Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Flexible Manufacturing, Rapid Manufacturing, Direct Manufacturing

Flexible Manufacturing

Rapid Manufacturing can be described as an ‘Additive Fabrication Technique’ to manufacture solid objects through the chronological delivery of material and/or energy to precise points in the space for producing that part. At present, the practice of controlling the process of manufacturing with the help of computer by making use of mathematical model that has been created through the computer’s aid is being followed. Rapid manufacturing, if done with the help of Parallel Batch Production is capable of providing a huge advantage in terms of cost and speed in comparison with alternative techniques of manufacturing like die casting or Plastic Injection Molding.

Origin: Prototyping process was first demonstrated at The AUTO FACT show. The venue was Detroit, MI. The year was 1987. A company called 3D Systems Company is who created this technique. The technologies available now are inclusive of processes such as Laminated Object Manufacturing, Shape Deposition Manufacturing, and Selective Laser Sintering. 

The present scenario: Prototyping might involve replacement parts, custom parts, series production, or Short Run Production. This process can be referred to as Rapid Prototyping only if the use of the part is for development. Rapid Manufacturing carried out for big products with Layer-based Manufacturing from composite materials, plastics, or metals is widely used for numerous industrial applications pertaining to aerospace (Boeing) and military (MPH-Optomec) sectors. Micro system applications and small products are well known in medicines, sensor technologies (micro TEC), and diagnostics. Batch production regarding tiny parts by techniques of rapid manufacturing like RMPD give vent to advantages related to time and cost.

Now days, collectibles, consumer products, orthodontics, dentistry, jewelry, motor sports, and automotives are being experimented with rapid manufacturing. Amazing results are expected in future. The world economy is becoming competitive day by day. As customer demands have increase, manufacturers everywhere are tyring to deliver customized products faster than ever before. A late delivery or development might could mean failure of business. Rapid manufacturing has been devised with the objective of shortening the production cycle and design, and promising to revolutionize the age-old manufacturing procedures.

The initial process: Before starting with the construction of product, a prototype or sample is required quite often as a portion of design cycle, for allowing evaluation, testing, or demonstration of proposed product. This process is iterative, as a chain of prototypes gets built up. One way that prototypes can be used is for testing and loking at various options.

Rapid Manufacturing is also inclusive of rapid application of tools needed for production on a large scale, like jigs, dies, and specially shaped molds. Several Layer manufacturing Processes are being developed now, by making use of a wide range of materials. These parts are extremely durable and have proved to be strong as well. The size has also been increasing. Due to all these successes, layer manufacturing is the most sought after technique for fabricating the parts for functional prototypes as well as production tools. Rapid Tooling is where you apply layer manufacturing for making components that are used in production. It is being applied to investment casting, injection molding, and many processes related to mold casting.

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