The need exists in the private sector and government manufacturing sites
to reduce product development time, production lead times, inventory,
and non-value added activities. At the same time, there is increased
pressure to improve manufacturing process yields, produc- tion
efficiency, and resource utilization. Much of the technology required to
meet these needs already exists, but an integrated structure that can
demonstrate the potential for the technology in a concurrent engineering
context does not. This book provides a road map for building the
integrated technology environment to evaluate existing products,
manufacturing processes and system design tools. This book details
innovative approaches that will significantly improve
design/manufacturing technology development and deploy- ment
capabilities for civilian and defense applications. These approaches are
integrated product, process, and system design (IPPSD) initiatives which
will greatly enhance the manufacturing competitiveness of the economy.
These approaches involve the use of simulation, modeling tools and
computerized virtual workstations in conjunction with a design
environment which allows a diverse group of researchers, manufacturers,
and suppliers to work within a comprehensive network of shared
knowledge. The IPPSD infrastructure consists of virtual workstations,
servers and a suite of simulation, quantitative, computa- tional,
analytical, experimental and qualitative tools. Such an IPPSD
infrastructure will permit effective and efficient predictions of
complete product design, manufacturing proces design, and customer
satisfac- tion.
