Automation In Industrial Manufacturing System
                     Automation In Industrial Manufacturing 
System
Melissa charm
Writer at smb-trends.com, writes 
content on new SMB trends.
Rapid improvements in both computer software and hardware have made 
possible a dramatic shift towards automation in the industrial 
manufacturing system. Now complete operation in factories can be done 
with limited human involvement, such automated industrial manufacturing 
systems rely on effective procedures for controlling their operation.
There are three major categories of manufacturing which are batch 
manufacture, Jobbing manufacture, and flow or mass production. The aim 
of automation in manufacturing systems is to raise the efficiency level of 
batch manufacture to flow manufacture, this can be greatly eased by using 
effective production planning and control system.
In automated manufacturing systems, integrated equipment is used and 
arranged in a manufacturing cell, this can range from material handling and 
work positioning devices, production machines, and tools, to the use of 
computer systems that can facilitate automation in the production 
environment of industries.
The various types of manufacturing systems are as given below:
1)Single station cell: It is a system in which one worker tends to work 
on one production machine that operates on a semi-automatic 
cycle.
 
2)Machine cell or cellular manufacturing: It is a system in which a 
series of manually operated production machines and workstations 
are often arranged in a U-shaped configuration, which performs a 
sequence of operations on parts and products that are similar but 
not identical.
3)Machine cluster: It is a system in which one worker tends to work 
on a group of semi-automated machines.
1)4) Automated transfer line: It is a production line consisting of a 
series of automated workstations that perform operations such as 
machining, including automation of transfer of parts between 
workstations.
2)5)Automated assembly station: It performs a sequence of 
mechanized or automated assembly operations.
3)6)Flexible manufacturing system or FMS: It is a highly automated 
machine cell that often consists of workstations comprising 
machine tools that produce parts or products.
An automated manufacturing system consists of a group of 
processing workstations (usually NC machines) and is connected by 
an automated work part handling system. Under the control of the 
computer, it operates as an integrated system. It is capable of 
processing a variety of different parts simultaneously at different 
workstations. The work parts are unloaded and loaded at the central 
location in the system.
By using pallets, work parts are transferred between machines. After 
loading of work part onto the handling system, it is automatically 
routed to the particular work station for further processing. The 
routing, operations, and tooling required at each work station are 
different for different work part types. The control and coordination 
of processing activities and parts handling is accomplished under 
computer command.
There is careful coordination between different sections of the 
automated manufacturing system to pass the parts from one section 
to another. Each part has a different route and planning and 
controlling the movement of each part through different routes may 
be a complex problem. Automation in industrial manufacturing 
systems will achieve this by several features:
 Equipment usage levels can be increased.
 Reduction in lead times can be achieved.
 Downloading part programs to NC machines can be relatively 
easy.
 Depending on the provision of a production planning and control 
system can be adequate and effective
Currently, industries are shifting the focus of automation from 
increasing productivity and cost reduction to increasing the quality 
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