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Case Studies
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| Decomposition Of Automotive Manufacturing Machines Through A Mechanism Taxonomy Within A Product Lifecycle Management Framework |
01/05/2008 |
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| Ford and the Centre of Excellence in Customised Assembly (CECA) at Loughborough University are collaborating on a project aimed at understanding Fords current business and manufacturing engineering workflows and manufacturing data management strategy. |
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Company Overview
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's third largest automaker based on worldwide vehicle sales. Ford manufactures a wide range of cars, trucks and haulage vehicles both inside the United States and over the rest of the Globe. Fords UK factories in Bridgend, Southampton, Dagenham and Halewood produce the Transit along with engines and transmissions for a range of Ford cars.
Project Duration
18 months - Ongoing
Brief Description of Project
Ford and the CECA Digital Engineering Technology Centre are collaborating on a project aimed at understanding Fords current business and manufacturing engineering workflows and manufacturing data management strategy.
The aim of this project is to enable production machines to be more easily and cost effectively built and subsequently reconfigurable through the adoption of a component-based approach to their implementation utilising virtual manufacturing tools such as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).
The study is focused on detailing the development phases:
Evaluating the interaction between development phases & critical paths
Evaluating the resource and costing of engineering effort of each phase (performance measurement, payback periods, quantified benefits)
Integrate current internal business/engineering processes and tie into those used by suppliers
Documenting tools used & methods in manufacturing phases
Develop a PLM architecture to manage manufacturing data, mechanisms and their associated interfaces
Decompose an existing assembly line into a set of mechanisms
Project Overview
Ford Motor Company has an interest in building on the current levels of standardisation in manufacturing facilities and realise the potential benefits of PLM. This project aims to decompose manufacturing facilities into standardised physical, logical and structural elements. The standardised 'mechanisms' need to be deployed as part of a consistent, related data structure that encompasses product, process and plant data. A system to manage corporate product and manufacturing knowledge must be integrated into the process. Ideally users are presented with pertinent data on a timely basis.
The remit of the Digital Engineering Technology Centre is to address assembly and production challenges encountered in UK industry by developing novel tools and techniques that can accelerate industrial applications through intelligent systems and virtual design environments, in support of life-cycle engineering, assembly processes and systems.
The work undertaken includes:
CECA project engineers collaborating with Ford engineers in US and UK site in knowledge gathering phase with Ford engineers to understand the as is state of Fords assembly machines lifecycle from the requirements and specification phase of an assembly lines design through to launch. In total two month spent on site with Ford engineers in Detroit and UK sites.
CECA project engineers spent time with Ford process engineers decomposing engine and transmission production machines, in the US and UK, into base mechanisms. The team produced a methodology for identification of mechanisms and a taxonomy for the classification of mechanisms.
CECA project engineers produced a business case to apply a PLM system across manufacturing engineering functions based on a review of the current state practices regarding the flows of data. The study compared existing flows of data between engineers against the a proposed future state outlining the benefits of rationalising data integration. The team presented a roadmap to more streamlined information exchange to the Ford Motor Co Director of Power Train Manufacturing Engineering.
CECA project engineers have spent time developing a data management architecture for Ford manufacturing engineering data. The team have developed a generic structure and have implemented that within Siemens PLM software Teamcenter.
Impact/Benefits
Developing data structures for the management of manufacturing lifecycle data has many potential direct and indirect cost savings. In the context of the work done in this project a common data structure for manufacturing is anticipated to achieve the following:
Reusable process knowledge cloning of existing BoP structures for faster and more consistent manufacturing process planning, timely, accurate costing during the early stages (strategy/target setting phases) of the program.
Provide closed-loop processes assuring that changes to BoP and other processes are effectively managed and implemented.
Reusable mechanism(s) through classification of common manufacturing elements (i.e. tools, gauges, machines etc) and engineering best practice a reduction in engineering effort.
Integrated digital manufacturing tools a digital repository and portal for digital manufacturing tools, leveraging more value from simulation and validation at earlier development phases.
Future project work will involve a wider survey of departments to establish more working practices in the current systems and then shadowing engineering work on a new program to identify working practices and document management first hand.
Further Information
If you would like to hear more about this project, please contact Dr Joseph Darlington, Project Engineer, Centre of Excellence in Customised Assembly (CECA), Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Loughborough
Email: j.darlington@lboro.ac.uk
Telephone: 01509 635 280
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| Contact: |
| Dr Joseph Darlington |
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