Design and manufacture of discrete components

The use of computers in product design and manufacturing today is accepted as normal working practice, the benefits are very clear, as the present study will show, but often the solutions available have a high degree of fragmentation, and are often described as being ‘vertically fragmented’. These systems are often supplied from many sources, with poor infrastructure for sharing information which contributes to the fragmentation. The present study presents a vision that provides solutions to design, process and production optimisation, and also provides a high level of integration that has often been the missing link between existing systems. This integration takes the form of sharing technology and information, thus enabling the decision process to be carried out in a well informed manner. Product conceptualisation, product design, component design and component manufacture are key stages in product development that should be considered as part of a product lifecycle management (PLM) plan. During these stages, it is important to consider the whole product life cycle: (i) customers, who will have to spend the most time with a product; (ii) manufacturing, people who have to fabricate and assemble the product, so ‘design for assembly' is very important; (iii) maintenance, these people will be involved in preventive maintenance or repair work, either at the point of sales or on location, so ensure their processes and tasks are as easy as possible, avoid any obstacles; and (iv) recycle-ability, this is an important consideration; how a product can be re-used needs to evaluated in the design process, to meet the increasing demands of legislation. Competitive pressures, rising labour and material costs continuously force manufacturers to reduce time to market, decrease part cost, maximise capacity utilisation and production efficiencies while maintaining and improving product quality. These are just the facts of life in today's economy. The plastics industry faces the same constraints that impact all manufacturers. What differentiates companies now is how they respond to these constraints. The manufacturing process involves more than the immediate factory; the full supply chain management and resource management have to be considered. Automation and optimisation is the way forward. The present study will show that the manufacture of discrete components should be considered as a function of product development and not in isolation; there are many factors and people to consider in the design process. The technologies outlined in the present study are linked by a common vision and philosophy that is to facilitate the ability to manufacture products that are friendly to use, meet the economic factors, and are made by manufacturing processes that are easy to control. This is an approach towards product development that promotes and stimulates success.