Automated Manufacturing

Systems
CHAPTER 4
 1. Introduction
• Manufacturing systems consist of workers, automation, and various material handling
technologies, configured in ways that create specific manufacturing system typologies.
• More specifically, a manufacturing system is a collection of integrated equipment and human
resources, whose function is to perform one or more processing and/or assembly operations on a
starting raw material, part, or set of parts.
• Flexible manufacturing system (FMS)—a highly automated machine cell that produces part or
product families; often consists of workstations comprising CNC machine tools.
• Different types of manufacturing systems may be identified; these include single station cells;
machine clusters; manual assembly lines; automated transfer lines; automated assembly systems;
machine cells (cellular manufacturing); and flexible manufacturing systems (FMS).
 2. Components of a Manufacturing System
• A manufacturing system consists of the following components: production
machines (plus tools, fixtures, and other related hardware); a material handling
system; a computer system to co-ordinate and/or control the preceding
components; and human workers to operate and manage the system.
1. Production Machines
• Most manufacturing in modern-day manufacturing systems is done by
machines of one form or another. Machines can be classified according to
worker participation in the task, as: manually-operated; semi-automated; or
fully automated.
• A workstation refers to the location in the factory where some well-defined
task or operation is accomplished by an automated machine, a worker-and-
machine combination, or a worker using hand tools and/or portable power
tools. A particular manufacturing system may consist of one or more
workstations.
Classification of production machines
2. Material Handling System
• For most processing and assembly operations the following material handling
actions can be distinguished: loading work units at each station; positioning work
units at the station; unloading work units from the station after processing;
transporting work units between stations; and performing temporary storage, if
necessary, also. Some of these actions are linked so that the same machinery may
be used to perform the actions (for example, many load and unload actions);
• For loading, work units are often held in containers (khay đựng,...) near the
workstation, such as pallets, totes, or bins, which can be accessed according to
requirements. Positioning requires the use of a work-holder (bộ phận để giữ chi
tiết) (such as a jig, fixture, or chuck), a device which helps to support the
positioning operation in the processing machine; it accurately locates, orients, and
clamps (kẹp chặt) the part so that the processing operation may proceed.
• In unloading work units are either placed in containers or transported away from
the workstation to other processing workstations, or to storage. In some cases, a
conveyor (băng chuyền) system may be used to transport work units between
workstations.
• Work units may be passed between workstations by hand or in batches, by means of
manual techniques or by using appropriate material transport systems. The movement of
work units in batches is generally considered to be the most efficient method, according
to the Unit Load Principle (tải đơn vị); but manual material transport may be favored in
situations where work units are small and light, and where manual transport is
ergonomically acceptable. When work units exceed certain weight standards, manual
transport with assistance from material handling devices (such as lift equipment) may be
deployed; and, beyond these categories, manufacturers may favor fully-automating the
whole material transport system.
• There are, in general, two types of work transport: fixed routing, and variable routing
(see Figure). Fixed routing uses the same sequence of workstations to process identical
work units as they passed through the system; whereas, with variable routing, work units
are transported through a variety of different station sequences to allow for variable
processing to be performed on transported work units.
• Fixed routing typically deploys conveyors of powered roller, belt, drag chain, or
overhead trolley type, and can use rotary index mechanisms, and walking beam transfer
equipment. For variable routing an automated guided vehicle system is favored, together
with power-and-free overhead conveyors, or cart-on-track conveyors, or monorail
systems.
3. Computer Control System
• Computer systems are an integral part of automated manufacturing, as they are
required to control fully-automated and semi-automated equipment and participate
in overall co-ordination and management of the manufacturing system.
• Computer functions utilized in automated manufacturing include: the
communication of instructions to workers; the downloading of work
part programmed; the control of the material handling system; the
scheduling of production; the diagnosis of failures; the monitoring of
safety; the maintenance of quality control; and the management of
operations.
4. Human Resources
• Humans also have a role to play, even if it is only in a supervisory
capacity. In cases where humans perform some value-added work on
work units, the work done is called direct labor. This generally
includes direct work done on work units or work done to control the
machines that are processing the work part. Human workers are also
required to: manage and support the system as computer programmers;
operate and direct computer activities; maintain and repair the
automated manufacturing system, as required; and the performance of
other, similar, indirect labor roles.
• Part or Product Variety
This factor examines the manufacturing system’s flexibility for
dealing with variations in the parts or products it produces. Part or
product variations that could occur in manufacturing systems include
variations in type, or color of plastic or molded parts; variations in
electronic components placed on circuit boards; variations in the size
of printed circuit boards handled; variations in part geometry; and
variations in parts and options in an assembled product.
• The cases of part or product variety in manufacturing systems are
single model, batch model, or mixed model—the details of which are
outlined in Table.
• Part or product variety examines the manufacturing system’s
flexibility for dealing with variations in the parts or products it
produces. The cases of part or product variety in manufacturing
systems are single model, batch model, or mixed model.
 3. Parts Storage Subsystem and Automatic Parts Transfer
• The automated cell can theoretically operate unattended for a length of time given
by:

• where UT is the unattended time of the operation of the manufacturing cell; Tcj is
the cycle time for part j that is held in the parts storage subsystem (hệ thống phụ),
for j = 1, 2, 3, …, np, where np is the parts storage capacity of the storage
subsystem, pc. This equation assumes that a work unit is processed each work
cycle, and—if all the parts are identical and require the same machine cycle—we
can further simplify the equation to:

• The unattended time will be less than this amount; this is because the worker will
need time to completely unload and to reload the machine for the start of the next
work cycle.
• The minimum storage capacity of a parts storage system is one work part. When
the storage capacity is only one work part, this usually means that the operator
must be in full-time attendance. The overall cycle time of the single station with
no storage is:

• where Tc is the overall cycle time; Tm is the machine processing time; and Ts is
the worker service time, typically required to load/unload the machine, or other
tending duties. The overall cycle time of the single station with one part storage is:

• where Tr is the repositioning time to (1) move the completed work part away from
the machine work head, and (2) to replace and position the next work part in its
stead. Machine utilization is high if the worker service time is less than the
machine processing time; if, on the other hand, the machine processing time is
less than the worker service time, then the machine will go through periods of
forced idleness. This should be avoided.
 4. Number of Workstations Required
• To determine how many workstations are required, given a certain production rate, or a given quantity
of work units. This is generally done by determining the total workload that must be accomplished over
a certain period and dividing that by the hours available on one workstation during the same period.
Workload is determined thus:

• where WL is the workload scheduled for a given period; Q is the quantity to be produced during the
same period; and Tc is the cycle time required per piece. If the workload includes multiple part or
product styles that can all be produced on the same workstation, then:

• where Qj is the quantity of part or product style j produced during the period; and Tcj is the cycle time
of part or product style j. We must now divide the result by the number of hours available on one
workstation, thus

• where n is the number of workstations; and AT is the available time on one station in the period under
consideration. These equations do not consider several potential complicating factors, which makes it
more difficult to assess the number of workstations required. these include Set-up time in batch
production Availability of machines Utilization of machines, Defect rates from various machines
Example
• 800 parts are to be produced. Cycle time is 11.5min. Determine number of
machines given 40hrs availability.
• WL = 800(11.5) = 9,200min = 153.33hrs AT = 40hrs
• n = 153.33/40 = 3.83 or 4 machines
Availability time may be measured as follows, with the available time becoming
the actual shift time in the period multiplied by availability and utilization:

• where AT is available time; Hsh is the shift hours during the period; A is
availability; and U is utilization. The defect rate—that is, the fraction of parts
produced that are defective—must be assessed so that it can be factored-in to the
starting batch size, so that the output can compensate for defective parts produced
Example
• 800 shafts (trục) are in 20 different types. Average batch size is 40. Set-up time
between batches is 3.5hr.
• WL = 20(3.5) + 20(40)(11.5/60) = 70 + 153.33 = 223.33hrs
• n = 223.33/40 = 5.58 or 6 machines
• The relationship between starting quantity and actual quantity produced is:

• where Q is the quantity of good units made in the process; Qo is the original or starting
quantity; and q is the fraction defect rate. This formula can be rearranged to give us the
number of starting units we require, thus:

• Taking these factors into consideration, we can now amend our original formula, thus:

Example
• Using previous data and Availability is 100% during set-up and 92% during running.
Utilization is 100%. Fraction defect rate is 5%. Determine number of machines.
• WL = 20(3.5) = 70.0hrs AT = 40 (1.0)(1.0) = 40 nsu = 70/40 = 1.75 machines
• For production runs:
• WL = ((20)(40)(11.5/60)) / (1-0.05) = 161.4hrs AT = 40(0.92) = 36.8hrs per machine
• n pr = 161.4 / 36.8 = 4.39 machines
• Total Machines = 1.75 + 4.39 = 6.14 or 7 machines
 5. Analysis of Machine Clusters
• Sometimes opportunities exist to allow a worker to oversee more than one
machine at a time, owing to the semi-automatic machine cycle of individual
machines.
• This type of organization is referred to as a machine cell, or machine
cluster, which is defined as a collection of two or more machines producing
parts or products with identical cycle times and serviced by one worker. A
machine cluster must satisfy several conditions to exist:
- The semi-automatic machine cycle must be long relative to the service
portion of the cycle that requires the worker’s attention
- The semi-automatic machine cycle time must be the same for all machines
- The machines that the worker would service must be in close enough
proximity to allow time to walk between them
- The work rules of the plant must permit a worker to service more than one
machine
• To consider a situation where to have a collection of single workstations, all producing the
same parts and operating under the conditions outlined above:
• Each machine operates for a certain portion of the total cycle under its own control Tm
(machine time), before requiring servicing from an operator Ts (service time).
• The total cycle time (Tc) of the machine is therefore machine time plus service time; or, in
equation form:

• If we add another machine to the operator’s purview, then the operator will lose some time
walking to this machine, called the repositioning time (Tr)
• The total time that an operator needs to service one machine must be adjusted from simply
Ts, to: Ts + Tr
• We must also factor-in the time to service n machines, which is: n(Ts + Tr) Thus, the
original equation takes the form:

• To determine the number of machines that should be assigned

to one worker by solving:
• Note that the result for n is unlikely to be an integer, so worker time
in the cycle cannot be perfectly balanced with the cycle time of the
machines. Either the machines or the workers will experience some
idle time.
• Example: Machine shop contains number of machines with cycle time
for one part of 2.75min. One worker can load and unload machines in
25sec. It takes 20sec to walk between machines. How many machines
can one worker manage if no machine idle time is allowed.