AN INTEGRATED manufacturing System is rclativcly to

Integrated
easy to define in principie and, like most good handlc
principie^ sorriwhat more dif- ficult to achicvein parts up
practicc. ro 2nv'
The prime aim is to combine a number of hithcrto with

separatc manufacturing processes so Chat thcy can hc
ccmcrollcd rom a single sourcc, reladvc to cach other.
l he chicf benefits of so duing are; reduc- tion in
lost lime causei) by iwcr-stagc movernent of lhe
components being made; improvd machinc tool
utilisation; reduedon irt manpowcr; reduedon of work
in progress; and greater tcxibility of componcnt
baiching and loadiiitt.
To date, chc majority of Systems developed have
conccntratcd on the machining processes involvcd,
and in pardcuJar prismatic parts manufacture. truly
complete itue* gratcd manufacturing System would
require the $amc degree of co-ordination and conlrul
to bc appJied to the other major operational arcas, ic
fabrication and assem Wy.
However, lhe conccrn here is with lhe appiication contro) systems, which hccamc availablc in the lale greater tool cutting time, a group of S machincs can
of this typc of manufacture to $mall batch produccion 1960a. From this point on it was possible to design be equated to 100 conven- tional m3chincs in output,
which constilutcs a signiticant proportion of the
manufacturing output both in the UK. and csewherc:.
It has bcen eslimaied lhai lhe difTerence in cost
belween rnass production and small batch produedon
of the same components can be as much as 30 to 1,
and an appropriate expression of a cost target for
inicgraied manufacturing systems couJd be 4lh mass
produedon ofonc-ofiV.
Integrated manufacturing systems o some form
for machining components have bcen in COrnmercial
use for abour 22 ycars, and cxisled in experimental
form for some ycars hefore thaL Early systems
incJuded manmilly operated Standard machine lools
fed by Automatic means trom a common sourcc, as
well asa limitcd number of machining ccntrcs COUpIcd
by pallctiscd loading and unloading.
Such systems arc illustratcd by the ln- gcrsoJl
Milling Co layout and the Hughes Aircrat Co set up
with thrcc machining centres (Kearney & Trecker)
counCCted to a common feed convcyor, the lactcr
systcm dacing from 1958. AI) of thesc dcvclopments,
with one remarkcible eaceplion, have taken place
ovcrsca$; notably in the USA and Japan. The
excepdon is the Molins System
ThLs articlc is taken from a paper givcn at the rcccm RNCS/lPTodE Mach S0 cnr.fcnmw! 'Towardft Iriiegntltd
iMauufaclunng'.
manufacturing
wcights
of over
lftOOkg
per
individua
the State of the art l parL A
lypicd
System
John Collins, Manager, Industrial Engineering Department, BOC Ltd, can
looks at existing integrated manufacturing systems (IMS) and examines hancile
the next steps likely in IMS development for batch manufacturing. up lo
dcvelopcd 18 ycars ag by T Williamson and the 250
Molins Cotnpany in London. difTerent components, wilh as many as 20 difTerent
The real breakthrough, bowcvy, was dependem components in circulacion at chcsamc time.
011 the design of rcliblc, com- paratively low-cost Rccausc the high opcracing cfticiencies leading to
systems which would achieve a sutfiiemly lor.g mean cspecially on smwll batchcs of up to 50 parts.. The
time between breakdown to makc them ecortomically average number of machincs in a syslcm varies
actraetivcatways assumi ng ihal lhe Standard ofthc bctwccn 5 and 9 machining centres, lhough the
mcchamcal functions was ofan equalordcr. grealcst number rccorded in one System i$ 70 in lhe
ProduClion could now bc accuratcly planned United States at the Sunsuand Corporation. With high
through acomplex svsiem ofmachin- ing operations, operating cfficicncics (in some cases over 90%) the
and lhe manual contcnt was redueed largely to that of output from a Single System can bc as high as 4U0
inspcction of picccparts and LoOling to maintain the picccs a month on a 3-shift basis, thus giving to the
stan- dards of accurucy and fini$h demanded hy the batch production of small quantities the volume
spccificacion f lhe componcnt. A machine con|rolle<J outputs of mass produccion equip- ment.
nwironmcnt on und <iff inc shpfloor could yicld high As would bc cxpcctcd from high capital investment
fficicndes nol previously considcred actainablc in this of this order (lhe average System costing in excess of
typc of produedon. S6 million) 2 and even 3- shift working on an
l he systems currently operacing world- extended basis has bccn chc practicc with most
companies. Some systems have bcen in operation in
this manner since 1972, which would be the
equivaJent of a 17 year life for lhe moin machines on
a single-shifc basis, and this lias bcen achicvcd
without major replacemem or brcakdown.
Th total co$t of a typical syseem can bc diindcd
cqually bctwccn the machines and the control systems
which gives some idea of the extern of the problcms
wide ure disposed as follows: Jap&n which have hud to bc overcome by such
24 26 compreher.sive control systems. Coupled with the
USA )0 extended running which has bcen achieved over th
West G erma ny S ycars, it is clear ihut ihese are no Jon&er sirnply ex-
East Germany 4 perimetttal set ups. but reliaWc production processes.
C7echoslovakia 3 In order to illustratc clcarly the principul operating
Swcdcn 2 features of the integrated manufac- curing systems
method, four lypical systems have been chosen.
Norway __
54 SYSTEM l
Manufacfurcr: WhitcSunstrund Corp Ucr:
to manufac- lngcrsoll Rond Corp Location;Rounoke, Va, USA
The majority (39) arc sec up
Cure prismalic parts. and the remainder axe designed Tnstallcd: 1972 Type; DNC fully integrated
to cope with rotational parts produc- tion. The Components:
systems includc thosc with capacity Prismaticmotor case, lm3 Machines:
8-6 machining centres, 2 NC drilLs Manning:
9 men lotai, covring .1 shifts
This system is one of the oldcsc in

4J

U/i s h

Figure I A typicaf loop conveyor integrated raUIVJlacturin system.

The Production Engincer Junc 1980