A morphology proposal in commercial-off-the-shelf reconfigurable machine tools

Abstract

Global manufacturing is continuously facing changing demands, the unpredictable part family supply that a machine tool user has to deal with needs varying machine morphologies. The reconfigurable manufacturing system paradigm proposes the need for the right capacity, for the right demand with an economical ramp-up period. The machinist needs to have a systematic manner of configuring the machines, given a set of modules that will be configured and reconfigured for the various demands in the lifespan of a manufacturing system. In this article, the author proposes how the machinist can go about identifying the different morphologies in advance. The method is simple and user-friendly in consideration of the main users who may have basic skills being deficient in sophistication and complexity; it further assists in the determination of the capability the manufacturer has with the available modules.

Keywords:

• machine morphology
• configuration
• reconfiguration

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the Tshwane University of Technology, the Technology Innovation Agency and the National Research Foundation for the support in undertaking this work.