manufacturing strategy analysis and manufacturing information …directory.umm.ac.id/data...

*Corresponding author. Tel: #44-0-1234-754154; fax: #44-0-1234-754154.

E-mail address: B.Wu@cran"eld.ac.uk (B. Wu)

Int. J. Production Economics 65 (2000) 55}72

Manufacturing strategy analysis and manufacturinginformation system design: Process and application

Bin Wu!,*, Ray Ellis"

!School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science, Building 30, Cranxeld University, Cranxeld, Bedford MK43 0AL, UK"Kenard Engineering Company Ltd, 573/579 Princes Rd, Dartford, Kent DA2 6DZ, UK

Abstract

This paper speci"es the structure of a manufacturing strategy analysis (MSA) to manufacturing system design (MSD)interfacing model. In particular, it addresses the link between manufacturing strategic initiatives and the requirements ofmanufacturing information system (MIS), and proposes a structured approach to help a company identify the key MISrequirements that are needed to e!ectively support the company's future manufacturing strategic aims. The proposedmethod has been successfully applied in a precision engineering company, resulting in an integrated MIS that was givenThe UK Machinery Award for Innovation in Production Engineering, for being `the most innovative application ofcomputer technology in the manufacturing environmenta. ( 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Manufacturing strategy; Manufacturing system; Manufacturing information system

1. Introduction

A uni"ed framework has been proposed thataims to set systems thinking into the context ofmanufacturing systems management [1]. Manufac-turing systems management (MSM) here is de"nedas a functional domain that involves all of theactivities, such as design, implementation, opera-tions and monitoring, etc., that are needed to regu-late and optimise a manufacturing system as itprogresses through its life cycle. Following the keyprinciples of systems theory, this framework pro-vides a uni"ed framework which identi"es the mainMSM functional areas, speci"es their generic func-tionality and contents, and then logically integrates

them into a closed loop to provide the basis fore!ective systems management. This paper focuseson the manufacturing strategy analysis (MSA) andmanufacturing system design (MSD) interfacingfunction within this framework at the informationand control level. It will "rst provide a brief over-view of the structure of this MSM framework.Then, following a description of the structure, pro-cesses and tools speci"ed along its MSA/MSDcycle, various new features regarding the speci"ca-tion of information system requirements will bediscussed.

Various approaches have been developed to en-able companies to identify manufacturing strategicdirection, with the aim of satisfying corporate ob-jectives. The implementation of a manufacturinginformation system (MIS) within a manufacturingorganisation often forms part of the strategic ap-proach to satisfying these objectives. This paper

0925-5273/00/$ - see front matter ( 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.PII: S 0 9 2 5 - 5 2 7 3 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 9 0 - 0

"rst introduces the concept of manufacturing stra-tegically driven analysis of MIS system require-ments. It is pointed out that in order for a MIS to beable to satisfy manufacturing strategic needs, a struc-tured approach needs to be followed which providesthe system's development with a strategic direction.A framework with a set of procedures is speci"ed forsuch purposes, starting from the initial identi"ca-tion of objectives, through to the `develop-or-buyadecisions, and system design and implementation.

The paper also describes how the proposed ap-proach has been e!ectively applied to the case of atypical modern precision engineering company,which heavily utilises computer numerically control-led (CNC) facilities and specialises in the making ofaerospace and telecommunication components.Through an analysis of the company's manufactur-ing strategic requirements, the proposed proced-ures revealed a number of MIS related issues andfeatures that helped to ensure a competitive edge.

2. Overview of the MSM framework

In order to deal with the complexity involved inthe design and operation of modern manufacturingsystems, attempts have been made to adopt a moresystems approach to the problems concerned. Forexample, Wu [2] suggested an overall frameworkof manufacturing systems design and evaluation,with particular emphasis on systems analysis, sys-tems design, and systems methodology. It consistsof the following keywords that relate to the mainareas of concern: systems (concepts and principles),manufacturing (structures, technologies and opera-tions), systems engineering (problem-solving andstructured decision-making) and manufacturing sys-tems (design and evaluation). Of particular interestfrom the above is a prototype system model that isbased on a range of key concepts of systems think-ing, and a set of conditions necessary for the e!ec-tive operation and control of manufacturingorganisations. If one relates these well-proved sys-tems principles to the area of MSM, it becomesapparent that certain key elements are lacking in thecurrent theory and practice. In order to "ll in thegaps, a conceptual MSM framework has been pro-posed that logically link a number of new and

previously established techniques together. Its overallstructure closely follows that of the prototype systemmodel to satisfy the prerequisite conditions for thee!ective control and operation of a system. This con-ceptual MSM framework speci"es the key functionalareas of MSM, outlines the contents and relation-ships within them, and then logically integrates theseinto a closed-loop to provide the basis for the devel-opment of a set of consistent parameters and proced-ures. It consists of three main functional areas:manufacturing strategy analysis (MSA), manufac-turing system design (MSD) and manufacturingoperations management (MOM), as shown in Fig. 1.

Generally speaking, the nature of MSA ap-proaches can be summarised as a method of help-ing a company analyse its products, market andoperations to identify areas of concern, and thensetting objectives for these to be improved. How-ever, the implementation of strategic initiatives willrely on the management of change through MSDprojects. The general aim of a MSD project cantherefore be de"ned as the determination of the beststructure of a manufacturing system in order toprovide the competence needed to support strategicobjectives, and this must be achieved within theresource and other constraints. In addition, thecomplete MSM cycle should also include the as-pects of manufacturing to plan, monitor and con-trol the production processes once the system isimplemented and in operation. Finally, the over-lapping between these main areas identi"es threeadditional MSM functions: MSA/MSD interfacing,manufacturing system implementation and manu-facturing system status monitoring. The proposedframework re#ects the view that a systems ap-proach should be adapted to the design, implemen-tation and management of manufacturing systems.A systems thinking in the management of manufac-turing requires the development of a set of coherentstrategic objectives and goals. A hierarchy of com-patible system structures should then support thishierarchy of objectives.

As can be seen, three principal manufacturingarchitectures have been speci"ed through MSDactivities within this framework [3]:

f The physical (or manufacturing) architecture rep-resents the &hard' elements of the manufacturing

56 B. Wu, R. Ellis / Int. J. Production Economics 65 (2000) 55}72

Fig. 1. Overall functional structure of a MSM Framework (Source: [1]).

systems, including the machines, transportationand storage equipment and the other facilitiesrequired to support the manufacturing process.This also describes the #ow of materials through-out the system.

f The human and organisational architecture repres-ents the organisational structure and the interac-tions of the employees within the manufacturingsystem, including their roles, responsibilities andproduction tasks.

f The information and control architecture repres-ents the planning and control functions of themanufacturing system and the processes in-volved in decision making. This also describesthe #ow of data and information in all its forma-ts, whether paper or computer based, through-out the system.

This structure provides an e!ective basis for theclear clari"cation of the MSM domain. Each of theblocks in the framework represents a particularfunctional module where speci"c contents regard-ing functionality, relevant techniques, parameters,

values and relationships, etc., can be speci"ed indetail if required. For instance, the current develop-ment of enterprise resource planning (ERP), whichinherits its nature from its forerunner, manufactur-ing resource planning (MRP II), is a typicalexample of the kind of IT systems used to providean integrated information system for the planningand control functions required.

However, it has been observed from a number ofunsuccessful cases reported in the literature, thatpurely technical-oriented ERP implementation isone of the main reasons for failure [4}7]. Thereseems to be a lack of a structured, strategicallydriven approach to assist companies mappinga function-oriented software into business-orientedsystem. It is evident that di!erent industrial com-panies have di!erent focuses on their business/manufacturing function, but current ERP systemshave di!erent merits and weaknesses, when relatedto di!erent industrial requirements [8]. The pro-posed MSM framework provides a sound basis fora strategically driven analysis of manufacturing in-formation system requirements, giving a strategic

B. Wu, R. Ellis / Int. J. Production Economics 65 (2000) 55}72 57

Fig. 2. Structure of the overall process.

direction for information system evaluation, imple-mentation and administration [9,10].

3. Manufacturing strategy and MIS

Competition in industry places manufacturersunder constant pressure to become more e$cient.This forces the industry to evolve towards beingmore capable and productive. The key factors inthis evolutionary process are those that a!ecta manufacturing company's competitive position,such as product quality, cost of manufacture,manufacturing lead time and #exibility. In orderthat these fundamental elements can be addressedand acted upon, the whole manufacturing processneeds to be analysed and an overall manufacturingstrategy needs to be formulated based upon thecompany's competitive standing. Once an overallmanufacturing strategy has been developed, theway in which the implementation is carried out inorder to meet these strategic requirements becomesvery important.

Therefore, a company should be able to identifythe relevant options and the related MSD tasks, sothat their MSD action addresses the key issues toachieve the improvement required. The MSA/MSDinterface as shown in Fig. 1 aims to enable manu-facturing companies to make more informed deci-sions in this regard. Once the initial strategicobjectives are speci"ed, they generally providea qualitative and/or quantitative indication of thedi!erences between what the market requires fromthe company, and the actual performance of thecompany's manufacturing system. In addition, themanufacturing criteria de"ned through the MSAprocess will relate manufacturing strategy to manu-facturing system by de"ning the system purpose,system performance, system characteristics and sys-tem cost structure. Following these, a number ofMSA/MSD link tables have been produced andrelevant MSA/MSD cause-e!ects relationships areembedded in these tables. These are used as deci-sion-making aids to establish the linking process.

At the information and control level, in particu-lar, the normal process of manufacturing strategy


Tab

le1

Per

form

ance

/req

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7.1.

1.1

Shop-#

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info

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disp

lay

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per

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monitoring

Del

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ing

Qual

ity

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Del

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Fig. 3. Identi"cation of MIS requirements.

analysis is extended by adding a set of genericprocedures to help companies identify key MIS andsystems requirements based on the initiatives de-rived from strategic analysis. This strategicallydriven analysis approach aims to identify the keyMIS requirements required in order to satisfy anydesignated competitive performance criteria. Assummarised in Fig. 2, the whole processes can bedivided into three sections: the de"nition of manufac-turing strategy aims and initiatives (starting with themanufacturing strategy analysis carried out againstthe competitive performance criteria, with the polarplots drawn for each of the customers/products,leading onto the de"nition of the strategic aimsthrough a SWOT analysis), the identi"cation of keyMIS requirements (cross reference via tabulationdrawn of competitive performance criteria verseskey MIS requirements), and the decision on thechoice of MIS design, structure and implementa-tion (either through the purchase of an o!-the-shelfsystem, commissioning of a bespoke system or byin-house development).

Each stage of the generic procedures will be iden-ti"ed and presented in a simplistic way, allowing theuser to gradually progress through the stages. Forinstance, one of these requires a tabulation of the keyMIS requirements and the corresponding strategicaims. This correlation is useful to serve as a re-minder of which of the initially de"ned strategicaims has been instrumental in establishing the par-ticular key MIS requirements. To help this process,a set of generic correlation between the competitiveperformance criteria and key MIS requirements, asshown in Table 1, has been developed. The variouscross checkings involved are as illustrated in themore detailed #owchart of Fig. 3.

4. Example of the MSA/MIS Analysis

The proposed approach has been e!ectively ap-plied to Kenard Engineering Ltd., UK, which isa typical modern precision engineering machineshop, utilising computer numerically controlled(CNC) facilities and specialising in the making ofaerospace and telecommunication components. Ito!ers a service from prototypes through to, andincluding, production batches.

4.1. Market analysis and manufacturing strategicinitiatives

The subcontracting market place has a reputa-tion of being tough and competitive. Although thereasons for subcontracting have not changed, manyorganisations now regard their subcontractors asan important extension to their own facilities, mak-ing the necessary steps to make them feel part oftheir team. This has resulted in organisations re-ducing their supplier base, by selecting the com-panies that they feel can o!er the best service. Withthis reduction of suppliers within companies' sup-plier bases, come even more "erce competition, notonly within the same supplier chains, but also glo-bally with subcontractors wishing to be includedwithin the supplier chain of an organisation.

In order to increase its competitiveness, a cus-tomer survey was carried out by the company todetermine its customer requirements, and to identifyhow orders are won against competitors. Table 2


Table 2Summary of gap analysis results

Criterion Co. A Co. B Co. C Co. D Co. E Co. F Co. G

Quality Gap !10 10 !10 !10 10 10 10Quali"er Q Q Q Q Q Q Q

Lead time Gap 0 !20 !10 !10 !40 !30 !30

Lead time reliability Gap !30 !30 !60 !50 !20 !20 !20Quali"er W W W W W W W

Design Flexibility Gap 10 70 80 70 !10 10 30Quali"er P P Q Q W W Q

Volume Flexibility Gap 10 0 20 30 !10 !10 10Quali"er W W Q Q Q Q Q

Cost/Price Gap 30 40 0 0 50 !10 !10Quali"er P P P P P P P

Notes: W: Order winning, those which directly and signi"cantly contribute to winning business, regarded by customers as key factorsof competitiveness; P: potential order winning, that have the potential to become order winning; Q: order qualifying, those aspects ofcompetitiveness, where performance has to be above a certain level even to be considered by the customer [11].

summarises the performance gap for each ofKenard Engineering's key customers (between!100 and #100, with a positive number imply-ing that manufacturing performance criteria hasbeen exceeded and a negative number implyingperformance needs to be improved). In particular, itwas revealed that for both delivery reliability anddelivery lead times, almost all the results showednegative gap values. In this particular case, deliverylead times can be further divided into delivery leadtimes for production and delivery lead times for themanufacture of prototypes, both needing to be re-duced in order to remain competitive. However, itcould be argued that it is more important to reducelead times of prototype components, since these arenearly always needed in a hurry and that in manycases the supplier selected to manufacture theprototype is invariably the supplier that ends upmanufacturing the production run. It is thereforeimportant to understand and to "nd ways of im-proving delivery performance, especially for proto-typing operations. For instance, it is generallyaccepted that there is more involved in the prepara-tion prior to manufacture of a prototype compon-ent, than in the preparation of a component that

has previously been manufactured. There are timebene"ts to be had by using CAD "le informationdirectly in the manufacturer's CAM system, assum-ing that the customer allows this transfer of data(which is more likely if he bene"ts from the reduc-tion in lead-times and possibly in cost). By makingsuch a gap analysis for each of the criteria thecompany identi"ed its future strategic aims/initiat-ives under each of the headings. A sample of these isshown in Table 3.

4.2. Key MIS requirements

To specify the requirements of the manufacturinginformation system (MIS) which is able to a!ect thede"ned strategic initiatives, it is essential that thereis a clear understanding of exactly what the stra-tegic initiatives are. This ensures that valid judge-ment is then made as to whether the strategicinitiatives will be achieved by the proposed solu-tion.

In considering the manufacturing informationsystem requirements that are able to satisfy stra-tegic initiatives, one should consider the appropri-ate MIS features for each functional group. Whilst


Table 3Sample strategic aims/initiatives table

Competitive per-formance criterion

Strategic aims Strategic initiatives

Delivery reliabil-ity

Improve delivery reliability andpredictability

Consider "nite capacity of person-nel Finite capacity of machine tools

Give operators explicit instructionConstant monitoring of job progress

Create stability Eliminate unknowns through im-proved planning

Implement preventative and plan-ned maintenance

Provide information to mini-mise time waste

Implement shop #oor MIS thatprovides all necessary operator in-formation

Information on tooling, "xture set-up written and visual prompts. In-tegrated information package

Establish accurate standardtimes

Implement MIS to monitor set-upand cycle times and to re establishstandard times as necessary. Moni-tor delivery performance

Improve time estimations by refer-ring to historical manufacturing in-formation and collected data

Eliminate time wasting Monitor machine tool perfor-mance. Time and attendance datacollection. Provide correct informa-tion

Full documentation of provenmanufacturing methods (Not re-inventing the wheel)

Delivery leadtimes (produc-tion)

Reduce production lead timesto less than that of competitors

Establish lead times with customer.Using customer CAD "les fordrawing modi"cations to aid re-programming speed and accuracy

Reduce lead times by accurate ca-pacity planning. Reduce lead timesby concurrent manufacturing

Encourage customers to provideany design change informationdirect from CAD system

Demonstrate speed and cost savingadvantages

Demonstrate information integrityand reduced prove out time

Eliminate time wasting Monitor machine tool perfor-mance. Time and attendance datacollection

Provide correct information. Tool-ing visual display

Delivery leadtimes (prototype)

Reduce prototyping lead timestoo less than that of competitors.

Using customer CAD "les to aidprogramming speed and accuracy

Recall historical data of similarparts or features

Encourage customer } supplierinformation exchange

Demonstrate bene"ts of early de-sign information

Value engineering (to reduce bothtime and cost)

the list of appropriate features for each of the func-tional groups as shown in Fig. 4 is not extensive, itdoes serve as a foundation from which to build:

f MIS features for the utilisation of plant and re-sources. The four basic MIS features that havebeen selected for improved utilisation of plantand resources are shop #oor information display,machine tool preventative maintenance, toolingmanagement and DNC "le management. Thesefeatures have been selected as they cover mostaspects of plant utilisation. However, it is accep-ted that MIS features or requirements can beadded to inde"nitely until any given strategicinitiative has been satis"ed. Another reason for

the selection of these basic MIS requirements isthat they are broad in de"nition and covera wide range of material within the topic. Forinstance, DNC "le management could includeprogramming and editing aids for the produc-tion of part programs as well as the ability totransfer part programs between machine toolsand the programming o$ce.

f MIS Features for the utilisation of collected data.The four basic MIS features that have been se-lected for improved utilisation of collected dataare time and attendance monitoring, deliveryperformance monitoring, machine tool perfor-mance monitoring and job costing. Again, thesefeatures have been selected as they cover most


Fig. 4. Identi"cation of key MIS requirements.

aspects of data collection, and in this area too itis accepted that MIS features or requirementscan be added to inde"nitely until strategic initi-ative has been satis"ed.

f MIS features for the additional system require-ments. The four basic MIS features that havebeen selected for additional system requirementsare rapid response facility, information gather-ing, software integration and inspection auditand control. These MIS features have been usedto illustrate the diversity of additional featuresthat can be used. The selection of additionalsystem requirements is seen as an over spill fromthe utilisation of plant and resources and theutilisation of collected data, rather than any fea-ture which does not "t into these two categories.In this case a MIS that has a rapid responsefacility has the features that are required to assistin providing a manufacturing rapid response ser-vice along with normal production controllingsystems. Similarly, a MIS that provides informa-tion gathering can be explained as having themechanism to manage the accumulation of datafrom information gained throughout the produc-tion life cycle for any given component. Al-though these MIS requirements are somewhatdiverse, and not at "rst glance obvious, theyserve to illustrate the purpose of this particularfunctional group.

It is next necessary to check each of the initiativesin turn to see if the basic MIS features are able, inprinciple, to satisfy them, which would by de"ni-

tion have the desired a!ect on the relevant competi-tive performance criteria. The overall #ow chart forthe veri"cation of key MIS requirements is shownin Fig. 5. In the case of Kenard Ltd, this helped toestablish a total of twelve key MIS requirements(Table 4). These act as a quick reference to identifythe strategic initiatives that have instigated the par-ticular key MIS requirement.

By de"ning the key MIS requirements it allowedthe management to look at the manufacturing in-formation systems on the market and to evaluatethem based on their strategic requirements, as illus-trated in Table 5 (this table is for the purpose ofdemonstration only } it has no general implicationregarding the features of any speci"c system).

Through this analysis the company identi"edtwo major areas where key MIS requirements hadnot been met by any of the system available (rapidresponse facility and job costing) and hence thecorresponding strategic initiatives that could not bedirectly supported. Due to the strategic implica-tions of these, the company made a decision topurpose-build a system that more closely sup-ported the requirements.

5. System implementation

The key MIS requirement list proved to be ex-tremely valuable in providing guidance to the de-sign and implementation of this system. In fact, theMIS has been designed and developed in sucha way that each of the 12 requirements has been


Fig. 5. Flow chart for the veri"cation of key MIS requirements.

cross-checked to ensure that relevant modules andfunctions were built into the system, so that all therequirements would be satisfactorily supported[12,13]. The following provide an overview of the

systems structure, and examples to illustrate howsome of the key requirements are supported by thesystem.

5.1. System structure

The analysis as outlined above helped KenardEngineering to develop its MIS named KIDS(Kenard Information and Data-collection System),with the overall objectives:

f To set up a direct data link via modem, so thatdrawing "les from customer's CAD system, canbe transmitted into the company's CAM systemwithout the need to edit or reconstruct drawingelements.

f To allow the transmitted CAD drawing elementsto be used to generate cutter paths ready forpost-processing to any suitable and availableCNC machine tool.

f To cut prototyping lead times, both by reducingCNC programming time and by reducing thetime for CNC program veri"cation at the proveout stage.

f To provide machine operators with job-relatedinformation in a focused and user-friendlymanner.

Essentially the KIDS system has evolvedfrom the integration and utilisation of stand-alone software that was already being used in theevery day operation of the company. The funda-mental essence of the KIDS system is to bringtogether existing and new software in an integratedway, resulting in the gathering and distributionof essential data and presenting such data in a fo-cused and task orientated way to satisfy the keyMIS requirements. The overall KIDS system struc-ture is shown in Fig. 6. It shows the companydatabase plus the proprietary software packagesproduction scheduling system, CAM and the CADsystem supplying data to the KIDS system. Inaddition, photographic information is supplied asa visual aid into the system. The gathering of shop-#oor information in the form of machine toolmonitoring and the booking of time spent by oper-ators on each job are fed back into the KIDSsystem.


Table 4Key MIS requirements verses strategic aims

Key MIS requirements Strategic aims

Shop-#oor information and display Promotion of information availability throughout the manufacturing processImprovement of small batch handling through reduction of programming proveout timeImprovement of small batch handling through set up time reductionEncourage customers to provide any design changes direct from CADEliminate time wastingImproved delivery reliability and predictabilityProvide information to minimise time wasteQuality standards to be improved above that of competitors thus safe guardingreputation of quality

Data collection and data monitoring Accurate and e$cient collection of manufacturing cycle time and all other manu-facturing costsAccurate and e$cient performance monitoringImproved method for the preparation of quotations through historical informa-tionReduce machine down time while waiting for inspection of "rst o!Establish accurate standard times

Rapid response facility Promotion of information sharing between customer to suppliersReduce production lead times to less than that of competitorsReduce prototyping lead times to less than that of competitors

Information gathering Promotion of information sharing between customer to suppliersDNC "le management Improvement of small batch handling through reduction of programming prove

out timeInspection audit and control Accommodate customer quality requirements in an e$cient and cost e!ective way

Quality standards to be improved above that of competitors thus safe guardingreputation of qualityReduce machine down time while waiting for inspection of "rst o!

Tooling management Provide information to minimise time wasteJob costing Costing implications for splitting and joining of batches

Accurate and e$cient collection of manufacturing cycle time and all other manu-facturing costsImproved method for the preparation of quotations through historical informa-tion

Preventative maintenance Create stabilitySoftware integration Promotion of system integration within organisation

Promotion of system integration with all customersAccurate and e$cient collection of manufacturing cycle time and all other manu-facturing costs

Machine tool performance monitoring Establish accurate standard timesEliminate time wastingImprovement of small batch handling through set up time reductionAccurate and e$cient collection of manufacturing cycle time and all other manu-facturing costs

Delivery monitoring Improve delivery reliability and predictabilityEstablish accurate standard times

5.2. Management and utilisation of plant andresources

This section illustrates KIDS' ability to satisfysome of the key requirements under this heading.

For example, when "rst deciding on the way inwhich information should be accessed and dis-played, it was considered important that the userfound the system easy to operate and understand,as well as providing readily assessable relevant


Table 5Example of system evaluation according to key requirements

Key MIS requirements Mori SeikiMSC 518

Dialog Dlog. ERT Seiki GNT DNCMax

Alta systemsreal vision

Techsystems

Shop-#oor Informationdisplay

@ @ @ @ @

Shop-#oor datacollection

@ @ @

2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Other featuresEdit facility @ @ @ @ @ @Photographs displayed @ @ @ @2 2 2 2 2 2 2

information to the task in hand, so that the userwould have more incentive to use the `newa systemif system provided useful information in a logicaland e$cient way.

Traditionally, Kenard Engineering and mostmanufacturers of machined mechanical compo-nents have issued job cards/route cards, as detailedas required, with each batch of components laun-ched on the shop #oor. Within Kenard Engineeringthis paper document had evolved from carryingbasic instruction for what were essentially basicjobs, for example, &rough and "nish turn complete',to providing more sophisticated information. Itwas decided that the MIS would mimic some of thetraditional approaches, both in operation and invisual presentation, This would allow the operatorof the system to feel immediately at home, and ableto relate with the proposed MIS system. By ad-opting this approach the traditional Kenard jobcard has been used as the front menu for obtainingfocused task-centred information required to sat-isfy the management and utilisation of plant andresources. Hence, the system has been designed soas to provide the following information:

f Job cards } manufacturing documentation.f CAM information } cutter paths, feeds and

speeds.f Photographs } component and "xture recogni-

tion.f Drawings } stage manufacturing drawings and"nal drawings.

f Scheduling information } machine work-to-listsand forward visibility.

f Machine tool information } capacity, achievabletolerances.

f Tooling information } tools required, cutter life,feeds and speeds.

f Part Programs } proved or unproved "les, recentedits.

The component job card, taken from thedatabase, acts as the menu for the selection anddisplaying of information. This simple approach toinformation selection via the job card has beenreadily accepted by all users, and has allowed thesystem to evolve when information from othersources has been integrated.

5.3. Management and utilisation of shop yoorcollected data

Four of the key MIS requirements that are listedunder management and utilisation of shop-#oorcollected data are data collection and datamonitoring, delivery performance monitoring, ma-chine tool monitoring and job costing. All of thesekey MIS requirements rely on receiving informa-tion from the shop #oor. Receiving accurate in-formation from the shop #oor is equally asimportant as providing accurate information to theshop #oor. It could be argued that receiving falseform information from the shop #oor by way ofcollected data could be more detrimental to the


Fig. 6. Overall structure of KIDS.


Fig. 7. Visual display of machine tool monitoring.

overall manufacturing function than supplying in-adequate information, since false information re-ceived could lull the operator into a false sense ofsecurity. Consequently, shop #oor data collectionand monitoring has been designated as a key MISrequirement.

In particular, delivery performance measuring isseen as the overall measure of delivery reliabilitywithin the company. The seven companies thatparticipated in the Kenard Engineering customersurvey each monitor their suppliers in di!erentways. On one extreme some customers appear notto be monitoring their suppliers at all, and on theother extreme some customers have fairly complexways in which they measure delivery performance,the results of which are taken seriously. In mostcases information required for delivery perfor-mance measuring can be obtained from the com-pany database, since information such as date oforder placement, due date and customer date de-livered are readily available for every job. However,

in a particular case the way in which the customer'ssuppliers are o$cially monitored is complex, in-volving additional information to be retrieved fromthe database. At this stage only basic delivery per-formance information has been made availablewithin the KIDS systems. This information hasbeen obtained from the company database andthen entered into the KIDS microsoft jet enginedatabase where delivery monitoring parametersthat are speci"c to each customer are displayed.

So far as the machine operational data are con-cerned, the system collects, in real time, and dis-plays machine tool cycle times in the form ofa Gantt chart, together with the relevant job cardand if necessary a photograph of the componentbeing machined (Fig. 7). The Gantt chart can beseen for one particular machining centre and thecycle time length of three di!erent pallets is dis-played. This display can be called up on any of theKIDS workstations either on or away from theshop #oor. A machine tool can be selected and


Fig. 8. KIDS visual display of costing/calculation menu.

monitored to see if the machine tool is operating,and operating times compared with the standardtimes that have been set. It is also possible to checkthe same information from a remote location awayfrom the manufacturing facility through the use ofa modem.

A related requirement to the above job costing.The ability to be able to calculate the cost formanufacture of a component is paramount in thesubcontracting manufacturing environment. A sys-tem for the initial cost estimation that is accurate,consistent, e!ective and quick, is important whendealing in a competitive market environment.Equally, to be able to e$ciently collect the datanecessary to be able to accurately calculate the truemanufacture is important. Job costing which en-compasses both the initial estimation of the cost ofcomponent manufacture and the calculation of theactual cost of manufacture upon completion, hasbeen identi"ed as a key MIS requirement forKenard. The KIDS costing system has been de-signed to enable the user to retrieve historical datafrom the company database. This can include past

job cards of manufactured components identifyingthe equipment used at that time together with thestandard time and actual time taken for each op-eration. This together with stored photograph anddrawing "les when available, enables the user to usethe system as a historical reference, proving ex-tremely useful for cost estimation of similar compo-nents. Manufacturing instructions of all parts madeare broken down into individual operations. Whencompleted, these instructions are stored/archivedand can be recalled to reveal the associated cost ofeach individual operation calculated. This is parti-cularly useful for the cost estimation of new partsthat have similar features or characteristics to partsmachined in the past, as shown in Fig. 8.

5.4. Additional system enhancements

A particularly important strategic requirementwas the ability to provide a rapid response facilityfor prototyping services. With time to market pres-sures, early design of component parts are neededfor evaluation. Typically, in the early stages of


Fig. 9. KIDS shop-#oor information and display (rapid response facility).

development small quantities of parts, sometimesonly one o!, are required urgently to evaluate be-fore proceeding with the next development stage.The pressure is on for the designer to producea drawing of the part as quickly as possible and themanufacturer to make it as quickly as possible.

The KID system handles the rapid response in-formation transmitted from customers througha process called `information chaina. The customerprovides three-dimensional CAD "les in IGES for-mat of the component part that is required by rapidresponse, via an Internet service provider. The "le isviewed on the Kenard CAD and price and deliveryis given to the customer. If necessary KIDS Costingcould have been used for this purpose. Once a priceand delivery has been agreed, the relevant drawing"le is copied from CAD system to the CAM system.At this stage material is obtained and if necessarythe CAD "le is plotted. Because prede"ned para-meters have already been set, all drawing tolerancesare known together with material speci"cationsand surface "nishes etc. The relevant pro"les arecaptured within the CAM system and cutter paths

are simulated. A tooling list is automatically gener-ated within the CAM database and identi"cationnumbers assigned. Once the CAM used is happywith the cutter path simulation, the CAM "le ispostprocessed for the designated machine tool onwhich the component will be manufactured. Con-currently, customer order details are entered intothe Company database and a production engineerwrites the component job card, which is identi"edas a rapid response job. The production engineerdecides on how the component will be manufac-tured, assigning the number of operations, the ma-chine tools to be used and estimating the standardtime for each operation. If the appropriate machinetool is available the machine tool operator can bealerted and the KIDS system interrogated the to"nd the rapid response job card. At this stage thereshould be on the system, a detailed manufacturingdescription ( job card), the customers drawing,a tooling list, a cutter path simulation, and the partprogram "le which has been identi"ed as an unpro-ven "le. By using such a facilities, together withworking closely with customers, manufacturing


Table 6Component life cycle verse information gathering

Customercomponent life cycle

Typical batch size Customerresponse/requirements

Manufacturersresponse/requirements

KIDS

Prototype 1 CAD "le Rapid response valueengineer

Display prototype job card

Display cutter pathsDisplay prototype drawingDisplay initial tool list

Certi"cation. 3 Revised CAD "le Quick response Display revised job cardDisplay revised cutter pathsDisplay drawingDisplay revised tool listDisplay photograph of part

Pre-production 10 Revised CAD "le Re"ne manufacturingmethods

Display revised job card

Display revised cutter pathsDisplay revised drawingDisplay revised tool listDisplay photograph of partDisplay "xture photograph

Production 20 Cost justi"cation Optimise manufacturingmethods

Display optimised job card

Display optimised cutterpathsDisplay drawingDisplay optimised tool listDisplay photograph of partDisplay "xture photographDisplay stage drawingsDisplay critical dimensions

Increased prod. 50 Decrease cost Additional optimisation As above plus:Display "xture set upInformation on productionproblemsInspection history

Decreased prod. 20 Maintain cost Reduce set up times As above plus:any optimisations madeduring full production.

Spares 5 Reluctant price increase,no manufacturing details

Recall manufacturingmethodology

All past information heldwithin KIDS

lead times can be reduced signi"cantly, therebyplaying an important part in helping customers toreduce the time their designs are used in the marketplace. Fig. 9 shows a typical component that hasbeen manufactured under the rapid response facil-ity, showing a graphical display of cutter, a cutterpath, the job card, together with the part program"le (unproven) and the customers drawing of thecomponent.

When a component is "rst manufactured, in-formation is gathered in the form of CAD "les ordrawings from customers, from which a job card iswritten etc. The same is true if the component ismanufactured under normal conditions other thanthe rapid response facility. With components thatstart as development components, it is hopedthat pre-production and then production runs willfollow. It is recognised that as the product


matures and with the experience of various produc-tion runs, continuous improvements to manufac-turing techniques can be introduced. But in orderto do so, information needs to be gathered andre"ned as the components pass through their respect-ive life cycles. Table 6 shows typical informationgathering and displays the various stages of a cus-tomer's component life cycle on the KIDS system.

6. Conclusion

Demands on manufacturing industry to providequality, #exibility and to reduce costs haveput pressures on manufacturing companies to im-prove productivity. These demands, coupled withcomputer hardware and software advances, haveencouraged MIS development. As a result, therole and importance of MIS within the manufactur-ing environment have changed dramatically in re-cent years. However, the initial design of sucha system must be very carefully considered, becausethe way in which it is structured and organised willhave a profound e!ect on the way in which in-formation can be delivered and utilised to supportthe company's strategic aims. This paper hasattempted to address the key question of how tologically link the strategic and MIS requirements.The application of the proposed approach hashelped the case company to develop an integratedsystem to e!ectively support its strategic intentions,which has enabled the company to: improve proto-typing quality and lead time, by down-loadingdirectly engineering information from customer'sCAD system to be used to generate cutter pathsready for postprocessing; improve cost controlby providing on-line data collection and real-time analysis; and increase operational e$ciencyby providing operators with job-related informa-tion in a focused and user-friendly manner.Due to its success, the system was given the UKMachinery Award for Innovation in ProductionEngineering, for being `the most innovative

application of computer technology in the manu-facturing environment [14]a.

References

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[2] B. Wu, Manufacturing Systems Design and Analysis,Context and Techniques, 2nd Edition, Chapman & Hall,London, 1994.

[3] B. Wu, R. Hull, A task-centred methodology to support anintegrated and open computer-aided manufacturing sys-tems design environment, Proceedings of the InternationalConference on Manufacturing Automation, 1997, HongKong.

[4] R. Gumaer, Beyond ERP and MRP II, IIE Solutions(1996) 32}35.

[5] B. Hecht, Choose the right ERP software, Datamation(1997) 56}58.

[6] D.A. Hicks, The manager's guide to supply chain andlogistics problem-solving tools and techniques } part II:tools, companies and industries, IIE Solutions (1997)24}27.

[7] E.R. Puchalski, ERP help manufacturers control theirbusinesses, I&CS (1997), 63}66.

[8] B. Wu, Y.L. Chang, A structured approach to the selectionof ERP solutions, Proceedings of the Logistics ResearchNetwork 1998 Conference, Cran"eld, 1998, UK, pp.410}419.

[9] B. Wu, R. Ellis, The structure and implementation ofa task-centred manufacturing information system forsmall-to-medium-sized engineering companies, Interna-tional Conference on Manufacturing Automation, ICMA97, Hong Kong.

[10] B. Wu, R. Ellis, Manufacturing strategically driven analy-sis and implementation of an integrated MIS, Proceed-ings of The Third International Conference } ManagingInnovative Manufacturing, MIM'98, University of Nottin-gham, 1998, UK.

[11] N. Slack, Manufacturing Advantage, Gold Arrow Publica-tions Limited, London, 1991.

[12] B. Wu, An overview of the technical requirements for anintegrated computer-aided manufacturing systems designenvironment, International Journal of ManufacturingSystems Design 2 (1) (1995) 61}72.

[13] Machinery and Production Engineering, KIDS } the newgeneration (1997) 103}104.

[14] Machinery Market, Machining centres, (1998) 12.


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