manufacturing process research

Guidelines for Project Paper

Objective

The objective this paper is to learn about the decision process how to select a suitable manufacturing process. Particularly students are expected to conduct a thorough analysis of a manufactured part (an assembly) and suggest changes in the component design to improve the manufacturability of the product. Material selection, evaluation of alternate manufacturing process, cost considerations, implementation of design for manufacture and assembly and sustainable manufacturing principles must be used in the selection of the alternate manufacturing process.

Background

Design engineers select a material based on the functional requirement, product specification and operation environment. They must select an optimum material and configuration so that the product performs properly. They should also design the product by considering factors such as cost, assembly, aesthetics, maintenance and etc.

Similarly, manufacturing Engineers work alongside with designers to produce a manufacturable product which best suits for economic and quality production of the product with the specified quantity as prescribed by sales and marketing.

Therefore, in product development Engineers often work both on the functionality and the manufacturability aspects in addition to the total costs and environmental aspects of the product in solving the material selection task. These issues should be addressed on this term paper.

Required

An assembly which has different materials including: steel, cast iron, polymers, and or composite materials)

Procedure

1. Select an assembled product to analyze.

2. Virtually disassemble the product.

3. List each part in a table (see the sample table at the end of this instruction)

4. For each part listed - identify possible materials used and which can be used in order to manufacture the part

5. List all the possible manufacturing processes which can be used to produce the part.

6. Virtually reassemble the product estimate the time for the assembly of each component to the whole.

Your report should be 15-20 pages (excluding the tile page, the abstract, table of contents, and references).

The following major components must be included in the papers structure.

1. Title page,

2. Abstract (30-50 words)

3. Table of content

4. Introduction,

5. Discussion about the selected assembly its functions, shape, material, manufacturing process and etc.

6. Your personal observation, recommendation and suggestions to improve the function, materials selected and the manufacturing process

7. Results and Conclusion

8. References,

What to include on the discussion part of your report? Append the following to your report:

Table of parts for your product, types of materials used to produce the part. Choose one major component of your product and complete the following:

As a Mechanical /Design Engineer:

1. Prepare an engineering drawing or a neat free-hand sketch of the assembly and its components.

2. Discuss the function of the assembly. The functions of each component in the assembly. Under what conditions must it operate, etc.

3. The correlation between the function of the part and its shape, the existing mechanisms and how it assembly or the mechanism works.

4. Describe the major considerations involved in selecting the material used. What material/s might you suggest as substitute for the part.

5. What design considerations would you ponder, to simplify the operation of the part to ease the assembly or maintenance of the part. Discuss why the suggested new configuration/design of the part/assembly is better.

6. Generate an alternate part design and manufacturing plans for the assembly and evaluate the alternate designs using design decision matrices.

As a manufacturing/Industrial engineer: (Answers for each point in your report)

1. Describe in detail the manufacturing processes required to obtain the finished individual component chosen in step 2 above.

2. Describe the final assembly processes required for the whole product for batch production.

3. Describe the manufacturing process required for the whole product for mass production (when a very large quantity) of this product is to be produced on a production line.

4. How issues such as cost, manufacturability, maintainability and assembly, are addressed in your decisions

5. What can you say about other product requirements such as: aesthetics, ergonomics, environmental friendliness, and etc.

Table

XYZ - Assembly

List of components in the assembly	Function of the part	Shape of the part	Materials used to manufacture	Existing manufacturing process	Alternate material/s to be used	Alternate manufacturing process	Remark

Evaluation criteria

No	Criteria	Weight
1	Overall paper structure and write up	2
2	Selection and evaluation of a product design	2
3	Design Sketches	1
4	Alternate materials selection and evaluation	2
5	Alternate manufacturing selection and evaluation	2
6	Personal reflection and conclusion	1

Some important sources of Information.

· Kalpakjan, S. & Schmid, S., Manufacturing Engineering and Technology (our text book)

· Marinsecu and Boothroyd, Product Design for Manufacture and Assembly

· Mangohon, P., The Principles of Materials Selection for Engineering Design.

· Strong, A. B., Plastics, Materials and Processing.

· https://www.xcentricmold.com/downloads/The-Smart-Guide-to-Designing-For-Manufacturability.pdf

· http://www2.mae.ufl.edu/designlab/Lab%20Assignments/EML2322L%20Design%20&%20Manufacturing%20Tips.pdf