Page 282 - Sensors and Control Systems in Manufacturing

The Role of Sensors and Contr ol Technology in CIM
include finished goods, raw materials, parts, supplies, work-in-progress, 241
and tools, as well as nonproduction materials and equipment.
Storage functions include preparing item identification and
storage tags, managing storage locations, processing pick requests,
reporting picks and kit activities, and planning physical inventory
cycles and reporting counts.
Storage input includes storage and picking requests from produc-
tion management scheduling functions. Output includes receiving
and disbursement reports for use in production management and
accounting.

5.3.4.4 Production Process
Production process functions include managing the production process,
processing materials, fabricating parts, grading or reworking compo-
nents, assembling final products, and packaging for distribution.
One of today’s trends in fabrication and assembly processes is
toward continuous processing, such as continuous movement with
minimal intermediate inventories. This can be described with such
terms as continuous-flow manufacturing, flexible manufacturing
cells, just-in-time logistics, and group technology. Unfortunately, in
many instances, these automation efforts are autonomous, without
regard to the other functions of the enterprise.
The information handling needs of the production process can
include analog and digital data, text, graphics, geometries, applica-
tions programs—even images, video, and voice. Processing this infor-
mation may require subsecond access and response time.
Input to this area includes shop documents, operator instructions,
recipes, and schedules from production management as well as NC
programs from process development. Output consists of material
and tool requests, machine maintenance requests, material transfer
requests, production, and interruption reports for production man-
agement, production and labor reports for cost accounting and pay-
roll, and statistical process reports for production management and
process development.

5.3.4.5 Quality Test and Inspection
Testing items and products to assure the conformity of specifications
is the main activity in quality test and inspection. This includes ana-
lyzing and reporting results quickly by means of metrological sensors
and control systems, in order to reduce scrap and rework costs.
Quality test and product specifications are input from engineer-
ing. Chief output includes purchased-item inspection results to pro-
curement, manufactured-item inspection and product test results to
production process and production management, quality test and
inspection activity reports to cost accounting, and rejected part and
product dispositions to material handling.