MANUFACTURING SYSTEM

Manufacturing basically implies making of goods or articles and providing services to meet the needs of mankind. It creates value by useful application of physical and mental-labor in the process. It is a chain of interrelated activities of production process and other support services activities of an manufacturing environment such as order processing, product design, design and manufacturing of tools, die, mould, jigs, fixtures and gauges, selection of material, planning, managing and maintaining control of the processes, production, and reliable quality of processed product in a systematic and sequential manner with proper coordination, cooperation and integration of the whole manufacturing system that will lead to economical production and effective marketing of proposed product in the minimum possible time. It is, therefore, evident that manufacturing today is not a one man activity as it was in the initial stages, wherein all the physical and mental inputs were applied by a single craftsman. These days it has become totally a team work which consists of several components interacting together in a dynamic manner. This entire domain of manufacturing is known as Manufacturing System, which takes the required inputs and delivers the products for the customer. It is, therefore, evident that manufacturing today is not a one man activity as it was in the preliminary stages, wherein all the physical and mental inputs were provided by a single workman. Today it is a team work which consists of several components interacting together in a dynamic manner to provide the required physical and mental inputs at appropriate stages to impart desired results. This entire domain of manufacturing is known as Manufacturing System, which takes the required inputs and delivers the products for the customer. Manufacturing system requires a large number of activities, few independent and rests mostly interrelated. The manufacturing activities in a manufacturing system jointly contribute towards economic and qualitatively acceptable production of desired articles in minimum possible time. As per the need of the customer, the products are identified and their demands are determined roughly for market forecast by considering present and future competition.

Products that may render the desired service over its expected life satisfactorily as per requirement of customers are identified in terms of their demand, conceived and developed for securing orders by the sales department. Once the product design activity is over and the design finalized from all angles, functional, aesthetic, material selection, safety, economy, etc., it is followed by preparation of production drawings of the product assembly and its components including a bill of materials. This is the stage where a make or buy decision has to be taken in order to decide as to which components are to be bought from outside and which are to be manufactured within the concern. It is followed by process planning i.e. selection of the best process and an its parameters, design of jigs, fixtures and dies, selection of tooling, programming of tool path as per need, for the components to be produced in-house. An important activity in process planning within the organization is also to involve latest research and development findings, through which the old processes are improved and new one’s are developed in order to ensure better quality and economic production. The interaction of different manufacturing activities in a manufacturing system can also be further enhanced by the use of computer and hence leading CIM. The real manufacturing or production activity is carried out on the shop. The layout of the shop floor has a significant influence on the tools required to be coordinated in order to an economical and high quality production of various components. It should be such that it ensures timely movement of raw materials, dies moulds, jigs and fixtures and finished components, adequate safety to men, material and machinery, enables timely inspection and quality control and minimizes handling time for material and parts, etc. During actual manufacturing a lot of different activities are called management function. Various engineers play an important role in the organizational function of a manufacturing concern. They are required to ensure proper movement of the material, tools and parts as per their specialized jobs in industry.

Reference Introduction to basic Manufacturing Processes and Workshop Technology by Rajender Singh.

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