Flexible Manufacturing Systems
A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is a manufacturing system in which there is some amount of flexibility that allows the system to react in case of changes, whether predicted or unpredicted. This flexibility is generally considered to fall into two categories, which both contain numerous subcategories. * The first category is called routing flexibility, which covers the system's ability to be changed to produce new product types, and the ability to change the order of operations executed on a part. * The second category is called machine flexibility, which consists of the ability to use multiple machines to perform the same operation on a part, as well as the system's ability to absorb large-scale changes, such as in volume, capacity, or capability. Most flexible manufacturing systems consist of three main systems: # The work machines which are often automated CNC machines are connected by # A material handling system to optimize parts flow and # The central control compute ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high-tech, but it is most commonly applied to industrial design, in which raw materials from the primary sector are transformed into finished goods on a large scale. Such goods may be sold to other manufacturers for the production of other more complex products (such as aircraft, household appliances, furniture, sports equipment or automobiles), or distributed via the tertiary industry to end users and consumers (usually through wholesalers, who in turn sell to retailers, who then sell them to individual customers). Manufacturing engineering is the field of engineering that designs and optimizes the manufacturing process, or the steps through which raw materials are transformed i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flexibility (engineering)
Flexibility is used as an attribute of various types of systems. In the field of engineering systems design, it refers to designs that can adapt when external changes occur. Flexibility has been defined differently in many fields of engineering, architecture, biology, economics, etc. In the context of engineering design one can define flexibility as the ability of a system to respond to potential internal or external changes affecting its value delivery, in a timely and cost-effective manner. Thus, flexibility for an engineering system is the ease with which the system can respond to uncertainty in a manner to sustain or increase its value delivery. Uncertainty is a key element in the definition of flexibility. Uncertainty can create both risks and opportunities in a system, and it is with the existence of uncertainty that flexibility becomes valuable. Flexible Manufacturing System Flexibility has been especially thoroughly studied for manufacturing Manufacturing is the cr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Machine
A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecules, such as molecular machines. Machines can be driven by animals and people, by natural forces such as wind and water, and by chemical, thermal, or electrical power, and include a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement. They can also include computers and sensors that monitor performance and plan movement, often called mechanical systems. Renaissance natural philosophers identified six simple machines which were the elementary devices that put a load into motion, and calculated the ratio of output force to input force, known today as mechanical advantage. Modern machines are complex systems that consist of structural elements, mechanisms and contr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robot
A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, control may be embedded within. Robots may be constructed to evoke Humanoid robot, human form, but most robots are task-performing machines, designed with an emphasis on stark functionality, rather than expressive aesthetics. Robots can be autonomous robot, autonomous or semi-autonomous and range from humanoids such as Honda's ''Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility'' (ASIMO) and TOSY's ''TOSY Ping Pong Playing Robot'' (TOPIO) to industrial robots, robot-assisted surgery, medical operating robots, patient assist robots, dog therapy robots, collectively programmed Swarm robotics, ''swarm'' robots, UAV drones such as General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, and even microscopic Nanorobotics, nanorobots. By mimicking a lifelike appearance or automating mo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Computer Numerical Control
Computer numerical control (CNC) or CNC machining is the Automation, automated control of machine tools by a computer. It is an evolution of numerical control (NC), where machine tools are directly managed by data storage media such as punched cards or punched tape. Because CNC allows for easier programming, modification, and real-time adjustments, it has gradually replaced NC as computing costs declined. A CNC machine is a motorized maneuverable tool and often a motorized maneuverable platform, which are both controlled by a computer, according to specific input instructions. Instructions are delivered to a CNC machine in the form of a sequential program of machine control instructions such as G-code and M-code, and then executed. The program can be written by a person or, far more often, generated by graphical computer-aided design (CAD) or computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software. In the case of 3D printers, the part to be printed is "sliced" before the instructions (or ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Instrumentation
Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related areas of metrology, automation, and control theory. The term has its origins in the art and science of Scientific instrument, scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to devices as simple as direct-reading thermometers, or as complex as multi-sensor components of industrial control systems. Instruments can be found in laboratories, refineries, factories and vehicles, as well as in everyday household use (e.g., smoke detectors and thermostats). Measurement parameters Instrumentation is used to measure many parameters (physical values), including: *Pressure, either Differential pressure transducer, differential or static pressure, static *Rate of fluid flow, Flow *Temperature measurement, Temperature *Level Measurement, L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Small CNC Turning Center
Small means of insignificant size. Small may also refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * Small (journal), ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * HTML element#Presentation, <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Small, in the British children's show Big & Small Other uses * Small (surname) * List of people known as the Small * "Small", a song from the album ''The Cosmos Rocks'' by Queen + Paul Rodgers See also * Smal (other) * Smalls (other) {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Data Reporting
Data reporting is the process of collecting and submitting data. The effective management of any organization relies on accurate data. Inaccurate data reporting can lead to poor decision-making based on erroneous evidence. Data reporting is different from data analysis which transforms data and information into insights. Data reporting is the previous step that translates raw data into information. When data is not reported, the problem is known as underreporting; the opposite problem leads to false positives. Data reporting can be difficult. Census bureaus may hire perhaps hundreds of thousands of workers to achieve the task of counting all of the residents of a country. Teachers use data from student assessments to determine grades; manufacturers rely on sales data from retailers to indicate which products should have increased production, and which should be curtailed or discontinued. See also *Data processing Data processing is the collection and manipulation of digita ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Token Bus
In computer networking, a token bus network is a network implementing a token-passing protocol over a virtual ring on a coaxial cable. Network A token is passed around the network nodes and only the node possessing the token may transmit. If a node doesn't have anything to send, the token is passed on to the next node on the virtual ring. Each node must know the address of its neighbour in the ring, so a special protocol is needed to notify the other nodes of connections to, and disconnections from, the ring. Ethernet's access protocol could not absolutely guarantee a maximum time any station would have to wait to access the network, so was thought to be unsuitable for manufacturing automation applications. The Token bus protocol was created to combine the benefits of a physical bus network with the deterministic access protocol of a Token Ring network. IEEE 802.4 Token Bus was standardized by IEEE standard 802.4. It was mainly used for industrial applications. Token Bus was u ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |