Advanced Manufacturing in McHenry County
Advanced manufacturing is the process of using innovative technologies and methods to improve competitiveness in manufacturing sectors.
The primary goal of advanced manufacturing is to catalyze output by increasing flexibility, adaptivity, added value and quality, while at the same time decreasing underutilized capital, material content, inventory, unit quantities, and the time it takes to get the end product to market.
Traditionally, manufacturing has been based on the use of specific factory production lines with a serious lack of flexibility. On the contrary, Advanced manufacturing consists of very versatile methods pf production that fully utilize capital, and are more effective, responsive and efficient. There are instances where some traditional production methods are still suitable, like long-term production runs. advanced manufacturing has the ability to accommodate a litany of production requirements and mass customization commonly encountered by today’s industry, without requiring excess capital investment.
Advanced manufacturing effects every aspect of a given value chain, from its beginning as a mere idea to its end-of-life considerations, relying on information communication technology (ICT) to integrate both manufacturing and business activities into a seamlessly efficient operation.
There are three main groupings of the technologies that are involved in advanced manufacturing:
- efficient production
- intelligent production
- effective organization.
Efficient production
Involves:
- design
- simulation
- physical and computer modeling
- advanced production technologies
- control techniques
Instead of sequential engineering, the emphasis here is on being simultaneous.
Relevant production technologies include:
- rapid prototyping
- near net shape manufacture
- precision casting, machining and joining techniques
Intelligent production
Involves:
- The use of ICT in manufacturing and related logistics systems.
- In addition to production-orientated intelligent machines, cells and production lines, Intelligent Production involves implementing systems to extend the life and optimize the use of production facilities by employing efficient monitoring, maintenance and repair strategies.
Effective organization
Involves:
- efficient co-ordination of manufacturing resources
- efficient exploitation of manufacturing resources
This includes both physical resources and knowledge.
- Relevant topics include:
- virtual tendering and enterprises
- shared facilities and resources
- novel organizations
- incubation units
- knowledge management and trading, and
- electronic commerce.
The emphasis in this area is on using technology to enhance the participation and capabilities of organizations.
