Page 120 - Modular design for machine tools

82 Modular Design Guide and Machine Tools Description

In the remanufacturing-oriented type, furthermore, we must be aware
of the following.
1. With the advances of technology or appearance of innovative tech-
nology, the module often seems old-fashioned, even though it is
within its product life from a technological viewpoint and still has
remaining design life. This situation is a variant of remanufac-
turing, and in the future the proper design technology should be
developed. In addition, the same situation can apply for a certain
kind of product, e.g., a health care product, when a new law is
enacted. In due course, the product currently on the market must
be withdrawn, even though it has no defects and is far from the end
of its life.
2. Within a remanufacturing context, it is necessary to have a method-
ology for life cycle management, and one is configuration manage-
ment [16]. There are four roles of configuration management:
(1) configuration identification, (2) change management, (3) config-
uration status accounting, and (4) configuration audits and review.
For example, the configuration integrity can be maintained through-
out the product life cycle, i.e., to provide the ability to manage the as-
defined, as-planned, as-built, as-delivered, and as-maintained
configurations. In fact, the Advanced Configuration Management
System Project was a 5- year- long study in the case of the European
aerospace industry, and thus the availability of configuration man-
agement to the machine tool must be investigated next.

Use of module obtainable from supply chain of world class. Within this con-
text, the target is a machine consisting of a certain number of modules,
which are, without any hindrance, capable of purchasing through the
supply chain of world class. The machine aims at cost reduction together
with realization of higher functionality and performance even when
using the low-quality modules indigenously produced by the industri-
alizing nations. The crucial problem is thus how to maintain the satis-
factory quality of a machine as a whole. A variant of predecessor can be
observed in the gear cutting machine of P. R. China brand, which has
been used in Indonesia from the mid-1990s. In this case, the gear cut-
ting machine can produce the gear itself one year after installation and
in turn a sprocket wheel in the succeeding year with the deterioration
of machine quality. In Taiwan, all the parts and unit production is com-
missioned to other companies, and the machine tool manufacturer per-
forms only the final assembly; i.e., there is a horizontal division of work,
and thus such a modular design would be a must. For example, a remedy
is to measure the necessary engineering properties, e.g., spring con-
stant of the rolling bearing with lower quality, and then the product