Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is a term that’s used to cowl a broad vary of technologies and delicate automation used to increase the price effectiveness of merchandise and vegetation. Its exact definition is tough to pinpoint since it’s highly dependent on viewpoint, not simply across industries, but in addition inside organizations. Integrated manufacturing is not itself a new concept, however the concept of orchestrating the components of manufacturing and its management is. CIM covers a range of manufacturing operations and its associated acronyms from computer-aided design and computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM), flexible manufacturing methods (FMS) and pc aided course of planning (CAPP).
Of the three phrases that comprise CIM, the center word – built-in – is maybe probably the most critical [1]. Integration of capital, human useful resource and equipment is important to the successful operation of any manufacturing operations. This word alone implies that haphazard or ad hoc application of expertise is strongly discouraged inside a CIM framework. The integration is strongly oriented around the laptop systems within a company, whether or not they be computer systems in the accounting division, numerical management items in the production plant or point of gross sales units on the store ground.
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Although computer systems have been invented around the Nineteen Fifties (PCs), the concept and purposes of CIM have been around only for the rationale that late 1980s and early Nineteen Nineties. The causes for this have been twofold. Firstly, till the early Nineteen Nineties pc methods had been usually large, bulky and expensive units that were not appropriate for manufacturing functions. Only enterprise function models corresponding to accounting and payroll could make really effective use of computer systems and hence justify the large capital prices [2].
The second reason revolves around the very complicated business of precise integration of business and manufacturing capabilities inside an organization. Manufacturing organizations normally deal with a giant quantity of ‘independent’. The tasks can vary from determining market demand, planning production, finishing up specific manufacturing operations and processes, assuring quality management and transport both internally and externally. This task has turn into increasingly troublesome within today’s subtle international markets and complicated products suites [2].
History and Evolution
CIM has been developing and growing for the explanation that 1970s, but it was not until the late Nineteen Eighties that CIM was expanded into a subject by itself. Industry realized that CIM was not only a fanciful luxury, but in addition a necessity in the ever extra refined and competitive international economy. The primary factors which have led to the development of the CIM concept and its related technologies are [2],
1. Development of Numerical Control
2. The advent of cost-effective computers
3. Islands of Automation
Development of Numerical Control
Numerical management is a way for controlling machine instruments and different equipment utilizing symbols that include numbers. In 1947, Parsons Corporation took a contract to develop a new technique of machining turbine blades for use in jet fighters for the united states Air Force through the use of a transferring software that may obtain the specified accuracy [2]. Parsons worked at the facet of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to produce the first numerical management milling machine in 1954. Since then, with the event in microelectronics and computer systems, numerical control has developed right into a highly sophisticated expertise and is used in almost all trendy machining centres and flexible manufacturing techniques.
The Advent of Cost-Effective Computers
Whilst numerical control developed on its own in the manufacturing industries, computer systems were creating at a speedy pace independently around the world. The most critical of the elements behind the expansion and evolution of CIM has undoubtedly been the appearance and subsequent growth of computer systems and computing energy. The pc was and nonetheless is the most effective tool for finishing up repetitive duties in addition to storing massive amounts of information and processing in a vast variety of ways, both numerically and graphically.
The first applications of computer systems were within the finance departments, payroll and accounting, the place the strengths of huge data carrying capability as well as data processing could be fully exploited [2]. With improvement, computer systems have been then used to track inventories and it was not till computer graphics became sufficiently complex that computer systems were introduced into the manufacturing units. The introduction of computers into manufacturing operations spawned the expansion of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM).
Computer Aided Design
Before a product can be manufactured, it must be thoroughly designed. The design processes includes each inventive and repetitive tasks to be carried out by the designer. Computers due to this fact are extremely applicable to the repetitive tasks of design. In the early Nineteen Seventies, computers had been launched to generate drawings and documentation of designs and proved to be extremely cost effective. With the subsequent improvement in computer processing energy and graphics, computer systems have become an essential a half of design. Computer aided design can in reality be considered the cornerstone of CIM.
Computer Aided Manufacturing
At the same time as pc aided design was turning into a necessity for organizations, the advances in numerical control had developed and matured considerably. An important task in numerical control is an element programming, where an element program is a set of sequential commands to the machine control unit in command of device and slide movements in addition to different auxiliary functions [1]. For advanced geometries this could contain fairly lengthy and complex calculations, and these are tasks for which computers are aptly suited.
Initially, the half programming was termed laptop aided machining, and the associated know-how was referred to as computer-aided control (CNC). With the expanse of duties of the computer outdoors of straightforward half programming, the time period pc aided manufacturing came into extensive spread use. With the growing complexities of recent manufacturing, CAM refers to any non-design operate of manufacturing that’s computer aided. In truth, within the literal sense, CAM is as broad a scope as CIM besides that the latter emphasizes integration.
Islands of Automation
In the Nineteen Seventies, one other concept that came into being was that of ‘flexible automation’. Flexible automation permits laptop systems to differ their duties primarily based on software modifications, the simplest example being a robot. This was in distinction to standard Detroit kind automation, which was largely inflexible [3]. To denote this new discovered flexibility and emphasize its higher mobility, islands of automation had been coined as a phrase and have become the catch cry of modern manufacturing companies all through the Seventies. By the early Eighties nonetheless, it became very clear that the combination of islands into a coherent system was an insurmountable task, and highlighted the necessity for a holistic, built-in approach to manufacturing, for which CIM was a wonderful candidate. It was realised that islands weren’t sufficient by themselves without a massive picture of the entire manufacturing operation and the firm as an entire.
Holistic View to Manufacturing
During the Seventies, computers grew from the accounts and payroll offices and were being more and more used in technical areas of producing similar to CAD, CAM and islands of automation. Companies that adopted these new applied sciences led developments as nicely as markets and maintained their competitive edge even through tough periods. However, after they tried to minimize or remove sure undesirable characteristics of the new technologies, they found that the duty was troublesome if not unimaginable in most circumstances. Hence, it was necessary to invent new and integrated laptop primarily based automation to manufacturing, and although CIM had been introduced during the Nineteen Seventies, it was not till the Nineteen Eighties that it was realized as a necessary part of fashionable manufacturing operations.
One of the reasons that CIM developed shortly was due to the demands of the marketplace for greater number of product at better high quality and lower costs. In the 1960s and Seventies, producers might take care of such an issue by slashing their direct labor prices, by normally transferring operations overseas to international locations with decrease wages [1]. But in the 1990s, the emphasis was shifted to different cost elements since direct labor represents only a small fraction of the entire manufacturing prices of merchandise [3]. Furthermore, throughout the Nineteen Eighties, Nineteen Nineties and today, the challenges of a global market have elevated the need of CIM for manufacturing.
Advantages and Disadvantages
As noted by Kutay and Finger (1990) that when the world markets began to saturate in the 1960s and Seventies, mass manufacturing is not worthwhile for the rationale that measurement of the whole goal market couldn’t be expanded additional. The current traits of the world markets embody higher competition, shorter product life cycles, higher product variety, fragmented markets, selection and complexity, and smaller batch sizes to satisfy completely different buyer profiles (Goldhar, 1992, cited in Nagalingnam and Lin, 1999).
Thus companies are compelled to try to capture totally different market segments by increasing product differentiation. In order for a company to be aggressive, it has to have the ability to produce excessive selection products at low cost to the market on the shortest time potential and responsive to changes (Nagalingnam and Lin, 1999). This can be achieved by integrating advanced manufacturing know-how with its operations therefore the utilization of CIM.
The underlying idea of CIM is integrating management and manufacturing items into one unit. Information is shared between completely different practical models and decisions for each unit are made based mostly on the data given. Thus CIM is not only about superior manufacturing crops however rather CIM is achieved when the engineering primarily based Computer Aided Tools (CAD, CAP, CAM, CAQ) are sure up with the assorted stages of the managerial Production Planning and Control (PPC) system to ensure the efficient use of all relevant data sources (Scheer, 1994, cited in Milling, 1997).
Therefore the idea of CIM has different ranges of implementation with all the levels are inter-dependent (Aardal, 1995). As an illustration, a model new piece of kit that’s capable of producing items at a better quality and sooner is put in. This info must be handed on to all the opposite departments say the process division and the inventory control division. The process department needs to perhaps provide you with a better manufacturing course of to maintain the run-time of the tools used by the model new gear. At the same time, the particular person in charged of the stock level has to change his re-ordering level accordingly. The product designer is also required to pay attention to the model new capabilities of the brand new tools so that he can utilise the gear to its maximum capabilities. All these will lead to dependable, prime quality, fast, flexible, and value environment friendly manufacturing processes (Milling, 1997).
Having seen that CIM needs to be applied at totally different ranges of practical units within a company, now, we’ll look at the major advantages and disadvantages of implementing CIM.
One main good thing about implementing CIM is price reduction thus rising earnings intake. CIM can assist in reducing machines downtime, decreasing labour price, reducing inventory price, and minimising the waste (Harris, 1990; Kutay and Finger, 1990; Milling, 1997; Ngalingnam and Lin, 1999). Machines downtime can be decreased drastically by using more reliable machines and precise planning of the lines. It also can help to establish the basis causes for machines downtime and remedy the issues.
This is feasible by offering new options in the production strategies or simply higher administration and planning of the line itself. CIM system additionally permits a better management and reduces the level of uncooked materials and finished products inventories. This is possible as a end result of shorter product lead times. In addition advanced manufacturing equipments usually involve some types of automation thus the number of operators required for the road may be decreased. This will reflect in major financial savings for the corporate, as labour cost tends to be the major cost.
Furthermore, CIM components especially these which might be related on to the manufacturing processes will ensure greater quality in the lengthy run merchandise. This benefit is a consequence from high precision superior manufacturing equipments. Operators’ responsibilities are taken away considerably with automation, thus eliminating many of the manufacturing glitches because of human errors. In addition, the rate of manufacturing and manufacturing flexibility are enhanced significantly. This signifies that the lead time which is the time wanted to provide a finished product from the first operation to dispatch is decreased (Walters and Schtaklef, 1990) and at the identical time the identical set of equipments can be used to produce different types of merchandise. The current markets are characterised by excessive competitions, shorter product life cycles, higher product range, fragmented markets in addition to varieties and complexities (Milling, 1997). As a end result companies are required to have the flexibility to adjust rapidly and meet the consumers’ demand to stay in today’s competitive markets.
Finally, CIM also offers a significant financial boost to the company. By using the information from all the CIM elements correctly, an organization can reduce its uncertainty about the variability out there conditions via timely introduction of latest products to the market (Kutay and Finger, 1990). As mentioned earlier, CIM can enhance the product differentiation and response time. This will guarantee the corporate a vanguard amongst its rivals since it is more flexible and also has faster response time. This in flip will enable the corporate to capture a big portion of a new market rapidly.
If CIM can give so many significant advantages to an organization, why then there are still many companies reluctant to implement CIM?
It must be confused once again that CIM is not only about utilizing superior manufacturing equipment. It is extra a fastidiously planned system that integrates all of the totally different useful units within a company into one system from administration to manufacturing levels and shares all the data available. There is no one foolproof system that can be implemented in any company to ensure successful implementation. Each firm has to give you its own system and integrate all the CIM components collectively. This process is all the time difficult and onerous to manage.
Even though the cost of implementing CIM has gone down up to now few years, small and medium sizes companies still discover it hard to adopt. Being able to produce top quality merchandise in a short while doesn’t assure success in the market. There are additionally the intangible attributes corresponding to brands and customer providers that will affect a product. Thus by investing heavily on CIM equipments particularly the superior manufacturing equipments will be deemed too dangerous and expensive.
In conclusion, CIM can herald lots of advantages to an organization if it is used correctly. A company should plan carefully well forward before it invests closely on using CIM. If the CIM elements usually are not integrated properly it’ll trigger an organization to carry out properly under its expectations.
Case Studies
There are many companies that tires to implement the ideology of CIM, nevertheless only some companies are able to take action. In the next paragraphs there might be 3 examples of companies that were capable of implement CIM or are in the process of implementing CIM.
Automobile Production at OPEL, Bochum (Germany)
OPEL has one of the most trendy productive crops in the European nations located at Bochum, Germany [12]. They are in a place to have an estimated output of about 1200 Opel Astra each day. This was a result of having decentralized automation based mostly on open communication commonplace. Basically OPEL was capable of make the most of the concept of laptop integrated manufacturing to have impressive progress in environmental production, office ergonomics and productivity. In this production plant a technology called PROFIBUS is getting used to hyperlink up numerous aspects of producing of the automobile to higher coordinate the efforts of the automation.
Using real time monitoring systems the steel sheets which would possibly be used in the making of the physique can be effectively pressed in order that there will be much less material wastage when new materials comes in to be pressed once more. Traditionally the altering of such pressing dies will take alongside time in a traditional plant. However with CIM such a complex task can be accomplished in a relatively shorter amount of time and thus the plant will expertise a discount in downtime and an increase in flexibility. Such monitoring techniques are also used in welding the various body components along with larger accuracy than was attainable. Such systems will consult the design database of the automotive earlier than welding the car components collectively, all of which is finished very fast.
Opel makes use of the EPICS pc system (Europeam Production Information and Control System), which is a type of computer-integrated manufacturing. To be positive that the EPICS central computer system has all the required data, Opel has put in a standard communication network through the manufacturing unit. As a end result the central laptop system is able to properly control the manufacturing processes inside the manufacturing facility. Thus guaranteeing that there will be an improvement within the coordination of fabric move and the manufacturing lines inside the manufacturing unit.
After the shell of the automobile has been welded together from the steel sheets by the machines the our bodies are then prepared to be spray-painted. The CIM software program module will then mechanically group the our bodies to colour batches proper earlier than the final lacquer cabins. This will scale back the amount of time required to change the paint colour for different cars since all of the bodies with comparable color are batched together first. Doing so will guarantee high paint high quality and reduces the minimal want to scrub the spray gear with solvents when the paint color is changed.
After the spray-painting phase is completed the car our bodies are then stored into a high-bay stacking facility. The CIM software program module controls the state-of-the-art stacking and routing system and mechanically schedules dispatching for subsequent manufacture-to-order meeting. Once the opposite components of the car such because the door or engine modules are accomplished a conveyor system delivers them directly to the final assembly line. The CIM software program module ensures that the proper parts arrive on the right time for the right physique, thus ensuring that there’s larger effectivity. An example of that is the putting in of the assorted car seats into the automotive, the required seats are delivered on time to the meeting line simply when they’re needed as a end result of the CIM software module requested the seats per knowledge hyperlink just-in0time from a provider positioned not distant.
In the preliminary state of the manufacturing cycle, the CIM software module will ship all knowledge and element specs for each single Astra to the newly developed Electronic Check-Out System, which conducts a ultimate take a look at of every Astra’s electrical and digital systems on the end of the assembly line. After getting the approval from the CIM software module, the finished Astras depart the road and are moved to the supply retailer, from where they’re sent to the Opel dealers by way of goods prepare or truck.
Pioneer Magnetics
Pioneer Magnetics is a profitable power provide manufacturing that has profitable utilise the idea of CIM [13]. However they have been implementing CIM for a minimum of 10 years, showing that CIM isn’t a simple to use ideology, it takes time and careful planning to have the ability to absolutely achieve the advantages from CIM.
One major advantage of CIM is the discount of price; or somewhat the reduction in the amount of wasted work. Pioneer Magnetics method was to look at the non-value-added actions of their enterprise and see if they are worth the cost of doing. An instance of that is within the factory, Pioneer resisted the usage of the standard work order system in MRP because they felt that the quantity of non-value-added effort was not worth the profit they’d get from having the ability to monitor work at specific operations (Kaswen, 1990).
Another benefit of CIM is the reduction of price from work-in-progress objects. Pioneer realised that the power to trace their work-in-progress that were transferring in and out of their stores did nothing to add management to their operations besides added additional prices. Thus they flatten their payments of material to support the changes that they were making of their manufacturing process. As a outcome they decreased their manufacturing cycle time in addition to WIP stores. The workers that had been previously in the job of managing manufacturing and inventory of subassemblies are now reassigned to different areas, management of specific buyer orders (cited from Kaswen, 1990).
Pioneer Magnetics is still within the strategy of fine-tuning their CIM implementation, showing that even after average success from initial CIM implementations it is still hard to maintain up with it, thus proving that CIM requires cautious planning and execution.
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Shanghai No 2 Textile Machinery Company Ltd
STMC was founded in 1923 and is doubtless one of the large-scale key enterprises in China [14]. It has a big market share within the natural fibre spinning machines and synthetic fibre spinning machine business markets. As acknowledged earlier than due to fierce competitors from rivals most companies are compelled to find ways of being more price effective. STMC is not any exception and has decided to implement a CIM programme that they hope will make them more aggressive from the benefits of CIM.
In the cited journal it exhibits that STMC should use fashionable computing tools to assist make their business useful units rather more efficient. They would have created an open integrated system, and have achieved the preliminary info integration of MIS, CAD/CAPP/CAM, FMS/DNC and GT, and CAQ. These are the computer-aided instruments which are essential within the implementation of CIM.
The eventual target of the STMC CIM programme is to set up a highly built-in, entirely optimized, fully versatile and essentially the most environment friendly CIMS, with textile equipment as its products
Implementing CIM in Shenyang Blower Works
Shenyang Blower Works is a large manufacturing agency in china that specialises in the design and manufacturing of turbine sort products [15]. They make their production plan according to orders from purchasers dues to its single or small batch production mode. For this SBW determined to adopt the CIM pondering and build a CIM system (CIMS) that may go properly with their needs to increase the company’s market competitiveness. During China’s transition interval from a deliberate economy to a market economy model, the government set up high-technology analysis and improvement program by which CIMS featured strongly. SBW was one of many lucky firms that benefited from this programme when it comes to getting funds and know-how to develop their CIMS.
SBW was forced to turn into more aggressive because of the fierce rivals that they face in the domestic and worldwide markets. It was essential for the company to undertake CIM to boost the production capability as an entire, enhance their technical skills, shorten the interval of delivery, enhance the quality, reduce the cost, and enhance their manufacturing flexibility [15]. SBW began their plans for CIM in the early 1990 and took almost 10 years to complete; the implementation would take an estimated 35,000,000 Renminbi.
The SBW CIM system consisted to 3 main useful subsystems; they are the production administration and choice information system (PADIS), engineering design CAD/CAPP/CAM (3C) system and the shop automation (SA) system with distributed quality management. These were the fundamental practical models that SBW thought of essential in order to properly implement CIM. This explicit case study exhibits how troublesome it is for a medium sized firm to develop CIM methods even with authorities help when it comes to expertise and financing. It shows that CIM is sort of useful but costly as nicely to implement and must be planned correctly first. Any deviation from this primary concept will surely result in failure for the plan and for the corporate. Read examples of how diversity can profit society
Conclusion
The future will see that using Computer Integrated Manufacturing will turn out to be a matter of survival for a lot of organizations around the world. The realization that using Information Technology is an integral part of the manufacturing process will continue to develop. This is not going to solely change the organizational construction of many firms, however it’ll in itself turn into a significant aggressive factor in itself.
The growth in CIM is not going to only be led by massive companies looking to streamline their operations. At many ranges inside the economic system, CIM will turn out to be an important factor as organizations search to take benefit of one of the best advantages of the link between information technology and organizational process. CIM will find its way down the chain of suppliers as inter firm cooperation continues to develop and large firms proceed outsourcing more of their work to smaller, extra specialised and versatile corporations. These corporations will in turn want to make sure that they can operate inside the CIM structure of the bigger corporations, therefore the necessity to perceive and absolutely utilize CIM.
The necessary components motivating the introduction of CIM are the price advantages and the flexibility it could yield. These value benefits, generated by integration and streamlining of processes, are much more important within the present local weather of accelerating worldwide competition. But corporations need to focus on the entire image and overall framework of CIM and make positive that it is totally implemented at all related levels within the group to find a way to overcome the pitfalls that have befallen earlier makes an attempt.
Group Meetings and Discussions
Date
Description
3rd August
Team members met up for the first time after some background studying has been done. Decided that extra background reading should be done first earlier than any dialogue. Agreed that 2 weeks should be adequate time to finish reading of material.
18th August
Decided tasks- Taylan will do introduction as nicely as brief history of CIM, Willis will do the advantages and drawbacks and the levels of implementation of CIM, and Tsung will do the Case research.
25th August
Decided that Taylan will be the one who will compile the person essays into one major essay. Also determined that everybody will proofread the others work to give constructive comments.
6th September
Have a rough final copy of the work. Just needs some small contact ups to the doc.
