Sev V. Nagalingam

Latest developments in CIM

Abstract Manufacturing enterprises play an important role in improving the economic environment of a country. The economic environment of many developed countries is under threat from emerging industrialised countries. Today, the capability of producing high quality products with shorter delivery times and the ability to produce according to the diverse customer requirements have become the characteristics required of order-qualifiers for manufacturing industries. Hence, application of intelligent manufacturing systems and computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) has become the necessity to overcome the above issues while retaining the employment level and revenue of a country in todays highly competitive global market. With the developments taking place in CIM and its related technologies, the application of CIM in manufacturing enterprises has become a reality. This paper focuses on latest research developments in CIM and a new CIM wheel proposed to satisfy the emerging technological application of virtual enterprises.

Sustainable supply chain for collaborative manufacturing

Purpose – Owing to the manufacturing trend of stringent product disposal regulations, a new business scenario, which requires an alternative disposal option on consumer products and further product recovery operations, is increasingly important for promoting sustainable supply chain performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use to post‐use stage of the product lifecycle, that may have significant potential for increasing product utilisation value and reducing product disposal to landfills.Design/methodology/approach – The paper proposes a re‐classification of the 6R (reduce, recover, redesign, reuse, recycle, remanufacturing) methodology for rectifying waste minimisation along a supply chain, to increase product utilisation at the post‐use stage.Findings – Intensive study of 6R considerations to improve end‐of‐life planning and strategy and extend of product lifecycle management is lacking. None of the existing supply chain frameworks clearly illustrates the aspects of 6R perspectives for t...

A genetic algorithm and queuing theory based methodology for facilities layout problem

Facilities layout, being a significant contributor to manufacturing performance, has been studied many times over the past few decades. Existing studies are mainly based on material handling cost and have neglected several critical variations inherent in a manufacturing system. The static nature of available models has reduced the quality of the estimates of performance and led to not achieving an optimal layout. Using a queuing network model, an established tool to quantify the variations of a system and operational performance factors including work-in-process (WIP) and utilisation, can significantly help decision makers in solving a facilities layout problem. The queuing model utilised in this paper is our extension to the existing models through incorporating concurrently several operational features: availability of raw material, alternate routing of parts, effectiveness of a maintenance facility, quality of products, availability of processing tools and material handling equipment. On the other hand, a queuing model is not an optimisation tool in itself. A genetic algorithm, an effective search process for exploring a large search space, has been selected and implemented to solve the layout problem modelled with queuing theory. This combination provides a unique opportunity to consider the stochastic variations while achieving a good layout. A layout problem with unequal area facilities is considered in this paper. A good layout solution is the one which minimises the following four parameters: WIP cost, material handling cost, deviation cost, and relocation cost. Observations from experimental analysis are also reported in this paper. Our proposed methodology demonstrates that it has a potential to integrate several related decision-making problems in a unified framework.

A risk mitigation framework for integrated-enterprise systems implementation for the manufacturing environment

Companies today are faced with the constant challenge to reinvent and reengineer themselves and to actively collaborate with business partners and customers in order to stay competitive and survive in the market. This has mandated the need for companies to implement Integrated-enterprise System (IS) in the areas of supply chain management, customer relationship management, supplier relationship management and e-business. However, such implementations involve many risks, as they are often highly complex, costly and have long project timelines. Failure to address and mitigate these risks has resulted in many known project failures. This paper introduces a risk mitigation framework for the implementation of IS in the manufacturing environment. This framework helps ensure that the various risks and Potential Problem Areas (PPAs) are identified at a very early stage and mitigated at the various milestones of the IS implementation project life cycle. A case study of an IS implementation using the risk mitigation framework will also be presented. This framework was used to mitigate project risks in the successful implementation of an IS in a manufacturing enterprise.

Development of a parallel processing multi-agent architecture for a virtual CIM system

Global manufacturing enterprises tend to rely on fully integrated manufacturing systems to satisfy constantly changing market requirements. In addition, small to medium enterprises are in a dilemma when competing with large organizations. Virtual computer-integrated manufacturing (VCIM) is a realistic concept that can provide the integration requirements for the globally distributed manufacturing resources and it has the potential to satisfy the market requirements of small to medium enterprises. The vision of the VCIM is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of manufacturing enterprises by seamlessly integrating globally distributed manufacturing resources as much as possible. Meanwhile, intelligent agent technology provides a better means to implement distributed components as integrated application systems. The paper provides a parallel processing multi-agent architecture to support a global integrated manufacturing system in the form of the VCIM. In this architecture, a three-layered structure is proposed to accommodate all the agents no matter where they are located. Multiple Facilitator agents are proposed with similar functionalities to smooth the information flow across the integrated system in a parallel connection manner. In addition, a multi-agent VCIM model that describes the agent identification approaches for VCIM, Java environment implementation approaches and a simulation system to demonstrate the parallel processing multi-agent architecture are also discussed.

A unified approach towards CIM justification

Abstract Justification of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) or Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMTs) lacks a proper methodology. This has been a big drawback for manufacturing managers in justifying investment in and implementation of CIM/AMTs. To overcome this dilemma, an effective multiple-attribute decision methodology with sufficient guidance is proposed. This methodology is incorporated in a Decision Support System (DSS). The DSS developed in this research has been named the Decision Support System for CIM (DSSCIM). This DSSCIM consists of the following modules: an analytic hierarchy process for the consideration of multiple attributes which are inherent in CIM/AMT investment analysis; a weighted scoring module; quantification of costs and benefits by assigning weights to intangibles and indirect attributes; cost-impact analysis to investigate the effect of investment; a matrix module to investigate synergy among technologies and an optimisation module. The DSSCIM will enable the decision maker to analyse various scenarios at different levels of input. By utilising this DSSCIM it is expected that managers will gain sufficient confidence for the justification of CIM/AMTs.

Resource Scheduling for a Virtual CIM System

The present global market, which is highly competitive, demands high-quality products, reduced cost and shorter delivery times. In order to lead the market, as a minimum requirement, manufacturers should have a capability to satisfy these global demands and be proactive. Globally distributed enterprises can gain leverage in leading the market due to their potential to utilise the distributed resources, and the capability to have collaborative expertise to meet and satisfy the diverse customer requirements. In addition, optimal utilisation of globally distributed resources is a necessity for success in globally distributed business enterprises. With the developments taking place in computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) and its related technologies, CIM can be further expanded as a globally distributed CIM to overcome the above issues. A network of interconnected CIM systems, which are globally distributed, is regarded as a virtual CIM (VCIM) in this chapter. The VCIM concept was proposed as a solution to satisfy the emerging technological application of virtual enterprises. This chapter focuses on the issues that need to be addressed when resource scheduling is considered for collaborating enterprises that have adopted the VCIM system and it provides a simple approach for resource scheduling with the use of an agent-based architecture.

A methodology to select optimal system components for computer integrated manufacturing by evaluating synergy

Abstract The enormous growth in manufacturing automation has produced a plethora of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) with diverse features. These AMTs could consist of semi- and fully automated systems or equipment. Manufacturing companies are seeking ways to gain a competitive edge over their competitors by investing in AMTs, where the ability to make rational choices among these AMTs is important for success. Integration of AMTs in an enterprise brings many islands of automation into a single database-shared entity. Effective integration by efficient communication links among these AMTs will generate significant benefits across many traditional functional units, eliminate many functional barriers, and provide opportunities to achieve the competitive goals. The effect of synergy caused by the integration of AMTs will have an impact on various functional units of the enterprise. This paper provides a methodology, firstly to identify appropriate technologies for a company based on their strategic focus, and secondly to estimate the functional interrelationships within the framework of a unified approach for the justification of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). These derived functional interrelationships are utilised to assess the effect of synergy in an integrated enterprise and identify the optimal capital investments in AMTs as system components of CIM.

Inter-operability framework towards virtual integration of SMEs in the manufacturing industry

A Virtual Enterprise (VE), which is a dynamic and temporal network of independent companies, relies on an inter-operability framework to realise collaborative relationships with trading partners and to facilitate the virtual manufacturing processes. Investing in inter-operability in order to enhance information-sharing applications is a challenge to many Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) that are planning to participate effectively in the VE. This paper reviews the major industry standards for the implementation of inter-operable systems and examines the decision factors for selecting the appropriate inter-operability specifications, with a focus on business connectivity, system scalability and information security. Based on the analysis, we outline a virtual integration infrastructure for SMEs that enables collaborative demand forecasting and production planning processes within the VE environment. This suggestion is further justified by a business case study.

Literature review on the creativity of CBR applications

CBR solves new problems by reusing the old solutions in similar context. As an effective problem-solving method, CBR has been widely applied in various areas. However, the question of whether CBR normally generates creative solutions has not been answered properly according to recent research and thus deserves attention. Consequently, an extensive literature review on CBR applications has been provided in this paper. The results of this literature review are expected to emphasise the importance of creativity in CBR.