The book develops manufacturing concepts and applications beyond physical production and towards a wider manufacturing value chain incorporating external stakeholders that include suppliers of raw materials and parts, customers, collaborating manufacturing companies, manufacturing service providers, and environmental organisations. The focal point of the value chain remains as a manufacturing system and its operations whiles flows of parts/materials and information and services across the supply/value chain tiers are taken into account. The book emphasises on the two innovative paradigms of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) and the 4th industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) along with their incorporated development. RMS, as a relatively new paradigm, has been introduced to meet the requirements of ‘the factories of the future’, which is aimed by Industry 4.0, though introducing greater responsiveness and customised flexibility into production systems, in which changes in product volumes and types occur regularly. Manufacturing responsiveness can be achieved by RMS through reconfiguring the production facilities according to changing demands of products and new market conditions. The book addresses challenges of mass-customisation and dynamic changes in the supply-chain environment by focusing on developing new techniques related to integrability, scalability and re-configurability at a system level and manufacturing readiness in terms of financial and technical feasibility of RMS. It demonstrate the expected impacts of an RMS design on operational performance and its supply/value chain in the current/future manufacturing environment facing dynamic changes in the internal/external circumstances. In order to establish a circular economy through the RMS value chain, an integrated data-based reconfiguration link is introduced to incorporate information sharing amongst the value chain stakeholders and facilitate grouping products into families with allocation of the product families to the corresponding system configurations with optimal product-process allocation. Decision support systems such as multi criteria decision making tools are developed and applied for the selection of product families and optimising product-process configuration. The proposed models are illustrated through real case studies in applicable manufacturing firms.

This book shows how graph theory and matrix approach, and fuzzy multiple attribute decision making methods can be used in manufacturing. It proposes a methodology that will make decision making in the manufacturing environment structured and systematic. The book uses case studies to present the applications of decision making methods in real manufacturing situations.

Manufacturing Systems Management (MSM) is a functional domain that involves all of the activities for regulating and optimizing a manufacturing system as it progresses through its life cycle. These include the tasks of strategic analysis, design, implementation, operations and monitoring. Handbook of Manufacturing and Supply Systems Design: From Strategy Formulation to System Operation proposes a conceptual MSM framework based on some key principles of systems theory, which draws extensively on the relevant methodologies and techniques set out in the literature and on data gathered from industrial practice. This framework specifies the key functional areas of MSM, outlines the contents and relationships between them, and then logically integrates them in a closed-loop to allow the development of a set of consistent parameters and procedures. It enables an understanding of the problem domain, and provides guidance for the development of a set of consistent parameters and procedures. The handbook describes how a prototype of this framework has been used in the structuring and implementation of a computer-aided manufacturing system design environment. The application of certain key aspects of this framework within a number of industrial companies is also described. This sets the scene for a new generation of on-line manufacturing software systems, and should provide the knowledge to manage system design or re-design projects more effectively. Also included is a self-contained workbook, which provides a step-by-step guide through the complete cycle of manufacturing systems management, manufacturing systems design and manufacturing systems operation. Senior undergraduates and graduates students, as well as manufacturing engineers, should find this an up-to-date and thorough text.

This second edition of the classic textbook has been written to provide a completely up-to-date text for students of mechanical, industrial, manufacturing and production engineering, and is an indispensable reference for professional industrial engineers and managers. In his outstanding book, Professor Katsundo Hitomi integrates three key themes into the text: * manufacturing technology * production management * industrial economics Manufacturing technology is concerned with the flow of materials from the acquisition of raw materials, through conversion in the workshop to the shipping of finished goods to the customer. Production management deals with the flow of information, by which the flow of materials is managed efficiently, through planning and control techniques. Industrial economics focuses on the flow of production costs, aiming to minimise these to facilitate competitive pricing. Professor Hitomi argues that the fundamental purpose of manufacturing is to create tangible goods, and it has a tradition dating back to the prehistoric toolmakers. The fundamental importance of manufacturing is that it facilitates basic existence, it creates wealth, and it contributes to human happiness - manufacturing matters. Nowadays we regard manufacturing as operating in these other contexts, beyond the technological. It is in this unique synthesis that Professor Hitomi's study constitutes a new discipline: manufacturing systems engineering - a system that will promote manufacturing excellence. Key Features: * The classic textbook in manufacturing engineering * Fully revised edition providing a modern introduction to manufacturing technology, production managment and industrial economics * Includes review questions and problems for the student reader

Over the last decades Discrete Event Simulation has conquered many different application areas. This trend is, on the one hand, driven by an ever wider use of this technology in different fields of science and on the other hand by an incredibly creative use of available software programs through dedicated experts. This book contains articles from scientists and experts from 10 countries. They illuminate the width of application of this technology and the quality of problems solved using Discrete Event Simulation. Practical applications of simulation dominate in the present book. The book is aimed to researchers and students who deal in their work with Discrete Event Simulation and which want to inform them about current applications. By focusing on discrete event simulation, this book can also serve as an inspiration source for practitioners for solving specific problems during their work. Decision makers who deal with the question of the introduction of discrete event simulation for planning support and optimization this book provides a contribution to the orientation, what specific problems could be solved with the help of Discrete Event Simulation within the organization.