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To gain competitive advantages within the growing challenges of the dynamic market environment producing companies must be agile, anticipative and adaptive. Current and future manufacturing requirements need to be fulfilled in the best manner. Consequently, the appropriateness of the applied production technologies has to be analyzed continuously. In order to identify technological need for action timely the interdependencies of temporally and structurally recurring patterns (defined as cycles) within the production environment have to be contemplated. Modeling and analyzing these cycles (e.g. technology lifecycle, manufacturing resource lifecycle) facilitates a proactive planning and an evaluation approach of production technologies. Therefore, this paper presents a conceptual framework supporting the timely adequate identification and evaluation of alternative production technologies to enhance the performance of producing companies.
Anticipating a production company's internal and external influencing factors is seen as key driver of the ability to act appropriately to sustain a competitive advantage within a dynamic market environment. In this connection, some factors within the production environment manifest as temporally and structurally recurring patterns (defined as cycles) and are predictable. Modeling and analyzing the cyclic behavior of products, technologies, and manufacturing resources, for example, facilitates a proactive planning approach to production technologies.
This paper uses the example of the commercial vehicle industry to focus on a manufacturer's internal cyclic influencing factors. Based on the results of an industrial case study and a review of existing methods, a conceptual framework is presented for managing the complex interdependencies of the lifecycle of a product, its components, and production technologies.
Cycle-oriented Evaluation of Production Technologies: Extending the Model of the Production Cycle
(2017)
Permanently evaluating and adopting suitable production technologies due to the dynamic environment is a major challenge for producing companies. However, influencing factors that show cyclic behavior can be anticipated and are predictable to a certain extent. Thus, lifecycle models facilitate the forecast of predictable factors and assist in deriving recommendations for action timely. The developed cycle-oriented planning and evaluation approach provides a cycle stage specific technology requirements profile. The conceptual framework ascertains the suitability of established production technologies using fuzzy sets to meet the vagueness inherent in soft requirements. The presented extension of the production cycle model provides a holistic framework to identify deficits concerning properties of established production technologies proactively. This enables a continuous technology evaluation approach resulting in the timely identification of technological need for action.
Methods for managing uncertainty and fuzziness caused by a turbulent and volatile corporate environment play an important role for ensuring long-term competitiveness of producing companies. It is often difficult for practitioners, to choose the optimal approach for modelling existing uncertainties in a meaningful way. This contribution provides a guideline for classification of uncertain information and fuzzy data based on a flowchart and proposes suitable modelling methods for each characterized uncertainty. In addition, a measure for modelability, the degree to which an uncertain or fuzzy parameter can be modelled, is proposed. The method is based on a literature review comprising a discussion of the terms uncertainty and fuzziness.
Cycle management of manufacturing resources: identification and prioritization of investment needs
(2017)
Carbon Particle In-Situ Alloying of the Case-Hardening Steel 16MnCr5 in Laser Powder Bed Fusion
(2021)
The carbon content of steel affects many of its essential properties, e.g., hardness and mechanical strength. In the powder bed fusion process of metals using a laser beam (PBF-LB/M), usually, pre-alloyed metal powder is solidified layer-by-layer using a laser beam to create parts. A reduction of the carbon content in steels is observed during this process. This study examines adding carbon particles to the metal powder and in situ alloying in the PBF-LB/M process as a countermeasure. Suitable carbon particles are selected and their effect on the particle size distribution and homogeneity of the mixtures is analysed. The workability in PBF-LB is then shown. This is followed by an evaluation of the resulting mechanical properties (hardness and mechanical strength) and microstructure in the as-built state and the state after heat treatment. Furthermore, potential use cases like multi-material or functionally graded parts are discussed.