Process Planning covers the selection of processes, equipment, tooling and the sequencing of operations required to transform a chosen raw material into a finished product. Initial chapters review materials and processes for manufacturing and are followed by chapters detailing the core activities involved in process planning, from drawing interpretation to preparing the final process plan. The concept of maximising or 'adding value' runs throughout the book and is supported with activities.Designed as a teaching and learning resource, each chapter begins with learning objectives, explores the theory behind process planning, and sets it in a 'real-life' context through the use of case studies and examples. Furthermore, the questions in the book develop the problem-solving skills of the reader.ISO standards are used throughout the book (these are cross-referenced to corresponding British standards).This is a core textbook, aimed at undergraduate students of manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering with manufacturing options and materials science. - Features numerous case studies and examples from industry to help provide an easy guide to a complex subject - Fills a gap in the market for which there are currently no suitable texts - Learning aims and objectives are provided at the beginning of each chapter - a user-friendly method to consolidate learning

To date, reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs) are among the most effective manufacturing styles that can offer manufacturers an alternative way of facing up to the challenges of continual changes in production requirements within the global, competitive and dynamic manufacturing environments. However, availability of optimal process plans that are suitable for reconfigurable manufacturing is one of the key enablers - yet to be fully unlocked - for realizing the full benefits of true RMSs. To unlock the process planning key and advance the state of art of reconfigurable manufacturing in the manufacturing industry, a number of questions need to be answered: (i) what decision making models and (ii) what computational techniques, can be applied to provide optimal manufacturing process planning solutions that are suitable for logical reconfiguration in manufacturing systems? To answer these questions, you must understand how to model reconfigurable manufacturing activities in an optimization perspective. You must also understand how to develop and select appropriate optimization techniques for solving process planning problems in manufacturing systems. To this end, Process Planning Optimization in Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems covers: the design and operation of RMSs, optimal process planning modelling for reconfigurable manufacturing and the design and implementation of heuristic algorithm design techniques. The author explores how to: model optimization problems, select suitable optimization techniques, develop optimization algorithms, comparatively analyze the performance of candidate metaheuristics and how to investigate the effects of optimal process planning solutions on operating levels in manufacturing systems. This book delineates five alternative heuristic algorithm design techniques based on simulated annealing, genetic algorithms and the boltzmann machine that are tasked to solve manufacturing process planning optimization problems in RMSs. After reading this book, you will understand: how a reconfigurable manufacturing system works, the different types of manufacturing optimization problems associated with reconfigurable manufacturing, as well as the conventional and intelligent techniques that are suitable for solving process planning optimization problems. You will also be able to develop and implement effective optimization procedures and algorithms for a wide spectrum of optimization problems in design and reconfigurable manufacturing."

Process planning determines how a product is to be manufactured and is therefore a key element in the manufacturing process. It plays a major part in determining the cost of components and affects all factory activities, company competitiveness, production planning, production efficiency and product quality. It is a crucial link between design and manufacturing. There are several levels of process planning activities. Early in product engineering and development, process planning is responsible for determining the general method of production. The selected general method of production affects the design constraints. In the last stages of design, the designer has to consider ease of manufacturing in order for it to be economic. The part design data is transferred from engineering to manufacturing and process planners develop the detailed work package for manufacturing a part. Dimensions and tolerances are determined for each stage of processing of the workpiece. Process planning determines the sequence of operations and utilization of machine tools. Cutting tools, fixtures, gauges and other accessory tooling are also specified. Feeds, speeds and other parameters of the metal cutting and forming processes are determined.

This is the first book to focus on emerging technologies for distributed intelligent decision-making in process planning and dynamic scheduling. It has two sections: a review of several key areas of research, and an in-depth treatment of particular techniques. Each chapter addresses a specific problem domain and offers practical solutions to solve it. The book provides a better understanding of the present state and future trends of research in this area.

Both process planning and scheduling are very important functions of manufacturing, which affect together the cost to manufacture a product and the time to deliver it. This book contains various approaches proposed by researchers to integrate the process planning and scheduling functions of manufacturing under varying configurations of shops. It is useful for both beginners and advanced researchers to understand and formulate the Integration Process Planning and Scheduling (IPPS) problem effectively. Features Covers the basics of both process planning and scheduling Presents nonlinear approaches, closed-loop approaches, as well as distributed approaches Discuss the outfit of IPPS in Industry 4.0 paradigm Includes the benchmarking problems on IPPS Contains nature-algorithms and metaheuristics for performance measurements in IPPS Presents analysis of energy-efficient objective for sustainable manufacturing in IPPS

Traditionally, the three most important manufacturing functions are process planning, scheduling, and due-date assignment, which are handled sequentially and separately.This book integrates these manufacturing processes and functions to increase global performance along with manufacturing and production cost savings. Integrated Process Planning, Scheduling, and Due-Date Assignment combines the most important manufacturing functions to use manufacturing resources better, reduce production costs, and eliminate bottlenecks with increased production efficiency. The book covers how the integration will help eliminate scheduling conflicts and how to adapt to irregular shop floor disturbances. It also explains how other elements, such as tardiness and earliness, are penalized and how prioritizing helps improve weight performance function. This book will draw the interest of professionals, students, and academicians in process planning, scheduling, and due-date assignment. It could also be supplemental material for manufacturing courses in industrial engineering and manufacturing engineering departments.

Pt. I. The planning approach. ch. 1. Introduction. ch. 2. Planning. ch. 3. Undertake effective communications -- pt. II. Information gathering and assessment. ch. 4. Analyze your past planning efforts; market the new planning. ch. 5. Collect information for the plan. ch. 6. Assess the business and IT environment. ch. 7. Determine alignment of IT and processes to the business -- pt. III. Develop the plan. ch. 8. Develop issues and opportunities for the plan. ch. 9. Define objectives and constraints. ch. 10. Create strategies and action items. ch. 11. Create strategic IT and process plans for business units. ch. 12. Build and market the plan and planning method -- pt. IV. Implement the plan. ch. 13. Perform strategic resource allocation. ch. 14. Implement the plan - short term. ch. 15. Implement the plan - long term. ch. 16. Measure planning results and update the plan. ch. 17. Conclusions and actions to take. ch. 18. Planning example - Irish farming organization

Provides up-to-date information on computer-aided manufacturing from selection and installation to operation in a world-class manufacturing environment. Includes a wide range of process planning applications, shows how to use computer-automated process planning data, and reviews newly emerging techn

Fixtures are used in manufacturing to secure working devices. They help insure conformity, accuracy, efficiency, and interchangeability; their reliability is crucial. This book introduces and implements a new methodology for more flexible fixture design and manufacturing processes, and develops the supporting technologies for automation and fixture planning using object oriented platforms. It also presents an integrated solution with Computer Aided Design (CAD) applications.

The book is the complete introduction and applications guide to this new technology. This book introduces the reader to features and gives an overview of geometric modeling techniques, discusses the conceptual development of features as modeling entities, illustrates the use of features for a variety of engineering design applications, and develops a set of broad functional requirements and addresses high level design issues.