15ME328E-PROCESS PLANING

AND COST ESTIMATION

UNIT-1
PROCESS PLANNING
 Production system
 Types of production,
 Standardization and Simplification,
 Production design and selection
 Process planning, Selection and analysis
 Manual/Experience based planning
 Variant type CAPP, Generative type CAPP
 Processes analysis, Break even analysis
Production system
PRODUCTION
Production is a method employed for making or providing
essential goods and services for consumers

PRODUCTION SYSTEM
The methods, procedure or arrangement which includes
all functions required to accumulate (gather) the inputs,
process or reprocess the inputs, and deliver the marketable
output (goods).

Production system consists of three main components

1. Inputs 2.Conversion Process 3.Output.
Production system
 Inputs: include raw-materials, machines, man-hours,
components or parts, drawing, instructions and other
paper works.
 Conversion process: includes operations (actual
production process). Operations may be either manual or
mechanical or chemical. Operations convert inputs into
output. Conversion process also includes supporting
activities, which help the process of conversion. The
supporting activities include; production planning and
control, purchase of raw-materials, receipt, storage and
issue of materials, inspection of parts and work-in-
progress, testing of products, quality control,
warehousing of finished products, etc.
 Output: includes finished products, finished goods (parts),
and services.
Production system

The three components of a production system are

depicted in this diagram
Types of production
Production system
Batch Production
In this type, the products are made in small batches and in large
variety. The orders may be repeated with intervals of time. This is a
very common type of production. Drugs, chemicals, paints, sheet metal
components, forgings and parts manufactured on turret/capstan
lathes come under this type.

The characteristics of this type of production are:

Products are manufactured in batches.
General purpose machines are used.
Flow of material is intermittent.
Plant layout is process type.
In process inventory is high.
Process and product planning is done for each batch.
Work loads on various machines or sections are unbalanced.
Machine operators are highly skilled.
 Advantages
1. Better utilization of plant and machinery.
2. Cost per unit is lower as compared to job order production.
3. Lower investment in plant and machinery.
4. Flexibility to accommodate and process number of products.
5. Job satisfaction exists for operators.

 Limitations
1. Material handling is complex because of irregular and longer
flows.
2. Production planning and control is complex.
3. Work in process inventory is higher compared to continuous
production.
4. Higher set up costs due to frequent changes in set up.
Job Order type Production
 In this type of production the products are manufactured directly to
customer’s orders and the quantity produced is also small, in many
cases it may be one piece only. The work is started only when the
organization has orders on hand.

The main characteristics of this type of production are:

 Flow of material is not continous i.e,. it is intermittent.
 Each job is different from the previous one as regards specifications,
quality and quantity.
 General purpose machinery is used, hence less initial investment in
equipment.
 Similar type of machines are grouped together.
 Highly skilled operators are needed.
 Each work has to be planned and scheduled separately.
 Raw material inventories are high.
 Prior planning is not possible.
 Advantages
1. Because of general purpose machines and facilities variety of
products can be produced.
2. Operators will become more skilled and competent, as each job
gives them learning opportunities.
3. Full potential of operators can be utilized.
4. Opportunity exists for Creative methods and innovative ideas.

 Limitations
1. Higher cost due to frequent set up changes.
2. Higher level of inventory at all levels and hence higher inventory
cost.
3. Production planning is complicated.
4. Larger space requirements.
Continuous Production:
 It is the specialised manufacture of identical articles.
The machinery and equipment's are fully engaged.
The products which are in high demand are produced
in large quantities in this production.
 It is further classified into two types.
 Mass Production
 Flow Production
Mass Production
 Mass production means the production of items in large quantity using
very specialised machines and processes. Items like metal screws,
nuts and bolts and plastic products are made in mass production. In
this type of production there is a continuous and steady flow of
materials.

The various characteristics of mass production are:

(i) Small varieties and large volumes are manufactured.
(ii) Product type plant layout is used.
(iii) The flow of work is balanced i.e., machine capacities are balanced.
(iv) Specialised machines and processes are used, hence high initial
investment in equipment.
(v) Materials move by conveyors.
(vi) It results in lowest cost of production.
(vii) Easier production planning and control.
(viii) Inventory of work in progress is small.
 Advantages
1. Higher rate of production with reduced cycle time.
2. Higher capacity utilization due to line balancing.
3. Less skilled operators are required.
4. Low process inventory.
5. Manufacturing cost per unit is low.

 Limitations
1. Breakdown of one machine will stop an entire production line.
2. Line layout needs major change with the changes in the product design.
3. High investment in production facilities.
4. The cycle time is determined by the slowest operation.
Continuous Production
 Production facilities are arranged as per the sequence of production

operations from the first operations to the finished product. The

items are made to flow through the sequence of operations through
material handling devices such as conveyors, transfer devices, etc.

 Continuous Production is characterized by

1. Dedicated plant and equipment with zero flexibility.
2. Material handling is fully automated.
3. Process follows a predetermined sequence of operations.
4. Component materials cannot be readily identified with final
product.
5. Planning and scheduling is a routine action.
 Advantages

1. Standardization of product and process sequence.

2. Higher rate of production with reduced cycle time.

3. Higher capacity utilization due to line balancing.

4. Manpower is not required for material handling as it is completely

automatic.

5. Person with limited skills can be used on the production line.

6. Unit cost is lower due to high volume of production.

 Limitations

1. Flexibility to accommodate and process number of products does not

exist.

2. Very high investment for setting flow lines.

Standardization
 It is the broader concept of simplification and can be defined as the
establishing of desirable criteria with respect to size, shape, material,
quality etc. of product and if practical will lead to simplification of a
company’s products. This will in-turn make mass production
economically viable if the demand for the standardized product is
sustained.
 Advantages:
 Better quality of products
 Using of automatic machines is easy & economically possible
 It saves production time & labours,thus cost of product is reduced
 Better customer satisfaction is possible
 It helps reduction in maintains & spears
 It helps in reduction of stocks
 Disadvantages:
 Extra cost for changing over to standardization
 Restriction of freedom of choice
 Simplification
 The concepts of specialization, standardization and simplification

(known as three S’s) are closely inter-related and lead to inter-

changeability in manufacturing. Simplification is the process of
reducing the variety of products manufactured (also known as variety
reduction).
ADVANTAGES
 MANUFACTURES
1. Less supervision is required.
2. Less chance of errors.
3. Increases production rate.
4. Lower unit cost.
5. Reducing wastage of materials.
Disadvantages
 Less variety of product.

 Customer satisfaction is very difficult.

 Limited number of customers.

 Special machines are to be utilized.

PRODUCTION DESIGN
production design is concerned with determination of manufacturing
tolerance, selection of material, achievement of max interchangeability of
man power, machines, manufacturing with utilizing those processes that
make a low cost production.

Production design should aim to achieve performance standard and its

goals should be economy of production.
Process planning
 It can be defined as “an act of preparing a detailed work instructions for
the manufacture and assembly of components into finished product in
discrete part manufacturing environments.”

 Process plan : The detailed instructions for making a part or a

component. It includes such information as the operations, their
sequence, machines, tools, speeds and feeds, dimensions, tolerances,
stock removed, inspection procedures and time standards.

 Information's required for Process Planning

1. Quantity of work to be done along with product specifications.
2. Quality of work to be completed.
3. Availability of equipments, tools etc.
4. Sequence in which operations will be performed on the raw material.
5. Names of equipment on which the operations will be performed.
6. Standard time for each operation.
7. When the operations will be performed?
 OBJECTIVES OF PROCESS PLANNING
The systematic determination of the engineering processes and
systems to manufacture a product competitively and economically is
called operations planning. It is the stage between design and
Production. The plan of manufacture considers functional
requirements of the product, quantity, tools and equipment, and
eventually the costs for manufacture.

Procedure for Process Planning

1. Preparation of working drawings.
2. Deciding to make or buy.
3. Selecting manufacturing process.
4. Machine capacity and machine selection.
5. Selection of material and bill of materials.
6. Selection of jigs, fixtures and other attachments.
7. Operation planning and tooling requirement.
8. Preparation of documents such as operation sheet and route
sheet etc.
 PROCESS PLANNING

Design Machine
Tool

Process
Planning

Scheduling and Production Control

13 - 21
 Analyze
Part requirements
(drawing interpretation

Determine
Operation sequence
(Material evaluation and process selection)

Select
Equipment
(selection of machines, tooling and work holding devices)

Calculate
Processing times
(setting process parameters)

Select
QA/inspection methods
(selecting quality assurance methods)

Estimate
Manufacturing cost
(cost estimating)

Document
Process plan
(preparing the process planning documentation)

Communicate
Mfg.engr shoop floor
PROCESS PLANNING ACTIVITIES
STEP 1: Drawing interpretation- Analysis of the finished part
requirements as specified in the engineering design.
SETP 2: Material evaluation and process selection- Evaluating the
materials specified and determining the appropriate manufacturing
processes`
STEP 3: Selection of machines, tooling and work holding devices-
Selecting the proper equipment to accomplish the required operations.
STEP 4: Setting process parameters- Establishing specific parameters
for each operation for each machine.
STEP 5: Selection of QA methods- specifying the inspection criteria for
all critical processing factors.
STEP 6: Cost estimating- Estimating the manufacturing costs of
producing a component/product.
STEP 7: Preparing the process planning documentation- Preparing
routing sheets and operations list.
STEP 8: Communicating the manufacturing knowledge to the shop floor.
 Process Selection
Process selection determines how the product (or service) will be
produced. It determines the most economical method of performing an
activity. It involves
1. Technological choice.
(a) Major technological choice.
(b) Minor technological choice.
2. Specific component choice.
3. Process flow choice.

1. Technological choice
(a) Major technological choice
While considering major technological choice, the following questions
should be analysed:
• Does technology exist to make the product?
• Are there competing technologies among which we should choose?
• Should innovations be licensed from foreign countries?
 (b)Minor technological choice
Once the major technological choice is made, there may be a number
of minor technological process alternatives available. The operations
manager should be involved in evaluating alternatives for costs and for
consistency with the desired product and capacity plans.
Should the process be continuous, which is carried out for 24 hours a
day in order to avoid expensive start ups and shut downs as used by
steel and chemical industries.

2. Specific component choice

While considering the specific component choice, the following
questions should be analysed.
• What type of equipment (and degree of automation) should be used?
• Should the equipment be specific purpose or general purpose?
• To what degree should machines be used to replace human labour
in performing and automatically controlling the work?
 Process flow choice
 How should the product flow through the operations system?
• The final process selection step determines how materials and
products will move through the system.
• Assembly drawings, assembly charts, route sheets and flow process
charts are used to analyse process flow.
• Analysis may lead to resequencing, combining or eliminating
operations in order to reduce materials handling and storage costs.
Considerations in Selection of Process ( Process Selection)
Consideration should be given to the following factors in selecting a
particular process.
1.Nature of part, including materials, tolerances, desired surface finish and
operation required.
2.Method of fabrication including machining or assembling of similar parts
or components.
3.Limitation of facilities including the plant and equipment available.
4.Possibility of likely product design changes to facilitate manufacturability
or cost reduction.
5.In-plant and outside materials handling systems.
6.Inherent process to produce specified shape, surface, finish to give
desired mechanical properties.
7.Available skill level of operators for the production.
Factors Influencing Process Selection
After a product design is made process selection is to be carried out.
There are several factors which influence the process selection, These are :
1.Shape requirements
2.Size or dimensional requirements
3.Tolerance requirements
4.Surface finish requirements
5.Annual volume requirements (i.e., production quantity required per annum)
6.Material characteristics.

1.Shape requirements of the final product i.e., Geometric Form : Geometric

parameters such as solid shape, hollow shape, flat shape, flanged shape,
concave shape, convex shape, cylindrical shape, presence of any part
features such as groove, threaded shape, hole, chamfer, etc. are considered
in the selection of a manufacturing process. Each process has its own
capabilities and limitations with respect to the production of the above
shapes and part features.
2. Size or Dimensional requirements : Some processes are capable of
handling parts of small sizes and some processes can handle large
sized parts economically and effectively.

3. Tolerance requirements : Each manufacturing process has got its own

capability with regard to tolerance or accuracy of parts that can be
produced using that process.

4. Surface finish requirements : Each manufacturing process has got its

own capability with regard to the surface finish which it can provide on
the part machined, e.g. reaming process can provide a better surface
finish in a hole when compared with drilling process.

Similarly cylindrical grinding give a better surface finish, than a plain

turning process. Depending on the finish requirements specified on the
component drawing, appropriate machining process need to be selected.
5. Production volume requirements : The economics of any machining
process depends on the production volume, i.e., no. of components
required on a weekly, monthly or annual basis as the case may be.
Existing order quantity as well as any anticipated future orders and their
quantity need to be considered in the process selection.
 Some of the processes and additional cost incurred in the specialized
toolings, jigs and fixtures can be justified only when there is a large
volume of production.

6. Material requirements : The hardness, and strength characteristics of

the material influence the tooling required. To machine hard and tough
materials, carbide and ceramic tools are required. If slender or thin
materials are machined, proper work holding devices and specially
designed jigs and fixtures are required is order to avoid distortion and
bending of work pieces during machining. Thus material requirements
of the part also influence the appropriate selection of machining
process.
APPROACHES TO PROCESS PLANNING
There are basically two approaches to process planning which are as
follows :
1.Manual experience-based process planning, and
2.Computer-aided process planning method.

1.Manual experience-based process planning

This type of planning is known as non-variant process planning. It is the commonest
type of planning used for production today. Planning the operations to be used to
produce a part requires knowledge of two groups of variables
(a) The part requirements, and
(b) The available machines and processes and the capabilities of each process.
From this, the planner selects the combination of processes required to produce a
finished part. In selecting this combination of processes, a number of criteria are
employed.
There are variations in the level of detail found in route sheets among different
companies and industries. Process planning is accomplished by releasing the
drawing to the production shop with the instructions ‘make to drawing’. More firms
provide a more detailed list of steps describing each operation and identifying each
work center. The process planning procedure is very much dependent on the
experience and judgments of the planner.
Manual experience-based process planning

The steps mentioned in the previous section are essentially same for
manual process planning. Following difficulties are associated with manual
experienced based process planning method :
 It is time consuming and over a period of time, plan developed are not
consistent.
 Feasibility of process planning is dependent on many upstream factors (design
and availability of machine tools). Downstream manufacturing activities such
as scheduling and machine tool allocation are also influenced by such process
plan.
Therefore, in order to generate a proper process plan, the process planner
must have sufficient knowledge and experience. Hence, it is very difficult to
develop the skill of the successful process planner and also a time
consuming issue.
2. Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP)
Process planning involves the preparation and documentation of the
plans for manufacturing the products. Computer-Aided Process Planning
(CAPP) is a means of implementing this planning function by the use of
computers.

Computer Aided Process Planning represents the link between design

and manufacturing in a CAD/CAM system. Process planning is concerned
with determining the sequence of processing and assembly steps that
must be accomplished to make the product. The processing sequence is
documented on a sheet called a route sheet. The route sheet typically lists
the production operations, machine tools, work centres or work stations
where each operation is performed, jigs, fixtures and tooling required and
standard time for each task.

Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP) Systems are designed with

two approaches.
(a) Variant or Retrieval process planning.
(b) Generative process planning.
 Retrieval Type Approach
 Variant process planning explores the similarities among components and
searches through a database to retrieve the standard process plan for the part
family in which the component belongs. A standard process plan is a process plan
that applies to an entire part family when a standard plan is retrieved; a certain
degree of modification follows in order to accommodate the details of the design.
Generative Method of Process Planning (Generative CAPP
System)
In generative process planning, process plans are generated by means of
decision logic, formulas, technology algorithms, and geometry based data
to perform uniquely processing decisions. Main aim is to convert a part
form raw material to finished state. Hence, generative process plan may be
defined as a system that synthesizes process information in order to create
a process plan for a new component automatically.
Generative process plan mainly consists of two major components :
(i) Geometry based coding scheme.
(ii) Proportional knowledge in the form of decision logic and data.

This approach of process planning is also known as Generative CAPP

System. Both the approaches, Variant (or retrieval) method of process
planning and Generative method of process planning involves a systematic
development of Code Numbers using Group Technology concepts and
principles for the design and manufacture of the part. Both of these
methods of computerized process planning can be enhanced through the
application of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the form of expert systems.
Benefits of CAPP
Process rationalization and standardization : Automated process planning
leads to more logical and consistent process plans than when process
planning is done completely manually.
CAPP helps in arriving at standard and consistent process plans :
Standard plans tend to result in lower manufacturing costs and higher
product quality.
Increased productivity of process planners : The systematic approach and
the availability of standard process plans in the data files permit more work
to be accomplished by the process planners.
Reduced lead time for process planning : Process planners working with
the CAPP system can provide route sheets in a shorter lead time compared
to manual preparation.
Improved legibility and readability : Computer prepared route sheets are
legible and easier to read than manually prepared route sheets.
Incorporation of other application programmes : The CAPP programme
can be integrated with other application programmes, such as estimation of
standard time, cost estimating and formulation of work standards.
Process Analysis
Process Analysis means:
 Study of the overall process in the factory. It analyses each step of the
manufacturing processes and aims at improving the industrial operations
 Process Analysis aids in finding better methods of doing a job and this is
achieved by eliminating unproductive and unnecessary elements of the
process or through modified layout of facilities.
 The process is analysed with the help of process charts and flow diagrams.

Various steps involved in Process Analysis are:

1. Select the process for analysis.
2. Breakdown the process into operations and sub-operations
3. Construct a process chart and a flow diagram.
4. Analyse the process chart and a flow diagram by subjecting each and every
step to a questioning procedure.
5. Reconstruct the process chart and flow diagram for the modified (proposed)
procedure.
6. Test the proposed method for all the advantages claimed.
7. Explain the new method to the workers and put it into operation.
Break Even Analysis
Break even analysis is also used to make a choice between two machines tools to
produce a given component.
To determine which of the two machines is most economical, the total cost of the
two machines (fixed cost + variable cost) is plotted against the number of units. The
point at which the two lines representing the total costs of the two machines meet
each other, is termed as break even point.
Towards the left of break even point figure, machine. A is economical than
machine B and if the quantity of production is more than that corresponding to break
even point, machine B becomes economical than machine A.
Mathematically, the above discussion can be written as,

where,
FA = Fixed cost of machine A, Rs.
FB = Fixed cost of machine B, Rs.
VA = Variable cost of machine A, Rs.
VB = Variable cost of machine B, Rs.
Q = Required Quantity.
This would give a positive value when fixed cost of a process is greater
and variable cost less than those of the other process. If both fixed cost and
variable cost are lower than the other process, then the latter process is
always uneconomical whatever may be the production quantity. This can
also be done by graphical method.