Cyclically interlinked production systems are commonly used production facilities. In the bidding phase manufacturers of these systems define their capability and operating efficiency to the customers despite of numerous insecurities. Up to now, no planning approach exists to assure these planning results. On this account a method to choose a configuration of these systems in the bidding phase was developed and is presented in this paper. Data mining models are built to predict performance figures of production systems. To predict the operating efficiency of a system configuration, characteristic curves are used. On this basis the planner decides, whether an offer is generated or the system configuration is changed. This paper shows that the newly developed method is suitable to assess configurations of cyclically interlinked production systems in terms of performance and cost effectiveness. It allows the identification of better configurations in respect of the objective criteria. Furthermore, the presentation and discussion of test results in terms of quality and the limitations of the method are discussed. The method is validated on the basis of two practical examples.
interlinked production systems, planning, characteristic curves, data mining
Customer demands for innovative and individual products force manufacturers to push and to accelerate their innovation activities. This leads to a higher variety of products with shorter product life cycles and, consequently, to a more frequent production ramp-up: the stage between development and serial production. The significant commercial relevance of this stage of the product life cycle has been proven several times. However, a considerable number of production ramp-ups are still missing the technical and the economical targets. The reasons for that are manifold. One aspect, which hasn’t been sufficiently considered so far, is the high number of involved parties. This is due to a previous outsourcing of various development and production tasks as well as to the global distribution of plants. Therefore, today’s production ramp-up projects affect the supply chain substantially. Within this thesis, the acting parties, the main tasks and the instruments of a crosscompany production ramp-up are presented. Furthermore, previous attempts at planning and execution of ramp-up projects as well as their priorities and deficits are shown. The analysis of an empirical study helps to identify the relevant success factors of the cross-company production ramp-up and leads to the concept of an internet based ramp-up platform. As an integrated part of it, the regression analysis enables the estimation of a risk of a delay – at an early stage of the production ramp-up. Thus, the experience of accomplished production ramp-up projects can be used as a guideline for forthcoming ones. Additionally, a set of rules which allow a simple and effective monitoring of the production ramp-up along the supply chain is created.
production ramp-up, supply chain, time scheduling, project monitoring, risk management, regression a
Production processes of the forging industry are defined by a multitude of factors. While in the past, technological product quality has been the major goal of improvement efforts, to an increasing degree it is sided with a high logistical performance. However, in the utilisation planning of heaters, a sub-process of heat treatment, there still is often only a markedly insufficient technological-logistical process quality achieved. Relevant problems in this context are – amongst others – the changing of order sequences, the multitude of technological restrictions and the deficient knowledge about technological and logistical interdependencies. For a well-balanced positioning between the compliance with technological restrictions and logistical aims, a method for an automated selection and combination of the evaluated orders into charges and utilization programs is needed. Within this book, such a solution concept for supporting the utilisation planning of heat treatment systems is described. The developed methods of order selection, charge combination and heaters assignment, which are based on the fuzzy-logic, represent the interdependencies between technical and logistical objectives of the utilisation planning, choose suitable orders for the heat treatment, support the combination of charges and assignment programs and offer the saving of specific planning knowledge.
forging industry, heaters utilisation planning, fuzzy-logic, order selection, charge combination
In the context of increasing economic networking more and more companies shift production volumes to foreign locations. However, high return displacement rates show that many companies fail here. The design of the product has a causal influence on the production and therefore on the success of this internationalization. In the present work a method to design internationalization driven product structures will be described. Aims are low product complexity and a customized distribution of know-how. To implement these aims design guidelines are defined, which are assessable using a performance measurement system. An integrated product model and a catalog of options for action assist in the analysis and design. This product structures can be created in an iterative process, which form a basis for successful internationalization.
product structuring, product design, product model, globalization, internationalization
Warm forming of steel is for a limited range of work piece geometries an economic and ecologic alternative to the conventional hot and cold forging technology. Up to now warm forming is predominantly common for rotation symmetric parts. Within the scope of this paper a process chain for closed-die warm forming of long flat pieces has been derived and investigated on the basis of the forming stages of a steering link. The experiments have been performed on a conventional hot forging press. Only a graphite coating machine has been used additionally. It has been verified that long flat pieces made of steel can be warm forged using a preforming operation by bending or drawing out in the die. A material utilisation of 80 % and IT-tolerances lower than IT 12 for width and length have been achieved. Based on FE-simulations it has been shown that, using two preforming operations by bending or drawing out in the die, preforms with a straight, in one plane bent and in two planes bent longitudinal axis can be produced.
bulk metal forming, warm forming, long parts
Various companies implement lean production systems to realize hidden technological and economical potentials. Due to the extensive and long-lasting acquisition of production system knowledge, the implementation of an individualized production system requires comprehensive human and financial resources. In contrary to huge enterprises, respective means are not at the disposal of small and medium sized companies e. g. of the die and mold making industry. This article presents an innovative approach to formalize production system knowledge in an expert system. The system is designed to fit the needs of the die and mold making industry and consists of an ontology for knowledge representation as well as an industry-sector-specific knowledge base. Furthermore, rules for automated knowledge base adaptation are derived using data mining algorithms. Case studies show that the expert system is applicable for systematic and company specific lean-method identification and implementation.
production system, lean production, expert system, knowledge management, data mining
