Agile product design through CAD: a case study in an Indian rotary switches manufacturing organisation

Abstract

Due to increasing global competition, manufacturing organisations are witnessing a transformation in manufacturing systems. The craft manufacturing era got transformed to mass customised manufacturing. Modern organisations are forced to make a quick response so as to satisfy the varied dynamic customers’ demands. Agile manufacturing (AM) is the capability of manufacturing organisations to produce a variety of products within a short period of time in a cost effective manner. Technology integrated AM research has taken place to a feeble extent. In this study, Computer-aided design (CAD) has been utilised for enhancing design agility of a traditional manufacturing organisation. Based on existing designs, ten new designs have been proposed. The designs have been practically validated to ensure the receptivity of the designs from the viewpoint of practitioners. Based on the conduct of the case study, it is claimed that the traditional manufacturing organisations could utilise the advanced technologies for enhancing their agility level, thereby sustaining in the global market scenario.