Manufacturing Process Management

Manufacturing Process Management (MPM) is a collection of technology and methods used in the manufacture of products. It incorporates such technologies as computer-aided production engineering (CAPE), Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) , computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), Manufacturing Execution System (MES) , computer-aided quality assurance (CAQ), the utilization of CAD and AEC tools for factory layout and digital mockup (DMU) and simulation for assembly analysis. As the digital manufacturing part of the PLM process it is the bridge from product design to production planning and on to resource and inventory scheduling. As CAD defines what is to be made; and ERP/MRP defines when it is to be made; MPM defines how it will be made.

A cornerstone of MPM is the central repository for manufacturing data management (MDM) similar to PDM for design data. MPM takes the product data eBOM (engineering Bill of Material) to create the process oriented mBOM (manufacturing) along with a bill of process (BOP). This together with the management of resources such as tools, machines and work centers forms the so called 3PR data (product process plant resources).

The integration of all these tools and activities aids in the exploration of alternative production line scenarios; making assembly lines more efficient with the aim of reduced lead time to product launch, shorter product times and reduced work in progress (WIP) inventories as well as allowing rapid response to product or product changes.


Topics and technology

* Production process planning
o Manufacturing concept planning
o Factory layout planning and analysis
+ work flow simulation.
+ walk-path assembly planning
+ plant design optimization
o Mixed model line balancing.
o Workloads on multiple stations.
o Process simulation tools e.g. die press lines, manufacturing lines
o Ergonomic simulation and assessment of production assembly tasks
o Resource planning

* Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
o Numerical control CNC
o Direct Numerical Control (DNC)
o Tooling/equipment/fixtures development
o Tooling and Robot work-cell setup and offline programming (OLP)

* Generation of shop floor work instructions

* Time and cost estimates
o ABC - Manufacturing activity-based costing
o Production, costs, and pricing

* Quality Computer-aided quality assurance (CAQ)
o FMEA Failure mode and effects analysis
o SPC Statistical process control
o Computer aided inspection with coordinate-measuring machine (CMM)
o Tolerance stack-up analysis using PMI models.

* Communication with other systems
o Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
o Product Data Management (PDM)
o SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) real time process monitoring and control
o Human-machine interface (HMI)
o Distributed control system (DCS)