A Framework For A Strategy Driven Manufacturing System Design In An Aerospace Environment – Design Beyond Factory Floor

Aerospace industry is approaching a phase where the manufacturing excellence seems to hold the strongest competitive advantage instead of the design excellence. This trend emphasizes the urgent need for cost minimization and focus on process improvements rather than on perfecting existing designs. Most of the aerospace companies have already invested heavily in process improvements using various tools from the Toyota Production System. It is becoming evident, however, that the existing manufacturing systems were not initially designed to account for this phase. As a result, most of the manufacturers are not in a position to take full advantage of the opportunity by competing through manufacturing excellence. The manufacturing system design framework presented here provides guidelines for designing future systems and emphasizes the need to adapt to changing business needs of the industry. The framework also describes the scope of the manufacturing system design activity based on information gathered from observations of existing facilities and discussions with industry practitioners. Based on this framework, a manufacturing system design process is also developed. Both, the framework and the process, advocate systems approach to design and improvement activities, show that the manufacturing system design extends beyond the factory floor, emphasize that the manufacturing system design should be based on a long-term strategy, provide appropriate tools for each of the steps and stress the need for continuous improvement. The framework also represents the manufacturing system design activities currently in progress in the industry and hence provides a way to gauge the extent of ones efforts in the big picture of manufacturing system design. Thesis Supervisor: Timothy G. Gutowski Title: Professor of Mechanical Engineering