IT professionals in manufacturing say ERP systems are blurring the lines between IT and users. There is huge demand for users or line-of-business people who also have professional-level IT skills. But traditional IT types who know only about technology and nothing about the business are not needed as they once were. “Understanding the business is probably the most critical [aspect],” says Joan Cox, CIO at the Space and Strategic Missiles Sector of Lockheed Martin. “It’s more important to understand how you want things to flow though the factory than [to have] the skill of programming-except for the few places where SAP doesn’t do what’s needed, so you need coders.” Thomas says, “What manufacturers are going to need in the future are some real visionaries who still understand the supply chain and profitability, and who could potentially influence the future direction of the company in big ways. There could be a huge change in the supply chain and the cost structure.”[14]
Manufacturing Equipment(CAD/CAM)
Manufacturers can avoid production problems by including manufacturing information in PDM systems along with product design data like drawings, CAD models, and engineering specifications[15].
Manufacturing companies, even those that have invested heavily in advanced
computer-based engineering and production systems, often fail to systematically manage the tooling, fixtures, molds, dies, and CAM programs required to produce parts on the factory floor[15].
Information waste time, and tooling mistakes on the shop floor can be avoided by including this manufacturing information in PDM systems along with product design data like drawings, CAD models, and engineering specifications. In PDM, this information comprises the overall product definition, and adding categories to include tooling information usually is relatively easy. The system should be implemented with input from the factory personnel, of course, who know their operation better than anyone and who will eventually have to use the PDM system in their jobs[15].
Such a system can have an enormous impact for a manufacturer, not only in more efficient factory operations but also in heading off problems caused by faulty production information. In this way, PDM can help avoid serious production problems that could cripple an otherwise smooth-running operation[15].
Today, in order to meet growing competitive pressures, there is an increased use of the computer to aid in the design process. Computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing tools are providing the capability to meet the reduced time-to-market window of opportunity. Thus, the process of transferring design information to manufacturing production equipment, as in the past, becomes a major factor in the success or failure of a project to meet customer or company management expectations. Over the years, many standards have evolved to address the situation of design-to-manufacturing data transfer. The Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits has a suite of standards that deals with board, photo-tool, electrical test, and assembly descriptions[16].
The industry has faced design-to-manufacturability relationships since the days of the first Winchester rifle-designers were interested in providing the best design for the hunters of that era, and manufacturers were tasked to produce parts for the Winchester that were interchangeable[16].
The electronics industry is under a similar challenge as that of our forefathers of the industrial revolution. The difference in today’s world is that, in order to meet growing competitive pressures, there is an increased use of the computer to aid in the design process. Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) tools are providing the capability to meet the reduced time-to-market window of opportunity. Thus, the process of transferring design information to manufacturing production
equipment, as in the past, becomes a major factor in the success or failure of a project to meet customer or company management expectations[16].
The advent of the first CAD systems was based within the large OEM structures. IBM, RCA, PhilcoFord, Raytheon, Northern Telecom, and Hewlett-Packard all had systems that their engineers used in conjunction when designing electronic printed boards. The industry learned to rely on computer algorithms to place components and interconnect them on one, two or several layers. These initial systems provided machine language to photoplotters that created the tools to produce the conductor images[16].
As CAD systems continued to evolve, more computer power was expected of them. Design methodology received a great deal of attention from companies who became automation tool suppliers to the industry as opposed to OEMs who created their own internal systems. Users of these products provided input to the tool developers, and a great deal of concentration was exerted on the computer algorithms needed to provide quick and easy solutions to the design problem. CAD programs were expected to perform
analyses that determined if timing and speed of circuit signals were consistent with the engineers desire. CRT browsers were provided to assure easy access to modify the data or implement user modifications to the resulting CAD solution. While the systems for CAD improved, the transfer of data to the manufacturing floor stalled[16].
Fortunately, CAM tools have provided analyses and functions that have addressed the ambiguities in the machine language provided by the customer. While design complexity has increased with more layers, more parts and faster turnaround required by the customer[16].
Although design and engineering is usually 100 completed by the CAD system, the manufacturing processes, even with improved tools, are only 70 realized. Manufacturers indicate that they can’t trust what they’ve received-data files are unreadable, information is incomplete and communication is not two-way-thus, data is reengineered on the
manufacturing floor. In addition, due to the competitive nature of the printed board industry, the manufacturer would rather fix the problem and charge for the services than contact the customer to imply that the data provided was insufficient. This is not just an problem for the United States, but a global problem for the industry[16].
In 4,000 hours, Culin/Collela produced miles of curved molding and other custom millwork using a CNC (computer numeric controlled) wood router driven by a personal computer. This was about half the time it would have taken to make all these products using traditional methods. The router improved work accuracy by a factor of 10. The Mamaroneck, New York, company delivered curved molding, cabinets and bookshelves that drew praise from the project architect. Creating large curved wood pieces by hand requires making a trammel and physically swinging an arc to calculate curve radii. Instead, Culin/Collela created shop drawings in its CAD (computer-aided design) system. CAD data was transferred to the router’s CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) system to create toolpaths for the router. Without CNC equipment, Culin/Collela could not have even bid on this contract, much less won it[17].
Culin/Collela executives realized that CAD/CAM technology could make some of this work easier. But computer-controlled woodworking machines cost around $60,000, a sum impossible to justify with the firm’s existing workload. Then came news of the Techno Series III PC-driven CNC wood router. It costs less than $16,000, yet can do production routing and drilling on a wide variety of materials: solid wood, mediumdensity fiberboard, plastic, solid-surfacing materials and nonferrous metals[17].
Textile design remained a manual process until initial changes occurred 30 years ago. This was the beginning of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) for textiles. But even through the 1970s and into the 1980s, computer and graphic processor were primitive by today’s standards. PCs, desktop workstations, powerful graphic processors and a lot of software developed over the last 15 years changed all that. Rapid development of CAD systems was spurred by user-friendly operating systems and the introduction of peripheral equipment such as color scanners and printers. Other significant factors include innovative software engineers, a big contribution from textile manufacturers and the synergy from both. CAD/CAM simulates the manual processes in creating a design and getting the pattern information to the production machine. It saves a lot of time, while contributing to higher efficiency and productivity. Ways that a number of textile companies are using CAD/CAM applications for design are discussed[18].
What an end user needs depends on what the plant produces and the degree of that plant’s product complexity. A great deal of hardware and software is available for textile design, color matching, color separation, yarn and fabric simulation, 3D presentations and fashion design[18].
A system can be as simple as a regular PC with a keyboard, a mouse and a few thousand dollars spent on software. Further up-scaling requires a digitizer pad and pen, color flatbed scanner and color printer, each costing several hundred dollars. Other end users will need a number of more expensive desktop workstations, color flatbed and drum scanners, high-tech printer and more extensive software package[18].
CAD/CAM simulates the manual processes in creating a design and getting the pattern information to the production machine. It does not replace the designer’s creativity, skill or experience. But it does save a lot of time, while contributing to higher efficiency and productivity, from design concept all the way to the finished product[18].
JIT, MRP, & Integrating JIT/MRP
Just-In-Time(JIT)
The main goal of just-in-time (JIT) implementation is to solve problems and to find solutions. Most of the time, JIT is described as waste elimination at all levels, as a means of maximizing high-added value activities payoff or to minimize low-added value activities impact. The firm that wants to implement JIT also wants to know the cost and length of this process and its related activities. However, above all, the firm certainly wants a successful implementation at the first attempt and an implementation process that perfectly suits that firm’s needs. Project management provides a framework capable of monitoring the complex JIT implementation process: it is a management tool developed for planning, controlling, and monitoring an intricate set of non-repetitive activities[19].
The quest by suppliers, vendors and discounters to apply just-in-time delivery principles that reduce inventory and transportation costs while making merchandise available to consumers immediately after it is produced is important. One key best practice in the JIT arena entails exploring new logistics arrangements that fall outside the traditional direct store delivery or distribution center model. For manufacturers, this sometimes means shipping to consolidation centers operated by 3rd-party firms or by retailers. But no matter what the extent of supply chain responsibilities assigned to 3rd-party logistics companies by vendors and retailers they serve, entities that want to move forward with JIT are delving into using at least some form of sophisticated technology as a springboard[20].
A large order of General Electric telephones, bound for units of a mass merchant, leaves the manufacturer’s warehouse. But rather