NIST Manufacturing Systems Integration Program

Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) is the manufacturing approach of using computers to control the entire production process. This integration allows individual processes to exchange information with each part. Manufacturing can be faster and less error-prone by the integration of computers. Typically CIM relies on closed-loop control processes based on real-time input from sensors. It is also known as ''flexible design and manufacturing''.

Overview

# Computer-integrated manufacturing is used in automotive,

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot ...

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually con ...

, and

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguishe ...

building industries. # The term "computer-integrated manufacturing" is both a method of manufacturing and the name of a computer-automated system in which individual engineering, production, marketing, and support functions of a

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...

enterprise are organized. # In a CIM system functional areas such as

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

, analysis,

planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is c ...

purchasing Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly betwe ...

cost accounting Cost accounting is defined as "a systematic set of procedures for recording and reporting measurements of the cost of manufacturing goods and performing services in the aggregate and in detail. It includes methods for recognizing, classifying, al ...

, inventory control, and distribution are linked through the computer with factory floor functions such as materials handling and management, providing direct control and monitoring of all the operation. CIM is an example of application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Manufacturing process. CIM is an example of the implementation of

information and communication technologies Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications ( telephone lines and wireless signals) and comput ...

(ICTs) in manufacturing. CIM implies that there are at least two computers exchanging information, e.g. the controller of an arm robot and a micro-controller. CIM is most useful where a high level of ICT is used in the company or facility, such as

CAD/CAM CAD/CAM refers to the integration of Computer-aided design (CAD) and Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). Both of these require powerful computers. ''CAD'' software helps designers and draftsmen; ''CAM'' "reduces manpower costs" in the manufactu ...

systems, and the

availability In reliability engineering, the term availability has the following meanings: * The degree to which a system, subsystem or equipment is in a specified operable and committable state at the start of a mission, when the mission is called for at ...

of process planning and its data.

History

The idea of "digital manufacturing" became prominent in the early 1970s, with the release of Dr. Joseph Harrington's book, Computer Integrated Manufacturing. However,it was not until 1984 when computer-integrated manufacturing began to be developed and promoted by machine tool manufacturers and the Computer and Automated Systems Association and

Society of Manufacturing Engineers SME (previously the Society of Manufacturing Engineers) is a non-profit student and professional association for educating and advancing the manufacturing industry in North America. History SME was founded in January 1932 at the height of the ...

(CASA/SME). : "''CIM is the integration of total manufacturing enterprise by using integrated systems and data communication coupled with new managerial philosophies that improve organizational and personnel efficiency''." ERHUM : : In a literature research was shown that 37 different concepts of CIM were published, most of them from Germany and USA. In a timeline of the 37 publications it is possible to see how the CIM concept developed over time. Also it is quite markable how different the concepts of all publications are.

Topics

Computer Integrated Manufacturing control system

Key challenges

There are three major challenges to development of a smoothly operating computer-integrated manufacturing system: * Integration of components from different suppliers: When different machines, such as CNC,

conveyor A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...

s and robots, are using different communications protocols (In the case of AGVs, even differing lengths of time for charging the batteries) may cause problems. *

Data integrity Data integrity is the maintenance of, and the assurance of, data accuracy and consistency over its entire life-cycle and is a critical aspect to the design, implementation, and usage of any system that stores, processes, or retrieves data. The ter ...

: The higher the degree of automation, the more critical is the integrity of the data used to control the machines. While the CIM system saves on labor of operating the machines, it requires extra human labor in ensuring that there are proper safeguards for the data signals that are used to control the machines. *

Process control An industrial process control in continuous production processes is a discipline that uses industrial control systems to achieve a production level of consistency, economy and safety which could not be achieved purely by human manual control. ...

: Computers may be used to ''assist'' the human operators of the manufacturing facility, but there must always be a competent engineer on hand to handle circumstances which could not be foreseen by the designers of the control software.

Subsystems

A computer-integrated manufacturing system is not the same as a '' "lights-out factory"'', which would run completely independent of human intervention, although it is a big step in that direction. Part of the system involves flexible manufacturing, where the

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with t ...

can be quickly modified to produce different products, or where the volume of products can be changed quickly with the aid of computers. Some or all of the following subsystems may be found in a CIM operation: Computer-aided techniques: * CAD ( computer-aided design) * CAE (

computer-aided engineering Computer-aided engineering (CAE) is the broad usage of computer software to aid in engineering analysis tasks. It includes , , , durability and optimization. It is included with computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) ...

) * CAM (

computer-aided manufacturing Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) also known as computer-aided modeling or computer-aided machining is the use of software to control machine tools in the manufacturing of work pieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most ...

) * CAPP ( computer-aided process planning) * CAQ ( computer-aided quality assurance) * PPC ( production planning and control) * ERP (

enterprise resource planning Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a sui ...

) * A business system integrated by a common database. Devices and equipment required: * CNC, Computer numerical controlled machine tools * DNC, Direct numerical control machine tools * PLCs, Programmable logic controllers *

Robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

ics * Computers *

Software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

* Controllers * Networks *

Interfacing Interfacing is a textile used on the unseen or "wrong" side of fabrics to make an area of a garment more rigid. Interfacings can be used to: *stiffen or add body to fabric, such as the interfacing used in shirt collars *strengthen a certain ar ...

* Monitoring equipment Technologies: * FMS, ( flexible manufacturing system) * ASRS,

automated storage and retrieval system An automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS or AS/RS) consists of a variety of computer-controlled systems for automatically placing and retrieving loads from defined storage locations. Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are ty ...

* AGV, automated guided vehicle *

Robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist human ...

* Automated conveyance systems Others: *

Lean manufacturing Lean manufacturing is a production method aimed primarily at reducing times within the production system as well as response times from suppliers and to customers. It is closely related to another concept called just-in-time manufacturing (J ...

CIMOSA

CIMOSA (Computer Integrated Manufacturing Open System Architecture), is a 1990s European proposal for an open systems architecture for CIM developed by the AMICE Consortium as a series of

ESPRIT Esprit or L'Esprit may refer to: * the French for Spirit; as a loanword: ** Enthusiasm, intense interest or motivation ** Morale, motivation and readiness ** Geist "mind/spirit; intellect" * Esprit (name), a given name and surname * ''Esprit'' (m ...

projects. The goal of CIMOSA was "to help companies to manage change and integrate their facilities and operations to face world wide competition. It provides a consistent architectural framework for both

enterprise modeling Enterprise modelling is the abstract representation, description and definition of the structure, processes, information and resources of an identifiable business, government body, or other large organization. It deals with the process of unders ...

and

enterprise integration Enterprise integration is a technical field of enterprise architecture, which is focused on the study of topics such as system interconnection, electronic data interchange, product data exchange and distributed computing environments. It is a c ...

as required in CIM environments".

F. Vernadat F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distribution, a con ...

(1996). ''Enterprise Modeling and Integration''. p.40 CIMOSA provides a solution for business integration with four types of products:Richard C. Dorf, Andrew Kusiak (1994). ''Handbook of Design, Manufacturing, and Automation''. p.1014 * The CIMOSA Enterprise Modeling Framework, which provides a reference architecture for enterprise architecture * CIMOSA IIS, a standard for physical and application integration. * CIMOSA Systems Life Cycle, is a life cycle model for CIM development and deployment. * Inputs to standardization, basics for international standard development. CIMOSA according to Vernadat (1996), coined the term

business process A business process, business method or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...

and introduced the process-based approach for integrated

based on a cross-boundaries approach, which opposed to traditional function or activity-based approaches. With CIMOSA also the concept of an " Open System Architecture" (OSA) for CIM was introduced, which was designed to be vendor-independent, and constructed with standardised CIM modules. Here to the OSA is "described in terms of their function, information, resource, and organizational aspects. This should be designed with

structured engineering Structuring, also known as smurfing in banking jargon, is the practice of executing financial transactions such as making bank deposits in a specific pattern, calculated to avoid triggering financial institutions to file reports required by la ...

methods and made operational in a modular and

evolutionary architecture Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...

for operational use".

AREAS

There are multiple areas of usage: * In Industrial and Production engineering * In

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

* In

electronic design automation Electronic design automation (EDA), also referred to as electronic computer-aided design (ECAD), is a category of software tools for designing electronic systems such as integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. The tools work together ...

(

printed circuit board A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a laminated sandwich str ...

(PCB) and integrated circuit design data for manufacturing)

References

External links

{{Commons category, Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)
cam-occ, a linux CAM program using OpenCASCADE''International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing''
Product lifecycle management Information technology management Computer-aided engineering Digital manufacturing