Description
In order to meet changing customer expectations and gain competitive advantage, focus needs to be applied to developing smart factories and advanced manufacturing technologies. Manufacturing organisations will seek integration between manufacturing technology, high performance computing, the internet, and the product at all stages of its life cycle.
Industry 4.0 is the term that has been adopted to describe the ‘fourth’ industrial revolution currently underway, at present, in the manufacturing and commercial sectors of our society. It is a revolution based on the integration of cyber-physical systems with the Internet of Things and services. For the manufacturing sector, this integration has been enabled by successfully combining high performance computing, the internet and the development of advanced manufacturing technologies. Industry 4.0 is changing the way the world’s most successful companies produce the products that their global customers demand.
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to analyse and evaluate the potential of using advanced manufacturing technologies to improve the competitive advantage of the organisations adopting them. The student will develop knowledge and understanding of advanced manufacturing technologies, digitalisation and a range of advanced manufacturing technologies. They will also develop their own research activities into the latest developments.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit students will be able to:
1. Recognise a range of advanced manufacturing processes and cite examples of where they are most effective.
Manufacturing processes:
Pressing and forming, casting and moulding, joining and soldering, mixing, final assembly, packaging, material handling, quality control/inspection
Advanced manufacturing processes:
Additive manufacturing technology (e.g. replacing forming, moulding, pressing), 3D printing, impact on rapid prototyping, availability of spares/obsolete parts, medical components available and customised
Mass customisation through 3D printing, opening up a self-serve market
Robotics/human interface and automation, high-precision technology and productivity e.g. aerospace, automotive, electronics assembly
Types of application or industry:
Industry examples: aerospace, automotive, healthcare, electronics, food and beverage, chemical and pharmaceutical, minerals, oil and gas, retail, fashion
Application examples: assembly, joining, moulding, soldering
2. Analyse advanced manufacturing technologies to determine their appropriateness for an application or process.
Manufacturing technologies:
High precision robotics and automation: healthcare (components and processes), aerospace, automotive, process control and visualisation through automation technology
Improvement in productivity through greater automation
Quality of manufacturing processes improved through integration of robotics
Examples of using 3D printing and other forms of additive manufacturing to produce medical equipment, spares parts for items that may have become obsolete, mass customisation; what the customer wants, when they want it
3. Analyse an existing manufactured product and associated process to introduce proposals for possible improvements based on the introduction of advanced manufacturing technologies.
Manufactured product:
Research the traditional methods used to manufacture an existing product, determine the associated processes required to bring it to market and identify the limitations of these methods and processes
Explore how advanced manufacturing technology could be applied to produce this product and suggest how applying such processes would influence its production, costs, time to market and customer satisfaction (e.g. healthcare/medical such as hip joint, traditional method vs mass customisation and the possible use of 3D printing)
3D printing and its availability is opening up new markets, but also new business models for organisations; explore the future possibilities for self-serve/or self production of items
4. Evaluate the concept of the next industrial revolution to determine the impact on both manufacturers and the consumer.
Next industrial revolution:
Industry 4.0
Internet of Things: over time industry has transformed from being local-based to communication-based technology; the possibilities for connected technology and connected factories are ever increasing
Cyber-physical systems: collaborative robotics and highly integrated manufacturing systems
Mass customisation: there is a growing demand and desire for individual products. In 1908, referring to the Model T, Henry Ford said, “You can have any colour, as long as it’s black.” In 2015 you can have trillions of variations of the Ford F150; advanced manufacturing technology and the ability to manage complexity is key to that realisation
Digitalisation and increased automation; the ability to simulate and create a digital twin has the potential to dramatically reduce time to market
The drive to increase efficiency requires innovation and innovative technology; 25% of all energy used is required by industry alone
Big data; the development of an ever connected production environment alongside cloud computing presents a challenge of having a stream of production data and the need to analyse this in order to make timely informed decisions