Production Optimization - A250
| Production Optimization | |
|---|---|
| Practice article | |
| |
| Document Type | Article |
| Document Identifier | 250 |
| MSTE workflow | Optimization |
| Prerequisites | |
Overview[edit | edit source]
Do you have an existing manufacturing process but would like to improve your part quality, or increase throughput rate, or reduce cost? This section of the KPC will help you to optimize your process and factory. It contains common optimization questions which link out to pages explaining how to conduct typical optimization activities such as optimizing a cure cycle to increase production rate. The optimization questions are grouped according to the objective function to be improved: cost, rate, and quality. A more structured approach to the optimization process is also introduced below and illustrated in a flowchart. This structured approach consists in first selecting the factory's process steps and objects, i.e. material, part shape, tooling & consumables, and equipment which when re-developed can improve some targeted manufacturing outcomes while minimizing the impact of change.
Optimization Activities[edit | edit source]
Cost[edit | edit source]
Coming soon.
Rate[edit | edit source]
- I am making good parts but am looking to shorten the cure cycle. How do I ensure I maintain the same level of quality? Visit optimizing cure cycles for improved production rates.
- I would like to increase the utilization of a cure vessel and increase production rate by curing multiple parts simultaneously in it. How do I establish cure families for a given cure vessel where all the parts in the family can be cured together and achieve acceptable quality and/or be cured in a reasonable amount of time? Visit increasing throughput by curing parts simultaneously.
- I am running cure families where I combine many parts in the same cure run. How can I increase the number of parts in a given run without impacting quality? Visit increasing throughput by curing parts simultaneously.
- I am running cure families where I combine many parts in the same cure run. How can I shorten the cure cycle without impacting quality? Visit increasing throughput by curing parts simultaneously.
- I need to ensure that I have the fastest cure cycle possible as I need to maximize use of my cure vessel resources. How do I develop the fastest cure cycle possible for a given combination of cost and quality? Visit Decreasing Cure Cycle Time.
Quality[edit | edit source]
- I have made lots of good quality flat panels during material qualification. How do I ensure that my parts, cured in the same way (and perhaps using the same cure program), are of equally good quality? Visit ensuring quality when scaling-up from coupons to production-ready parts.
Coming soon.
Optimization Process[edit | edit source]
Coming soon.
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| About | Help |
Welcome
Welcome to the CKN Knowledge in Practice Centre (KPC). The KPC is a resource for learning and applying scientific knowledge to the practice of composites manufacturing. As you navigate around the KPC, refer back to the information on this right-hand pane as a resource for understanding the intricacies of composites processing and why the KPC is laid out in the way that it is. The following video explains the KPC approach:
Understanding Composites Processing
The Knowledge in Practice Centre (KPC) is centered around a structured method of thinking about composite material manufacturing. From the top down, the heirarchy consists of:
- The factory
- Factory cells and/or the factory layout
- Process steps (embodied in the factory process flow) consisting of:
The way that the material, shape, tooling & consumables and equipment (abbreviated as MSTE) interact with each other during a process step is critical to the outcome of the manufacturing step, and ultimately critical to the quality of the finished part. The interactions between MSTE during a process step can be numerous and complex, but the Knowledge in Practice Centre aims to make you aware of these interactions, understand how one parameter affects another, and understand how to analyze the problem using a systems based approach. Using this approach, the factory can then be developed with a complete understanding and control of all interactions.
Interrelationship of Function, Shape, Material & Process
Design for manufacturing is critical to ensuring the producibility of a part. Trouble arises when it is considered too late or not at all in the design process. Conversely, process design (controlling the interactions between shape, material, tooling & consumables and equipment to achieve a desired outcome) must always consider the shape and material of the part. Ashby has developed and popularized the approach linking design (function) to the choice of material and shape, which influence the process selected and vice versa, as shown below:
Within the Knowledge in Practice Centre the same methodology is applied but the process is more fully defined by also explicitly calling out the equipment and tooling & consumables. Note that in common usage, a process which consists of many steps can be arbitrarily defined by just one step, e.g. "spray-up". Though convenient, this can be misleading.
Workflows
The KPC's Practice and Case Study volumes consist of three types of workflows:
- Development - Analyzing the interactions between MSTE in the process steps to make decisions on processing parameters and understanding how the process steps and factory cells fit within the factory.
- Troubleshooting - Guiding you to possible causes of processing issues affecting either cost, rate or quality and directing you to the most appropriate development workflow to improve the process
- Optimization - An expansion on the development workflows where a larger number of options are considered to achieve the best mixture of cost, rate & quality for your application.
