish a consolidated sustainability information base. Our goal is to develop the needed measurement science and methodology that will enable manufacturers to evaluate sustainability performance of fundamental manufacturing processes ensuring reliable and consistent comparisons. In this paper, we propose and discuss a methodology for sustainability characterization to bridge the measurement science and the needed information base for sustainable manufacturing. This will set the stage for manufacturers to objectively assess and compare different manufacturing processes for sustainability.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
António Almeida ◽  
Américo Azevedo

Complexity in manufacturing systems appears under a variety of aspects, namely product, processes and operations and systems. Considering that the manufacturing environment is rapidly and constantly changing, with higher levels of customization and complexity, there is higher demand for flexibility and adaptability from companies. In this context, it seems essential to explore new approaches that can support decision-makers to take better decisions concerning the action plans that they need to launch to achieve the expected strategic and operational performance and alignment goals. Companies should become able to analyse their performance drivers, understand their meaning and the feedback loops that affect them. Therefore, decision makers can look into the future, and act even before these causes affect the transformation systems efficiency and effectiveness. This paper presents an approach oriented to multi-performance measurement in complex manufacturing environments. With this approach it is expected to overcome the gap between the operational and strategic layers of a manufacturing system, in order to reduce time when measuring performance and reacting to unexpected behaviours, as well as reduce errors when taking decisions. Moreover, it is expected to decrease the time necessary to calculate an indicator or to introduce a new one into performance management process, reducing the operational costs.


Author(s):  
Xue Zhou ◽  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Lingxiang Yun ◽  
Zeyi Sun ◽  
Lin Li

Abstract Due to the rapidly rising energy price and increase in public awareness of environmental protection, the manufacturers are facing the ever-increasing moral and economic pressures from the community, government, and society. Hence, the significance of energy related studies in manufacturing systems has gradually become recognized in recent years. In most cases, the techniques to reduce the energy consumption are either renewable energy methods (solar, tidy and wind) or improving energy efficiency for existing energy modes. The approach to cut the energy related costs for manufacturing plants has not been comprehensively considered, although the same methods such as demand response and load shedding have been widely studied in the building research. In this paper, a brief analysis of the unique challenges to the application of the demand response technique in manufacturing systems is presented. The feasibility and profitability of demand response in manufacturing systems under the constraint of system throughput are studied and explored. An initial study about customer side decision making on demand response is introduced, and a numerical case of a section of a manufacturing system is used to show the benefits of the proposed idea, which illustrates over 6% bill reduction and over 5% consumption reduction during a billing cycle without sacrificing system throughput.


Author(s):  
Ian C. Garretson ◽  
Kevin W. Lyons ◽  
Mahesh Mani ◽  
Swee Leong ◽  
Matthew D. Carter ◽  
...  

Industrial use of natural resources are increasing at an alarming rate. Engineering and decision support tools are needed for analyzing and curbing industrial consumption of resources. Further, assessment methods to measure and indicate continuous improvement are also needed. Modeling individual manufacturing processes facilitates the generation of quantifiable evidence that improvements are being made. Such a modeling approach is developed and demonstrated in this paper to characterize sustainability performance of two metals inspection processes: magnetic particle inspection for ferromagnetic alloys and penetrant inspection for non-ferromagnetic alloys. Individual unit manufacturing process (UMP) models were developed by observing the inspection practices at an aircraft component manufacturer, and a mathematical basis for comparison with other inspection processes was identified. The paper further demonstrates the aggregation of performance metrics from all UMPs across a manufacturing process flow thus providing a basis for generating detailed sustainability performance assessments of manufactured products. By developing and documenting a comprehensive set of UMP models, more complete knowledge of manufacturing processes can be gained by industry practitioners, leading to continuous improvement of sustainability performance.


Author(s):  
Daniel Eyers

As the emergent technologies of Industrial Additive Manufacturing become increasingly employed in commercial manufacturing environments, challenges arise in terms of how resources of the manufacturing system should be marshalled and controlled for sustainable manufacturing. While control architectures are well established for conventional manufacturing, to-date there has been little explicit consideration for Industrial Additive Manufacturing. This article provides redress for this research gap by exploring four feasible control architectures employed in current manufacturing practice. Drawing upon 12 case studies and the operations of three companies, the relative merits, demerits, and challenges for each architecture are explored in terms of changeability criteria for sustainable manufacturing.


Author(s):  
William Z. Bernstein ◽  
David Lechevalier ◽  
Don Libes

Targeting the improvement of environmental analysis of manufacturing systems, ASTM 3012-16 provides guidelines for formally characterizing manufacturing processes. However, the difficulty that has arisen in the early use of the standard illustrates the need for intuitive tools for helping modeling experts to conform to the specified information model. In response, we present the Unit Manufacturing Process (UMP) Builder, a browser-based tool integrating symbolic mathematical and guided textual inputs, helping to consistently record and exchange manufacturing process models for environmental sustainability. The tool provides an initial layer of governance and verification with respect to the conformance to ASTM 3012-16. In this paper, we (1) detail the requirements with developing such a tool, (2) propose an improved schema to represent UMP models accommodating data-driven techniques, and (3) demonstrate the tool using a contributed model from an open challenge for modeling manufacturing processes.


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