Computer Production Line Process
The history of the production line in American industry goes back to the 1800s. In the 21st century, according to Crest Capital, most production or assembly lines -- defined as a process that puts products together in a systematic order -- rely on automation. Computers run automated production lines, and sometimes play a role in designing and monitoring them.
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Design
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Automating production processes increases efficiency, but designing an automated production line up requires time, money, equipment and overcoming technical challenges. A 2010 study by Japanese engineering and IT researchers suggests one approach: Identify the current work processes used on the factory floor and sketch out on paper a system for automating them. Then use computer 3D design and modeling capabilities to build a mockup of the system. Testing how the virtual system runs gives businesses a chance to eliminate bottlenecks and technical problems before putting money into a real-world version.
Tracking
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In production lines devoted to food processing, computer tracking better enables companies to meet federal health and safety requirements. Companies can track individual batches and shipments of food products through bar-coding, labeling and scanning food products as they move through a production line and get delivered to retailers. If contamination problems develop and a company has to issue a recall, the tracking system makes it easier to identify which shipments have to go back and which ones can stay safely on the shelves.
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Monitoring
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Computer technology can tie multiple machines and production line processes into a single monitoring system. This allows managers to oversee different phases in the operation, identify bottlenecks, and compare downtime, operation speed and the performances of different shifts. Computers present the results of their analysis as lists of statistics, or in graph form. Monitoring systems are modular so companies can tailor them to a budget, focusing on a few critical pathways if there isn't money to encompass the entire production system.
Flow Production
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The three types of production process are job processes, which create individual, unique products; batch processes, which make large sets of identical goods; and flow processes, which produce batches without pauses to reset the machines. Computer-run robotics systems are ideal for flow processes because they carry out a steady stream of consistently replicated work. If, on the other hand, the flow process has to introduce variations into the product, computer systems can program the variations in.
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References
- Crest Capital: The History of the Assembly Line
- International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management: Design and Kaizen of Automated Assembly Production Lines Using 3D Computer Graphics
- Computerway Food Systems: Computerway Adds ZULU Tracking to Production and Inventory Control System
- CCPlusi.com: Production Line Monitoring
- Times 100: Production Processes
