Module 1: Introduction to manufacturing systems and processes
What is manufacturing?
For manufacturing you need three things in particular: (1) materials, (2) processes, (3) systems.
Manufacturing is the process of converting raw materials into products. It
has the important function of adding value.
➔ Application of physical and chemical processes to alter the
geometry, properties and/or appearance of starting material.
For the manufacturing process, machinery, tooling, power, and labor can be needed. Besides the
processed part, the manufacturing process also will result in scrap and waste.
Industry consists of enterprises and organizations that produce or supply goods and services.
➔ Can be classified as:
1. Primary industries – cultivate and exploit natural resources, e.g. agriculture, mining
2. Secondary industries – take outputs of primary industries and convert them into
consumer and capital goods (includes the companies engaged in manufacturing, with
e.g. aerospace, automotive, building materials, construction, textiles, etc.)
3. Tertiary industries – service sector
Final products divide into two major classes:
1. Consumer goods: products purchased directly by consumers (e.g. car, clothes, TVs)
2. Capital goods: those purchased by companies to produce goods and/or provide services
(e.g. aircraft, computers, communication equipment, trucks, machine tools)
The quantity of products Q made by a factory has an important influence on the way its people,
facilities and procedures are organized. Annual quantities can be classified into three ranges:
1. Low production 1 to 100 units
2. Medium production 100 to 10.000 units
3. High production 10.000 to millions of units
Product variety P: different product types or models produced in the plant.
- They are intended for different markets
- They perform different functions
- Some have more parts than others
Manufacturing plants tend to specialize in a combination of P and Q that lies somewhere in the
diagonal band.
• Push line by automation.
• If product variety is high, then production quantity is likely to be low, and vice versa.
A manufacturing plant consists of processes and systems (and people) to transform a certain
limited range of materials into products of increased value.
,The building blocks – materials, processes, and systems – are subject of modern manufacturing.
Manufacturing capability refers to the technical and physical limitations of a manufacturing firm
and each of its plants. It includes:
1. Technological processing capability
• The set of available manufacturing processes in the plant (or company)
• Certain manufacturing processes are suited to certain materials, so by specializing
in certain processes, the plant is also specializing in certain materials
• Includes not only physical processes but also the expertise of the plant personnel
o A machine shop cannot roll steel
o A steel mill cannot build cars
2. Physical product limitations
• Given a plant with a certain set of processes, there are size and weight limitations
on the parts or products that can be made in the plan
• Product size and weight affect:
o Production equipment
o Material handling equipment
• Production, material handling equipment, and plant size must be planned for
products that lie within a certain size and weight range
3. Production capacity
• Defined as the maximum quantity that a plant can produce in a given time period
(e.g. month or year) under assumed operating conditions
o Operating conditions refer to number of shifts per week, hours per shift,
direct labor manning levels in the plant, etc.
o Usually measured in terms of output units, e.g. tons of steel or number of
cars produced
o Also called plant capacity
Ways to change capacity: increase shift length, add more people on
the floor, buy new equipment, optimize production process.
Materials in manufacturing
- Metals: usually alloys (composed of two or more elements)
o Ferrous metals: based on iron (e.g. steel, cast iron)
o Nonferrous metals: include other metallic elements
(e.g. aluminium, copper, magnesium, titanium)
- Ceramics (containing metallic and non-metallic elements):
clay, bricks, tiles, glass, cement
- Polymers (carbon plus other element): nylon, polyester, Teflon
- Composites (mixture of other three basic types): mud bricks, fiberglass, wood
Manufacturing processes
Two basic types
, 1. Processing operations: transform a work material from
one state of completion to a more advanced state
• Operations that change the:
o Geometry
o Properties (e.g. playing with temperature)
o Appearance of the starting material (e.g.
by coating)
2. Assembly operations: join two or more components to
create a new entity
Shaping processing operations apply heat, mechanical force or a
combination to effect a change in geometry of work material.
Classification of manufacturing shaping processes
1. Solidification processes: starting material is a
heated liquid or semifluid that cools and solidifies
to form the part geometry (casting for metals;
molding for plastics)
2. Particulate processing: starting material consists of
powders and the powders are formed and heated
into the desired geometry
3. Deformation processes: starting material is a
ductile solid (commonly metal) that is deformed to
shape the part
4. Material removal processes: starting
material is a ductile or brittle solid, from which
material is removed so that the resulting part
has the desired geometry
Production systems
, Production systems consists of people, equipment
and procedures used for the materials and processes
that constitute a firm’s manufacturing operations.
A manufacturing firm must have systems and
procedures to efficiently accomplish its production.
Two categories of production systems:
1. Production facilities: the physical equipment and the arrangement of equipment in the
factory (factory, production equipment, material handling systems)
o Equipment usually organized into logical groupings, called manufacturing systems,
e.g. automated production line, machine cell consisting of three machine tools
o Production facilities “touch” the product
2. Manufacturing support systems: procedures used by the company to manage production
and solve the technical and logistics problems encountered in ordering materials, moving
work through the factory and ensuring products meet quality standards
Certain types of production facilities are recognized as appropriate for a type of manufacturing:
1. Low production: 1 to 100
• Job shop: makes low quantities of specialized and
customized products (one product is flowing)
o Products are typically complex (e.g. ships, space
capsules, special machinery)
o Equipment in a job shop is general purpose
o The labor force is highly skilled
o Designed for maximum flexibility (wide product variations)
2. Medium production: 100 to 10.000
• Batch production (process layout): batch of one product is
made, after which the equipment is changed over to
produce a batch of the next product, and so on
o Suited to medium and hard product variety
o Setups required between batches (lost production
time, disadvantage)
o More customized/flexible, more challenging
• Cellular manufacturing (product/cell layout):
o Suited to soft product variety
o Without setups between different part styles (less lost production time)
o Worker cells organized to process parts; always carry out the same task;
higher volume
3. High production: 10.000 to > 1.000.000
• Often referred to as mass production (high demand for product, manufacturing
system dedicated to the production of that product)
What is manufacturing?
For manufacturing you need three things in particular: (1) materials, (2) processes, (3) systems.
Manufacturing is the process of converting raw materials into products. It
has the important function of adding value.
➔ Application of physical and chemical processes to alter the
geometry, properties and/or appearance of starting material.
For the manufacturing process, machinery, tooling, power, and labor can be needed. Besides the
processed part, the manufacturing process also will result in scrap and waste.
Industry consists of enterprises and organizations that produce or supply goods and services.
➔ Can be classified as:
1. Primary industries – cultivate and exploit natural resources, e.g. agriculture, mining
2. Secondary industries – take outputs of primary industries and convert them into
consumer and capital goods (includes the companies engaged in manufacturing, with
e.g. aerospace, automotive, building materials, construction, textiles, etc.)
3. Tertiary industries – service sector
Final products divide into two major classes:
1. Consumer goods: products purchased directly by consumers (e.g. car, clothes, TVs)
2. Capital goods: those purchased by companies to produce goods and/or provide services
(e.g. aircraft, computers, communication equipment, trucks, machine tools)
The quantity of products Q made by a factory has an important influence on the way its people,
facilities and procedures are organized. Annual quantities can be classified into three ranges:
1. Low production 1 to 100 units
2. Medium production 100 to 10.000 units
3. High production 10.000 to millions of units
Product variety P: different product types or models produced in the plant.
- They are intended for different markets
- They perform different functions
- Some have more parts than others
Manufacturing plants tend to specialize in a combination of P and Q that lies somewhere in the
diagonal band.
• Push line by automation.
• If product variety is high, then production quantity is likely to be low, and vice versa.
A manufacturing plant consists of processes and systems (and people) to transform a certain
limited range of materials into products of increased value.
,The building blocks – materials, processes, and systems – are subject of modern manufacturing.
Manufacturing capability refers to the technical and physical limitations of a manufacturing firm
and each of its plants. It includes:
1. Technological processing capability
• The set of available manufacturing processes in the plant (or company)
• Certain manufacturing processes are suited to certain materials, so by specializing
in certain processes, the plant is also specializing in certain materials
• Includes not only physical processes but also the expertise of the plant personnel
o A machine shop cannot roll steel
o A steel mill cannot build cars
2. Physical product limitations
• Given a plant with a certain set of processes, there are size and weight limitations
on the parts or products that can be made in the plan
• Product size and weight affect:
o Production equipment
o Material handling equipment
• Production, material handling equipment, and plant size must be planned for
products that lie within a certain size and weight range
3. Production capacity
• Defined as the maximum quantity that a plant can produce in a given time period
(e.g. month or year) under assumed operating conditions
o Operating conditions refer to number of shifts per week, hours per shift,
direct labor manning levels in the plant, etc.
o Usually measured in terms of output units, e.g. tons of steel or number of
cars produced
o Also called plant capacity
Ways to change capacity: increase shift length, add more people on
the floor, buy new equipment, optimize production process.
Materials in manufacturing
- Metals: usually alloys (composed of two or more elements)
o Ferrous metals: based on iron (e.g. steel, cast iron)
o Nonferrous metals: include other metallic elements
(e.g. aluminium, copper, magnesium, titanium)
- Ceramics (containing metallic and non-metallic elements):
clay, bricks, tiles, glass, cement
- Polymers (carbon plus other element): nylon, polyester, Teflon
- Composites (mixture of other three basic types): mud bricks, fiberglass, wood
Manufacturing processes
Two basic types
, 1. Processing operations: transform a work material from
one state of completion to a more advanced state
• Operations that change the:
o Geometry
o Properties (e.g. playing with temperature)
o Appearance of the starting material (e.g.
by coating)
2. Assembly operations: join two or more components to
create a new entity
Shaping processing operations apply heat, mechanical force or a
combination to effect a change in geometry of work material.
Classification of manufacturing shaping processes
1. Solidification processes: starting material is a
heated liquid or semifluid that cools and solidifies
to form the part geometry (casting for metals;
molding for plastics)
2. Particulate processing: starting material consists of
powders and the powders are formed and heated
into the desired geometry
3. Deformation processes: starting material is a
ductile solid (commonly metal) that is deformed to
shape the part
4. Material removal processes: starting
material is a ductile or brittle solid, from which
material is removed so that the resulting part
has the desired geometry
Production systems
, Production systems consists of people, equipment
and procedures used for the materials and processes
that constitute a firm’s manufacturing operations.
A manufacturing firm must have systems and
procedures to efficiently accomplish its production.
Two categories of production systems:
1. Production facilities: the physical equipment and the arrangement of equipment in the
factory (factory, production equipment, material handling systems)
o Equipment usually organized into logical groupings, called manufacturing systems,
e.g. automated production line, machine cell consisting of three machine tools
o Production facilities “touch” the product
2. Manufacturing support systems: procedures used by the company to manage production
and solve the technical and logistics problems encountered in ordering materials, moving
work through the factory and ensuring products meet quality standards
Certain types of production facilities are recognized as appropriate for a type of manufacturing:
1. Low production: 1 to 100
• Job shop: makes low quantities of specialized and
customized products (one product is flowing)
o Products are typically complex (e.g. ships, space
capsules, special machinery)
o Equipment in a job shop is general purpose
o The labor force is highly skilled
o Designed for maximum flexibility (wide product variations)
2. Medium production: 100 to 10.000
• Batch production (process layout): batch of one product is
made, after which the equipment is changed over to
produce a batch of the next product, and so on
o Suited to medium and hard product variety
o Setups required between batches (lost production
time, disadvantage)
o More customized/flexible, more challenging
• Cellular manufacturing (product/cell layout):
o Suited to soft product variety
o Without setups between different part styles (less lost production time)
o Worker cells organized to process parts; always carry out the same task;
higher volume
3. High production: 10.000 to > 1.000.000
• Often referred to as mass production (high demand for product, manufacturing
system dedicated to the production of that product)
