Guest Editorial:
Prof. Yoram
Koren
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T |
his special issue includes 10 papers selected from the proceedings of the CIRP 2nd International Conference on Reconfigurable Manufacturing held at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, on 20-21 August 2003. The conference attracted over 200 participants from 14 different countries. This interest stems, in part, from a study by the US National Research Council entitled “Visionary Manufacturing Challenges for 2020” that showed that Adaptive, Reconfigurable Manufacturing is a number one priority for future manufacturing systems.
From
the pool of 51 abstracts of reviewed papers that were presented at this
conference, 27 were selected for in-depth review. I am pleased to present 10
papers that exemplify the state of the art in reconfiguration science. As can
be seen from the papers, reconfigurable manufacturing research is flourishing
in a variety of countries, and is of interest both to academia and industry.
Broadly, reconfigurable manufacturing system science can be classified into four categories: system design, machine tools, control systems, and system operation including ramp-up. This special issue begins with four papers on reconfigurable system design, ranging from a concept for a general manufacturing system based on standardized component interfaces to optimal multi-part line design:
·
Progress
in Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems
·
Optimal
Capacity Management in Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems
·
Justifying
Changeability: A Methodical Approach to Achieving Cost Effectiveness
·
Concurrent
Line-Balancing, Equipment Selection and Throughput Analysis for Multi-Part
Optimal Line Design.
Next, three papers are presented on reconfigurable machine design, examining fixture requirements in different industries, and the characterization of machine reconfigurability:
·
Reconfigurable
Fixtures for Automotive Engine Machining and Assembly Applications
·
A
Machine for the Production of Mass Customized Shoe Lasts
·
Example
of Measure of the Degree of Reconfigurability of a
Modular Parallel Kinematic Machine.
Third,
one paper considers reconfigurable control systems:
·
Framework
for Prototyping Evolving Manufacturing Control Architectures.
Finally,
this special issue ends with two papers that examine operational issues related
to reconfigurable manufacturing systems:
·
Practical
Number of Paths in Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems with Crossover
·
An
Integrated Process Planning and Production Scheduling Framework for Mass
Customization.
I
would like to thank the authors and reviewers for their time and effort in
producing and evaluating these papers. The insightful reviews and valuable
comments show the vitality of this small but growing research community. I
would like to thank Theodor Freiheit
for his invaluable assistance in organizing the review process, and Kathleen Crothers for her logicistical
support. I would also like to thank Editor-in-Chief Professor Moshe Shpitalni for his suggestions and support in bringing this
special issue to fruition.
Yoram Koren
Paul G. Goebel
Professor of Engineering, The University of Michigan
Director,
NSF Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing
Professor Yoram
Koren earned
his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and a
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Technion,
Israel Institute of Technology. His pioneering research on real-time interpolation
and control methodologies paved the way for the creation of machine tool
control as a research field and an educational discipline. Professor Koren has published over 240 refereed papers and three
books in the automated manufacturing field. His books have been internationally
translated, have won prestigious awards, and are used as textbooks at
universities around the world. He holds 11 U.S. patents in RMS
disciplines, robotics, and machine control. In 1991, he chaired an
NSF-sponsored national workshop on “Fundamental Research in Manufacturing for
National Competitiveness” that laid the groundwork for the NSF Engineering
Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems. He is a member of the
US National Academy of Engineering, and is a Fellow of both ASME
and SME. He has received several national awards
including the “Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award,”
the top manufacturing award of ASME. He is also a
Senior Member of IEEE, and holds the rank of Active Member of CIRP (International Institute for Research in Production
Engineering.
U. Heisel , M. Meitzner......... 1
M. Shpitalni, V. Remennik............ 9
B. Denkena, S. Scherger............ 21
H.P. Wiendahl, C.L. Heger............ 33
Z.J. Pasek, S. Marker, B. Tewari...........
41
Alessandro Urbani, Simone Negri, Claudio Roberto Boer............ 49
Chi-Hung Shen, Yhu-Tin Lin, John S. Agapiou, Pulak Bandyopadhyay......... 61
Li Tang, Derek M. Yip-Hoi, Wencai
Wang, Yoram Koren...........
71
Farshid Maghami Asl,
A. Galip Ulsoy
(2)............ 83
Y.J.
Chen, M. Zhang, M.M. Tseng........... 89
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ISSN 0793-6648/6:1-2
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