The first successful numerically controlled machine was demonstrated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under a Subcontract from Parsons Corporation of Traverse City, Michigan, funded by the U. S. Air Force in the 1950s. Automatic tool changers and indexing worktables were added in the 1960s. During this period the concept of direct numerically controlled (DNC) systems, in which several NC machines are linked to a main computer, was developed. Control system development in 1971 was the next milestone and led to the introduction of microcomputer controlled NC machines, also called CNC machines. The major advantage of CNC was the ability to store many part programs in memory, in addition to communicating with other controllers or a central computer. The advantages of CNC and DNC were combined in other systems that are also known as DNC, but here DNC stands for distributed numerically controlled. In such DNC systems several CNC machines are linked to a main host computer. In the 1980s CNC machines were further developed by making them capable of carrying Cartier Roadster Replica(http://www.imitatewatch.com/GoodsSeries/Replica-Roadster-Watches-146.html) hundreds of tools, having multiple spindles, and controlling movements in up to six axes. These capabilities, coupled with developments in computer communications technology, have led to advances in automated manufacturing systems such as computer integrated manufacturing systems. In a separate chapter we discuss not only NC, CNC, and NC part programming but also programmable computer control.
Material handling is an integral part of any manufacturing system. Manufacturing system performance can be significantly improved by using computer controlled material flow, which reduces waiting time and work-in-process inventory compared with manual loading and unloading and manual material handling systems. To this end, developments in floor-mounted and overhead roller conveyors, stacker cranes, and automated guided vehicles have contributed substantially to smooth material flow on the factory floor. Through a system of programmable logic controllers, computers, and computer networks, the material handling systems, material storage systems, and machine tools can be integrated to configure an automated manufacturing system to meet customer requirements.
The word "ROBOT" was first used to mean "forced labor" in a satirical fantasy play, "Possum’s Universal Robots", written by Karle Capek in 1921. Robotics, along with the technological developments in the areas of microprocessor and numerical control, has advanced the frontiers of automation. The technology for the present generation of robots was developed by Cyril Walter Ken ward in 1954 in Britain and G. C. Devon in the United States. The first computer-type robot programming language was developed at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in 1973 for research called WAVE, followed by the language AL in 1974. The two languages were subsequently developed into the commercial VAL language for rumination by Victor Steinman and Bruce Simenon. In the 1980s several off-line programming systems were developed. Since then, several types of robots have been built and several robot programming languages have been developed. Robots are being used in industry for applications including painting, welding, material handling, and assembly.
Computer control systems have provided a major impetus to automaton. The use of mainframe computers in the 1950s and 1960s for planning, scheduling, and controlling batch production became quite commonplace. A number of management information systems and database management systems were developed and used for a variety of functions in companies. Accounting, payroll, shop floor control, and maintenance information systems are a few examples. Factory automation also resulted from advances in local area and wide area networks (LANs and WANs), bar codes, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and computer controls. Automatic identification technology such as bar code systems, automatic data collection and analysis systems, and real-time transfer of information provided a stimulus to the growth of factory automation.
The technological developments in CNC, DNC, PLC, robotics, AGVs, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RSs), automatic tool changers, tool magazines, modular fixture, local area networks, and associated technologies such as group technology laid Omega Replica Watches(http://www.luv-replica.com/GoodsBrand/Omega_Replica_Watches-16.html) foundations for automated manufacturing of a high to medium variety of parts having low to medium levels of demand. This led to the evolution of FMSs in the early 1960s. The Sundstrand Corporation was one of the first to develop such systems to manufacture a variety of aircraft gearbox casings. The system had eight NC machine centers and two multispindle drills linked by a computer controlled roller conveyor system. Although it did not have the flexibility of current-day FMSs, it was the first system with built-in automated material flow integration. Current systems provide higher levels of flexibility and a high degree of automation.
Besides developments in the areas already mentioned the need for reduced cost and lead time and high quality led to the introduction of quality engineering approaches to product design. Notable among these is the Taguchi method of product design, which introduced the concept of loss function and signal-to-noise ratio for product design. Material requirements planning and manufacturing resource planning, just-in-time manufacturing philosophy, group technology, and cellular manufacturing led to significant changes in the way production is now planned and controlled at the shop floor.
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