Introduction to Automation
Lecture 1
Engineering 475
Automated Production Systems
Production System
Production system is the collection of people, equipment, and
procedures organized to accomplish the manufacturing
operations of a company.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Support
SupportSystems
Systems Production systems can be
divided into two categories or
levels.
Facilities:
Facilities:
Factory
Factory
Equipment
Equipment
Groover, Fig. 1.1
Manufacturing Support Systems
Manufacturing support systems:
Manufacturing
Manufacturing The set of procedures used by the
Support
SupportSystems
Systems company to manage production and to
solve the technical and logistics
problems encountered in ordering
materials, moving work through the
factory, and ensuring that products
Facilities:
Facilities: meet quality standards. Product
Factory
Factory design and certain business functions
Equipment
Equipment are included among the manufacturing
support systems.
Groover, Fig. 1.1
Facilities
Manufacturing Facilities: The facilities consist of
Manufacturing
Support the factory, the equipment in the
SupportSystems
Systems
factory, and the way in which the
equipment is organized.
Facilities:
Facilities:
Factory
Factory
Equipment
Equipment
Groover, Fig. 1.1
Product Types
The type of product will directly effect the production
systems used in their manufacture.
Discrete parts
and products
Liquid or
bulk
products
People and Production Systems
People are an important part of production systems.
• Not all equipment and processes are automated.
• Direct labor (blue collar) workers are generally
responsible for operating the facilities.
• Professional staff (white collar) workers are
generally responsible for the manufacturing support
systems.
Manufacturing Systems
Facilities:
Facilities:
Factory
Factory Plant Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Production
ProductionMachines
Machines Layout Systems:
Systems:
Tooling
Tooling The
Thegroupings
groupingsofof
Material
MaterialHandling
HandlingEquipment
Equipment equipment
equipmentand
andworkers
workers
Inspection
InspectionEquipment
Equipment who
whooperate
operatethem.
them.
Computer
ComputerControl
ControlSystems
Systems
The organization of facilities and people into manufacturing
systems is critical to the efficiency of a manufacturing operation.
Manufacturing systems come into direct contact (touch) with the
product.
Variables Effecting Production
The degree of automation is a function of the
quantity of units produced and of product variety.
Low production:
production Quantities in the range of 1 to 100
units per year.
Medium production:
production Quantities in the range of 100 to
10,000 units per year.
High production:
production Quantities in the range of 10,000 to
millions of units per year.
Product variety refers to the different product designs
or types that are produced in a plant.
Product Variety and Production
Product Variety Quantity Relationship
Low
Medium
High
1 100 10,000 1,000,000
Production Quantity
Groover, Fig. 1.2
Plant Layout Concepts
The physical size, quantity, and variety of products
being manufactured often dictate the way in which a
plant is organized.
G Fixed-position Layout
G Process Layout
G Cellular Layout
G Product Layout
Fixed-Position Layout
Workers and equipment move around product.
Groover, Fig. 1.3
Process Layout
Common operations or processes are grouped together.
Groover, Fig. 1.3
Cellular Layout
Each manufacturing cell specializes in the
production of a given set of similar products.
Groover, Fig. 1.3
Product Layout
Collection of workers and stations are designed
specifically for the product being produced.
Groover, Fig. 1.3
Composite View
Fixed
Position Process
Layout Layout
Cellular
Layout
Product Layout
Product Variety
Job Shop Batch
Production
Cellular
Manufacturing
Mass Production
1 100 10,000 1,000,000
Production Quantity
Groover, Fig. 1.4
Automation in Production Systems
Automation – technology associated with the application of
mechanical, electrical, and computer-based systems to
operate and control production.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Support
SupportSystems
Systems
Computerization of the
manufacturing support systems
Automation of the
Facilities:
Facilities: manufacturing systems in the
Factory
Factory factory
Equipment
Equipment
Automation of Manufacturing Systems
Examples
• Automated machine tools that process parts
• Transfer lines that perform a series of machining operations
• Automated assembly systems
• Manufacturing systems that use industrial robots to perform
processing or assembly operations
• Automated material handling and storage systems to
integrate manufacturing operations
• Automatic inspection systems for quality control
Types of Automated Manufacturing
Systems
Fixed Automation
• High initial investment for custom-engineered equipment
• High production rates
• Relatively inflexible in accommodating product variety
Programmable Automation
• High investment in general purpose equipment
• Lower production rates than fixed automation
• Flexibility to deal with variations and changes in product configuration
• Most suitable for batch production
Flexible Automation
• High investment for a custom-engineered system
• Continuous production of variable mixtures of products
• Medium Production Rates
• Flexibility to deal with product design variations
Automation Application
Fixed
Position Process
Layout Layout
Cellular
Layout
Product Layout
Programmable
Product Variety
Automation
Flexible
Automation
Fixed Automation
Manual Production
1 100 10,000 1,000,000
Production Quantity
Groover, Fig. 1.7
Computerization of Manufacturing
Support Systems
Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) denotes the
pervasive use of computer systems to design the products, plan
the production, control the operations, and the perform the various
business functions needed in a manufacturing company.
Computer Aided Design (CAD) denotes the use of computers to
design and analyze the product.
Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) denotes the use of
computers to perform computer numerical control.
CAD/CAM denotes the integration of CAD and CAM functions
into a combined system in which engineering and manufacturing
use information from a common product database.
Reasons for Automating
1. Increase labor productivity
2. Reduce labor cost
3. Mitigate the effects of labor shortages
4. Reduce or eliminate routine manual and clerical tasks
5. Improve worker safety
6. Improve product quality
7. Reduce manufacturing lead time
8. Accomplish processes that cannot be done manually
9. Reduce unit cost
Reasons for Not Automating
• Task is too technologically difficult to automate
• Short product life cycle
• Customized product – one-of-a-kind
• Flexibility in coping with changing demand
Humans Versus Machines
Relative Strengths of Humans Relative Strengths of Machines
• Sense unexpected stimuli • Perform repetitive tasks consistently
• Develop new solutions to problems • Store large amounts of data
• Cope with abstract problems • Retrieve data from memory reliably
• Adapt to change • Perform multiple tasks at the same time
• Generalize from observations • Apply high forces and power
• Learn from experience • Perform simple computations quickly
• Make difficult decisions base on • Make routine decisions quickly
incomplete information
