Business Reference Guide: The Strategies of Manufacturing (PDF)

The volume opens with Sue Ann Connaughton’s essay on designing for manufacturability, which entails designing a
product at the outset so that it can be consistently and easily manufactured at minimal cost. Ruth A. Wienclaw then
discusses concept engineering, which is the process of identifying and understanding customer needs and then conceptualizing
and designing a product that addresses that specific market need. Joyce Gubata describes the next stage in
the manufacturing process, in which process engineers identify the equipment, raw material, and expertise needed to
manufacture that product. Brian Burns examines manufacturing systems design, particularly scientific management,
in which each step of the manufacturing process is analyzed to determine how each stage could be performed at maximum
efficiency. Manufacturing systems design seeks to maximize productivity and profitability in the manufacturing
process and eliminate waste. Increasingly, manufacturers are relying on computer aided mechanical design to improve
their manufacturing procedures. Michael P. Auerbach describes the ways in which companies employ computer modeling
software to help design machines, factories, and assembly plants for maximum efficiency. Michael Erbschloe
reviews reconfigurable agile manufacturing, which relies on computer technology to manage workflow and coordinate
the movement of raw materials, as well as structure the manufacturing process and its components for easy reconfigurability.
Wienclaw describes reconfigurable manufacturing systems in more detail and explains how manufacturing
systems and machines are designed from the outset so that their structure, hardware, and software components can be
rapidly adjusted to meet changing market needs.