Modular production systems:

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Modular production systems: a new manufacturing paradigm G. G. ROGERSl* and L BOTTAC重2 /Dapa′′棚研Q/ ・撫ha′証a/ b函eer硬' C“r′出所erJ‘中Q/ 7調whgJI GPO BoJ J 987, PerI方61の,砂を∬eγI?∴ u5けalia

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It is w.ell recognized ‘ha‘ manufacturers of consumer goods th「oughou=he world a「e f証ing

ma」Or neW demands. induding shorte「 produc同fe.c).des and increaslng COmpetition. In 「eSPOnSe` COmPanies are rest「uctumg and moving a“a) f「om t「aditional process-Centred W.Ork practiccs in fa‘Ou「 Of concurrent englneerlng methods・一n particular. design for man(`Cture has gained “idespread recognl-1On aS a meanS Of reducing production costs and lead ・」eS. Ho“.ever. optimal design for manufacture is diflieul‘ ‘o achieve us】ng Cu「「enトday work Organization and buslneSS St「uCtureS. An underlying problem is the lack of a scientific

hamcwork for produc‘ion. To address this need` this paper proposes a radical and far-

reaching ne“. manufac‘umg Paradigm based upon on building production systems from S[andardized modular machines・ The manufactumg concepしtemed modular production SyStemS (MPS). is aimed specifically at.hard’low-一O medium-teChnoIo簿consumer p「oducts. as tyPified b) gOOds such as child「en‘s toys and kitchen appliances. The 「ationale (br MPS as a means of enabling concu「rent produc‘ and production s).Stem design is put forward. and the long-tem implicatjons and “o「k required to es‘ablish ‘he concep[ are discussed.

均●一・●0′広Ne“ manuf永tumg paradigm. modula「 manufわturing virtual manufacturing

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(3) Forecast p「oduction costs and lead-times in or束r to help assess the ma「ket potential of a product pr10r tu Slg-

GIobal compe面on in manufacturing and changlng COn-

nificant investmenl:

Sumer demand a「e 「e§面ing in a trend towards greater

(4) AIter production capacit). in response to changing

PrOduct variet). and innovation. shorter product life-C).C!es.

demand whhout incurring significant costs or p「oduc.tion

〈・er unit cos‘s and hjgher p「oduct quality (RaIsIOn and iv￨untOn, 1987こCohen. 1988). As a re§ult, manufacturers of

both low- and high-teChnoIogy PrOduc‘s are expenenclng

lead-times; (5) Introduce ne“′ PrOducts frequently to retain or gain

market share.

Significant ne、トdemands and chalIenges to remain com-

The application of computers and the adoption of conPetitive. In particuIar言n addition to reducing co§tS言t is becoming strategical】〉・ important for manufacturers to:

Current englneemg WOrk practices have significant]) imPrOVed the e蹄ctiveness of manufacturers in meeting these

(l) Shorten the ‘design to marke=ead time. This is re-

new objectives. Ho“’e‘.er. aS Out]ined in the following sec-

Sulting in the need 'o design.right first time,, because there

tions・ it is becoming e、・ident that further progress is limited

is not enough time to correct design errors, Or tO re-engi-

by the fundamental st則CtureS and methods of manufac_

neer products for lovl‘er COSt Or higher quality (Shina.

turing business" To ove「come these probIems, this pape「

1991);

(2) Ensure that goods are produced to a high and conSIStent quality;

PutS fo「ward a radically new business model for the man_

ufacturing of low- tO medium-teChnoIogy consumer goods,

whjch is based upon buiIding `flexjble. production systems

from standardized moduIar subsystems. Moreover, this approach seeks to provide a systematic link between

PrOduct design and production system design. The belief is 章Author to whom all correspondence sbOuld be addressed.

0956-5515 ◎ 1997Chapman& Hall

that establi§hing such a foma! link, COmbined with flexi_

148

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biIity by configuration.刷enablc the new manufactuhng demands ‘O be met mo「c cflな‘iveIy. Beforc detailing thi§

new manufacturing conccpt furthcr' the paper starts by highlighting the underIying reasons why CIM con∝P‘§ based upon presentrday production techniques arc lim寝d.

(3) Robotic aulOma[ion lCnds ‘o be complex, and typi-

6ed by cxcessivcly complex mcchani§mS and sonwarc (Canny and Goldbe「g, 1992). Thc cu§tOm SOfIWarC aIone Can Often represcnt four to five tines thc co§t Of the robot (Ca「lis!e, 1989). These problems haヽ-e led CarlisIc ( 1991 ) to conclude that

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lhe facto「y floor is no白n[erested in and canno‘ support

COmPlex robotic t∝hnoIogy. Indeed. appIying high t∝hIn the last 30 ycars computcr§ havc had a maJOr mPaC‘ On

noIogy to existing work §truCtu「eS and prac‘ices i§ in-

manufacturing e節ec‘iveness. and have been applied lO

CrCaSingIy comlng tO be questioned’becausc it on]y

functions as diversc as payrou, §tcek controI, PartS PrO・

Partially increases ‘he compe‘ltl‘.eneSS and c鯖iciency of

duction・ PrO∝SS Planning and componcnt testing. Morc

reccntly, lhe ∞mbined use ofCAD, CAM and CNC ma. Chinery ba§ reSu!ted in maJO‥mPrOVementS in the co§l-

e飯煩ivcness‘ quality and easc w軸which a widc vadety of COmPOnent PartS can be produ∝d. Mor∞Ver・ the desire lO autOma‘c all aspects of manu-

manufacturing (Ralston and MunlOn. 1987; Syan, 1994a). A principaI problem, a§ Davis (1991) notes言§ that pro-

duclion machinery is designed aod implemented with the Ot)j∝tive of §eeking tcchnicaI ex∝llence in machine func_

tion and perfoman∝ a=he expense o白he needs of thc OVera11 manufacturing sy§tem.

facturing has helped to e§一abli§h the con∝Pt Of computer integ「ated manufacturing (CIM). Howcver, there is no

StrOng agreemCnt On the scope of CIM, and thcrc arc few

3.

Concurrenl

enginee血g          ¥〉

- if any - generic models for CIM (Lawren∝, 1986). Concurrent cn亘neering is concemed with ensuring that

Furthemore・ despite conside「able research, Signi6can‘ I∝hnical probicms remain unsoIved・ For exampIe. a cen・ tral problem limjting CIM is how IO aChieve cost