INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES

STRAREGIES FOR CONCURRENT DESIGN OF PRODUCT AND RELATED PROCESSES

ABSTRACT: The current paper focus on the issues related to the consideration and application of manufacturing knowledge during product design through integrated product and process design. This approach is expected to result in a more producible product leading to reduced time to market, better quality and a lower total cost. The paper also present a long term research plan which concentrate on the application of basic concepts of design for manufacture, feature based design and computer assisted tools for automation with the help of feature technology in order to identify strategies for the utilization of manufacturing knowledge and information about the available manufacturing recourses during the design of the product. The process of development of automated methodologies / procedures for the implementation of these strategies resulting in the application of manufacturing knowledge and related information during product design is also highlighted Key words: Design. 1. Introduction In the past, design and manufacturing tasks have been performed independently and the designer designs a product and sends it over the wall to the manufacturing personnel to produce. There is no interaction between the designer and manufacturer and often what results is a design that is difficult to produce with the existing resources, in particular using automation. However for the current manufacturing industries which are characterized by global competition, this approach of design is found to be unsuitable. This is because of the fact that, currently product design is driven by the need to create new and better products to achieve the following often conflicting goals; high quality, low cost and short delivery time. For achieving these conflicting but essential goals, the consideration, calculation and optimization of product manufacturability during the preliminary stages of design are critical and very much necessary[4]. The significant and essential requirement for the manufacturing organizations is the collaboration between all aspects of the engineering functions, from product conception to the delivery of product. By tapping into the expertise of all engineering areas it is possible to provide a high quality design of products which will be much easier to reliably manufacture in an automated system. In this regard, Concurrent Engineering (CE) receives attention as a systematic approach to integrated, concurrent design of products and their related processes, including manufacture and support. This approach is intended to cause the product developers, from the outset, to consider all elements of the product life cycle from conception through disposal, including quality, cost, schedule, and user requirements. Concurrent Engineering is a Page 1 Design for Manufacturing, Manufacturing Feature, Feature based

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES product development philosophy which aims at following: shorter lead times, higher quality, lower costs, and consideration of the total life cycle of the product. Concurrent Engineering brings together multidisciplinary teams, in which product developers from different functions work together and in parallel. Sometimes, only design engineers and manufacturing engineers are involved in Concurrent Engineering. In other cases, the crossfunctional teams include representatives from purchasing, marketing, production, quality assurance and other functional groups. Sometimes customers and suppliers are also included in the team. In this approach for product development, input is obtained from as many functional areas as possible before the specifications are finalized. Multidisciplinary groups acting together early in the workflow can take informed and agreed decisions relating to product, process, cost and quality issues. They can make trade-offs between design features, part manufacturability, assembly requirements, material needs, reliability issues, serviceability requirements, and cost and time constraints. Differences are more easily reconciled early in design. However, the above discussions indicate that the major requirement of concurrent engineering approach is the formation of high level multidisciplinary committee and their prolonged interactions. This does not satisfy the need of the current manufacturing industries in terms of automation of its activities. Hence, for optimizing the design process in the era of automation, the philosophy of concurrent engineering needs to be transformed into automated methods which can be implemented as product design methodologies for concurrent design of product and its related processes. Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Feature Based Design (FBD) through Feature Technology are two concepts which support the application of manufacturing knowledge during design and implementation of some of the ideas comprised in Concurrent Engineering. In addition the computer assisted tools of automation such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), solids modeling, and Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP) not only support the purpose of integrating design and manufacturing activities but also results in execution of these activities automatically. Feature technology is an emerging field which is expected to support the transfer of information between design and manufacturing activities. With this idea a long term research plan is identified which focus on the following two aspects Application of basic concepts of design for manufacture, feature based design and computer assisted tools for automation with the help of feature technology in order to identify strategies for the application of manufacturing knowledge and information about the available manufacturing recourses during the design of the product and The development of automated methodologies / procedures for the implementation of these strategies resulting in the consideration and application of manufacturing knowledge and related information during product design. The current work is a part of this research activity which concentrates on the above mentioned concepts and automation tools which are employed for applying manufacturing knowledge during product design. A description about these is given below along with a plan, highlighting the possibilities of developing an automated system for this purpose. 2. Design for manufacturing. In broader and general terms Design for manufacturability (DFM) is the process of proactively designing products to: a) optimize all the manufacturing functions: fabrication, assembly test, procurement, shipping, service, and repair; b) assure the best cost, quality, reliability, regulatory compliance, safety, time to market, and customer satisfaction; and c) ensure that lack of manufacturability doesnt compromise functionality, styling, new product introductions, product delivery, improvement programs, strategic Page 2

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES initiatives, and unexpected surges in product demand [1]. DFM is the engineering approach of designing products in such a way that they are easy to manufacture. It this approach of product design an attempt will be made to systematically include considerations of manufacturability in the design process. It means this design practice not only focuses on the design aspect of a part but also on its manufacturability. More precisely, DFM has been defined as full range of policies, techniques, practices and attitudes that cause a product to be designed for the optimum manufacturing cost, optimum achievement of manufactured quality and optimum achievement of product life cycle support, serviceability, reliability and recyclables. The design stage is very important in product life cycle. Most of the product lifecycle costs are committed at design stage. To be specific, it has been identified that nearly 75-90% of the total product cost is determined when the design is released for production. Typically a design engineer will create a model or design and send it to manufacturing for review and invite feedback. This process is called as design review. If this process is not followed the product may fail at manufacturing stage. Depending on various types of manufacturing processes there are set guidelines for DFM practices. These DFM guidelines help to precisely define various tolerances, rules and common manufacturing checks related to DFM. If these DFM guidelines are not followed, it will result in iterative design, loss of manufacturing time and overall resulting in longer time to market. The major objectives of DFM approach are to: 1) identify product concepts that are inherently easy to manufacture 2) focus on component design for ease for manufacture and assembly 3) integrate product design and process design to ensure best matching needs and requirements. DFM seeks to identify suitable materials and manufacturing processes for component parts being considered for products design. DFM for its implementation needs the following: a) organizational changes, b) systematic design principles and c) common CAD methodology and framework for evaluation of product design and product development. 3. Manufacturability evaluation In general terms, manufacturability can be defined as an indication of the effort required for manufacturing the product Evaluating the manufacturability of a product design involves determining whether or not it is manufacturability with a given set of machining operations and if it is, determining the associated manufacturing efficiency. Since there can be different ways of manufacturing a proposed design this requires that operation plans related to these different ways to manufacture it should be considered, in order to determines which one meets the design and manufacturing objectives. The manufacturability of a product in the earlier design can be measured in terms of manufacturing time, costs and resources. Given a set of manufacturing resources and product information, the problem of manufacturability evaluation is reduced to determining whether or not the design is manufacturability. 4. Feature Based Design Feature technology, is expected to be able to provide an adequate basis for the integration of design and the subsequent applications such as engineering analysis, process planning, machining and inspection. The term feature can be described as a distinctive or characteristic part of the component under consideration, defining a geometrical shape, which is either specific for a machining process or can be used for fixturing and measuring purposes. It is a generic shape which carries some engineering meaning and functions and act as a carrier of product information which may aid design or communication between design and manufacturing, or between other engineering tasks. Each feature of a part is associated with some feature attributes such as dimensions, tolerances, etc. A product model can be built by using features, which is known as design by features or feature based design / modeling. One can start either with a more Page 3

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES or less complete geometric model and define features on it or one starts from a scratch by combining features from a standard library. After identifying the features of the part, the user is required to enter part design data, feature-by-feature starting from either end of the part i.e. parts are constructed by a sequence of feature attachment operations. While adding a feature, it is necessary to check for any changes in the existing features which interact with it. When there is an interaction between two features, the validity of the involved features needs to be checked in order to ensure that they are consistent with their definition. From a design point of view, feature based design has a much better potential for computer support of the design process than current non-feature based CAD systems do. Features are meaningful elements for designers and the use of them can speed up the design process as well as provide a means for standardization, thus reducing cost and time-to-market. Other advantages which can be expected from feature based design are improvement of the quality of design and a better interface with applications such as process planning and analysis since features can contain manufacturing oriented information. Feature-based representation scheme serves as a common medium needed to implement concurrent product and process design, since, it can represent important requirements of downstream activities in the design stage itself. Despite the promises of feature based design, it has not yet reached its expectations, as there is no finite set of features in design and the meaning of feature depends upon the domain of application. This necessitates a need to carry out research in this direction to enhance the capabilities of feature technology for creating multiple views of product structure in terms of application of specific features by means of feature recognition /conversion steps at various stages of product life cycle. 5. Tools of Automation Computer aided automation tools can assist in the economic development of multiple design alternatives as well as the evaluation of these alternatives. These design tools include Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), solids modeling, and Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP). CAD/CAE aids the designer in developing and analyzing design alternatives with cost effectiveness. CAD/CAE and expert system tools can utilize manufacturing guidelines to develop producible designs. Solids modeling helps the designer visualize the individual part; understand part relationships, orientation and clearances during assembly; and detect errors and assembly difficulties. Computer-aided process planning can be used during the development of the product design to help the designer assess the manufacturability of a design. With a CAPP system this kind of manufacturing assessment would usually be performed only when the design was released for production. 6. Manufacturing features A feature is a fundamental entity in design and manufacturing. From different views we can associate different properties to the feature. In general the meaning of features all too often depends on the domain of applications. For product design, features constitute a set of geometric elements that carries certain significance in production functionality. For example, a rib is a design feature to strengthen the stiffness of a part and is therefore defined as a design feature. In design, a feature is mappable to a geometric shape with dimension parameters and enumeration of topological entities / relations, or in terms of construction steps to produce the geometry of the feature. From the view of manufacturing, a feature can be expressed in terms of the ways it can be produced. Features provide natural means to associate domain knowledge. For example, features are readily associated with manufacturing processes. For a product the manufacturing features are the volumes which are removed by one or a series of operations. For example a hole is produced by drilling operation and a slot by milling. Hence, a feature is regarded as a local shape of a product directly related to the manufacturing process and they can therefore be called manufacturing Page 4

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES features. Design and manufacturing features in many cases differ from each other Manufacturing processes can be modeled as a sequence of feature operations in geometry where the workpiece blank model is changed to a finished part model step by step. In order to generate manufacturing features on the workpiece model, manufacturing resources such as machine tools, cutting tools and fixtures etc. are required. Manufacturing feature information can also be used for setup planning, sequencing of operations and NC code generation. For a feature geometric, accuracy, surface finish and technological information is represented in such form that it leads to the process selection and manufacturing resource specification. The application of features has become a standard part of assembly design, designfor-manufacture, process planning, inspection planning, finite element mesh generation etc.[3] In the case of manufacturing applications, features must be defined in a form that supports the planning and execution of various types of manufacturing processes on the modeled product. Manufacturing features like holes, slots, pockets, edge chamfers and keyways are widely used for machining applications. 7. Literature survey on Features based Design and Manufacturing Manufacturing features and feature-based representations have become a prime area of research on manufacturing systems, largely due to their ability to model communications between design information and manufacturing operations. However, several research issues still must be addressed in order to fit feature technologies into a systematic framework for manufacturing organizations. Considerable research works are being carried out in this direction. A sample of reported works is presented below. Belay [1] has presented a paper whose aim is to analyze different product development methods specifically on Design for Manufacturability and Concurrent Engineering. Companies can achieve and be benefited by minimizing product life cycle, cost and meeting delivery schedule. This paper also presents simplified models that can be modified and used by different companies based on the companies objective and requirements. Methodologies that are followed to do this research are case studies. Two companies were taken and analysed on the product development process. From this research, it has been found that the two companies did not achieve the delivery time to the customer. Some of most frequently coming products are analyzed and 50% to 80 % of their products are not delivered on time to the customers. The companies are following the traditional way of product development that is sequentially design and production method, which highly affect time to market. In the case study it is found that by implementing these new methods and by forming multi disciplinary team in designing and quality inspection; the company can reduce the workflow steps from 40 to 30. Hoque and Szecsi [2, 3] have explored the application of feature-based representation and design in the area of Design-formanufacture. The idea is to incorporate parameterized geometry of features, the description of the manufacturing process to produce the feature (including machine tool, cutting tool, cutting conditions, possible fixture, production volume), relative cost information, design limitations, functionality rules, and links to Design-for-manufacture rules at the early stages of design. The designers select features from manufacturing feature libraries. Upon insertion, the system ensures that Design functionality and Design-for-manufacture rules are applied in real time during the actual design process. The designers are warned if they attempt to include features that are difficult to manufacture or violate functionality rules. Muljadi et al [6] have also proposed a feature library that is able to manage the knowledge of process planners. By enabling the management of the knowledge of process planners, the proposed feature library may be useful to support the generation of process plans. Bramall et al [4] have introduced an aggregate planning method, which translates early product characteristics into manufacturing requirements, forms the basis of a new intelligent support system Page 5

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES for which the manufacturing evaluation, optimization and reporting functions are described. For the early evaluation of manufacturing scenarios, it allows integrated product and process design teams to evaluate rapidly the manufacturing requirements of a partially specified design based on these important criteria The system intelligently explores the many alternative processing technologies and equipment choices available, seeking solutions that best satisfy a multi-criteria objective function encapsulating quality, cost, delivery and knowledge criteria. The designer is thus presented with the opportunity to redefine the design elements or process specifications, which would yield the greatest improvements in production Xue and Dong [5] have introduced a feature modeling system using two types of features, design features and manufacturing features, for modeling these two product life-cycle aspects. Design features, represented as mechanical components and mechanisms, are used for modeling design candidates to satisfy design functions. A design feature coding system is developed based on the analysis of design functions. A fuzzy pattern clustering algorithm is employed to organize the large design feature library into hierarchical feature groups. Required design features are identified using graphbased search. A manufacturing feature is a geometric element to be produced. A manufacturing feature coding system is developed based on the analysis of product geometry and production operations. A group-technology-like approach is introduced to organize components into groups according to their manufacturing feature codes using a fuzzy clustering algorithm. Production operations are optimized by a special optimization module. The two coding systems have been implemented in a feature-based, integrated concurrent design system for generating design candidates and planning production processes. Owodunni et al [7] have also presented an Extendible Classification of Design and Manufacturing Features Salomons, et al [8] have reviewed research in feature-based design and report that Feature-based design is regarded as a key factor towards CAD/CAPP integration from a process planning point of view. From a design point of view, feature based design offers possibilities for supporting the design process better than current CAD systems do. Features and their role in the design process and as representatives of design-objects and design-object knowledge are also discussed. The main research issues related to feature-based design are outlined. These are: feature representation, features and tolerances, feature validation, multiple viewpoints of features and feature standardization. The conclusion is that more research is needed for a better support of the design process and better integration with manufacturing, although major advances have already been made. T. Szecsi [9] has presented a work about the development of a new design system that allows the composition of a design from manufacturability features. The system contains several modules: hierarchical design-for-manufacture rule system, manufacturing feature library, manufacturing feature-based design module, designer advisory module, manufacturing feature recognition module, and design analysis module. Chen and Wei [10] have presented a feature-based design for a manufacturing framework which is able to support the practice of concurrent engineering. Knowledge-based and object-oriented modeling technologies are employed to develop design evaluation facilities. An object-oriented product model, embedded with product design and process knowledge, is constructed and used for design evaluation. Geometric reasoning is performed on features, feature interactions, and overall shape to identify areas that may conflict with design principles. 8. Proposed work The available literature reveals that there is an urgent need for the development of a system that provides automated procedures and databases which support the application of manufacturing knowledge and related information during the design of the products. To focus on this issue a research work is identified which concentrate on following objectives. Page 6

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES 1. to highlight the significance of consideration of manufacturability aspects of a product during its design 2. to evaluate the concepts of design for manufacture and feature based design for their suitability to use as means of incorporating manufacturing aspects and information during design 3. to exploit the capabilities of feature technology for integrating the design and manufacturing activities 4. to automate the process of integration of design and manufacturing The proposed work involve the following major tasks 1. Compilation of knowledge and information related to manufacturing features, manufacturing resources and manufacturability aspects in well defined forms and arrange them systematically in databases 2. Identify strategies and procedures for the application of manufacturing knowledge and necessary information during design 3. Development of computer programs to automate the process of utilizing manufacturing knowledge during design of a product to ensure its production with better quality and optimal cost and time. 8. Conclusion In an increasingly competitive world the consideration of manufacturing knowledge during product design through integrated product and process design may be the ultimate way to distinguish a company's capabilities, since it result in better customer service. This is possible due to the fact that the integration of product and process design will result in a more producible product to better meet customer needs, a quicker and smoother transition to manufacturing leading to reduced time to market better quality and a lower total cost. Hence, the integration of product and process design with resource capability is becoming an important aspect of controlling cost and product quality during early design. The ability to identify quickly and automatically the necessary manufacturing resources and quantify the manufacturing variables is an important part of achieving the concurrent product and process design In this regard Design for Manufacturability and Feature based design concepts and computer assisted automation tools are expected to play critical and significant role and lead towards achieving and sustaining competitive advantage through the development of high quality products which are effectively manufactured through the synergy of integrated product and process design. Therefore the proposed work which aims at automation and optimization of integration of design and manufacturing is expected to satisfy the needs of current manufacturing industries to meet challenges of global competition References 01. Alemu Moges Belay - Design for Manufacturability and Concurrent Engineering for Product Development World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 49 2009240 02. A.S.M. Hoque , T. Szecsi ;- Designing using manufacturing feature library Journal of Materials Processing Technology Volume 201, Issues 1-3, 26 May 2008, Pages 204208 03. A.S.M. Hoque, T. Szecsi - Application of design functionality and design for manufacture rules in CAD/ CAM International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology 2011 Vol. 3, No.3/4 pp. 270 - 280 MF8 04. D. G. Bramall, K. R. Mckay, B. C. Rogers, P. Chapman, W. M. Cheung and P. G. Maropoulos - Manufacturability analysis of early product designs, Int. J. Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 2003, VOL. 16, NO. 78, 501508 05. D. Xue and Z. Dong - Coding and clustering of design and manufacturing features for concurrent design, Computers in Industry Volume 34, Issue 1, October 1997, Pages 139-15 06. Hendry, Hideaki Takeda and Koichi Ando - A Feature Library as a Process Planners Knowledge Management System International Journal of Computer Science

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES and Network Security, Vol.7 No.5, May 2007 07. O. Owodunni, D. Mladenov, S. Hinduja Extendible Classification of Design and Manufacturing Features CIRP Annals Manufacturing Technology Volume 51, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 103-106 08. Salomons, O.W. and Houten van, F.J.A.M. and Kals, H.J.J. (1993) Review of research in feature-based design. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 12 (2). pp. 113132. 09. T. Szecsi -Implementing manufacturing feature based design in CAD/CAM Intelligent Production Machines and Systems 2006, Pages 71-76 10. Yuh-Min Chen, , Ching-Ling Wei Computer-aided feature-based design for net shape manufacturing Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems Volume 10, Issue 2, May 1997, Pages 147-164 .

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