Digital factory planning for a range of products : a changeability knowledge-based integrated product development approach

Abstract

Due to highly competitive markets, constantly shifting consumer requirements, and technological advances, product ranges are continuously evolving over time. This product evolution leads to new part variants being added to the existing part mix. Manufacturing changeability concepts such as flexibility and reconfigurability have been developed by existing research in order to design Changeable Manufacturing System (CMS) which are capable of evolving with the evolving product ranges. Factory planning, in particular CMS design decisions, can result in consequences on the future manufacturing capability (MCCs) of the manufacturing system, to manufacture the evolved part variants. Furthermore CMS design decisions can also result in consequences on the factory changeability (FCCs) which would limit the capability of the manufacturing system to economically and feasibly evolve with the evolving product ranges. This phenomena is being termed as disruptive product evolution. Due to complex interdependencies, incomplete information and uncertainty in CMS requirements this phenomena leads to a wicked problem. Moreover, a literature review established that designers currently lack the means which make them aware of MCCs and FCCs and support them in exploring different CMS design solutions. To address this problem, this PhD research proposes, implements and evaluates a changeability knowledge-based CMS design approach framework. The establishment of a phenomena model discloses how disruptive product evolution can occur from two different conditions; MCCs and FCCs. This phenomena model provided a basis for how to model and timely utilise changeability knowledge for revealing MCCs and FCCs during the exploratory CMS design activity. This was then utilised by the CMS design approach framework which supports manufacturing system designers in becoming aware of CMS decision consequences by revealing the interactions between business strategies, evolving product ranges and manufacturing systems decisions. A prototype digital factory design tool based on the underlying concepts of the CMS design approach framework has been developed and implemented. The encouraging results obtained have shown that this PhD research paves the way for the development and integration of such knowledge-based CMS design approaches within state of the art digital factory tools.