Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems and Transformable Factories -

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Résumé :
Dear reader! In your hand you have the second book from the series ?XXI Century Techno- gies. ? The first book under the title ?Manufacturing Technologies for Machines of the Future? was published by ?Springer? in 2003. This book is aimed at solving one of the basic problems in the development of modern machine-building ? working out of technologies and manufacturing equipment which would promote the continuous development and improvement of the final product design, rapidly ?adaptable? to the requirements of the market as for the quantity, quality, and variety of products manufactured with the lowest cost and minimum time and labor of the product process. In this book the problems of theory and practice of development in the reconfigurable manufacturing systems and transformable factories for various machine-building branches with a focus on automotive industry are discussed. The problems concerning the development of a new class of production systems which in comparison to the flexible manufact- ing systems are composed of a far less quantity of machine-tools (reduced cost of production) are discussed. In comparison to the conventional automated lines (dedicated systems) they make it possible to rapidly transform the equipment for new products manufacturing. The book has some advantages concerning the art of scientific ideas and the presentation of developments.

Sommaire:
State of the Art.- Globalization and Decentralization of Manufacturing.- New Trends in Production.- General RMS Characteristics. Comparison with Dedicated and Flexible Systems.- Progress in Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems.- Agile Manufacturing Systems ? a Significant Quantum Leap for High Volume Production Approaches Flexibility Requirements as Well as Fastest Reaction to Market Demands.- Machines and Controls Forms.- Reconfigurable Manufacturing Equipment.- Reconfigurable Machine Tool Design.- Challenges in the Design of Reconfigurable Machine Tools.- Reconfigurable Fixtures for Automotive Engine Machining and Assembly Applications.- Control Systems for RMS and Methods of their Reconfiguration.- Closed-loop, Fieldbus-based Clock Synchronisation for Decentralised Control Systems.- System-Level Issues In RMS.- Production System Modelling for the Evaluation of the Degree of Reconfigurability.- The Robot Cell as a Re-configurable Machining System.- Development of a Standard Reconfigurable Assembly Cell for Agile Manufacturing.- Computer Supported Decision Making System that Generates and Optimizes Layouts of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Equipment at the Early Stage of Design.- Reconfigurable Machining System (RMS) for Machining of Case and Similar Parts in Machine Building.- Cellular Manufacturing System Capable of Responding to Changes in Demand.- Example of Reconfigurable Manufacturing System in Mold Design and Manufacturing.- Transformable Factory Structures.- Factory Transformability: Adapting the Structures of Manufacturing.- The Transformable Factory ? Strategies, Methods and Examples.- Analysis of Modern Factory Structures and Their Transformability.- Innovative Logistics is a Vital Part of Transformable Factories in the Automotive Industry.- Product and Process Optimization for Reconfigurable Manufacturing.- Products Design and Analysis for Transformable Production and Reconfigurable Manufacturing.- Optimal Design of the Vehicle.- New Generation of Engines with Controlled Pistons Movement for Reconfigurable Manufactures.- Experience of Rapid Prototyping Technologies Usage for Moulding Case Parts.- Theory and Practice of Technology for Machining Non-Rigid Smooth Shafts in Reconfigurable Production.- Application of Non-Traditional Assembly Methods in Reconfigurable Manufacturing.- Laser Technologies.- Selecting an Optimal Production Order and Its Corresponding Configuration in a Reconfigurable Manufacturing System with Multiple Product Groups.- Economics of RMS.- Economical Models for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems.- Life Cycle Cost Calculation for Manufacturing Systems by Means of Reconfigurability Analysis.- An Analytical Comparison on Cost and Performance among DMS, AMS, FMS and RMS.- Real Options: an Application to RMS Investment Evaluation.- FUTURE TRENDS.- Future Scenarios, Describing Consistent Networks of Influences from Markets, Technologies and Business Environment with a Time Horizon of 2020.- Intelligent Systems, Self-optimizing Concepts and Structures.- Virtual Production ? Computer Model-Based Planning and Analyzing of Manufacturing Systems.