Abstract
Industries such as automotive, LCD, PDP, semiconductor and steel produce products through multistage manufacturing processes. In a multistage manufacturing process, performances of stages are not independent. Therefore, the relationship between stages should be considered when optimising the multistage manufacturing process. This study proposes a new procedure of optimising a multistage manufacturing process, called multistage PRIM (patient rule induction method). Multistage PRIM extends the scope of process optimisation from a single stage to the multistage process, and it can use the information encapsulated in the relationship between stages when maximising each stage's performance. A case study in a multistage steel manufacturing process is conducted to illustrate the proposed procedure.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD, Basic Research Promotion Fund) (KRF-2007-313-D00885).