Abstract
Laser micro-welding manufacturers face substantial challenges in verifying weldment quality, as the industry and applications are requiring increasingly the miniaturization and compactness of products. The problem is compounded by new stringent demands for personalized products at competitive, low costs and the highest quality levels. High-pressure equipment manufacturers, in particular, rely on ISO 3834:2021 to assure and demonstrate best welding practices but also to manage risks associated with liability issues. ISO 3834:2021, like all conventional quality management systems, offers a one-dimensional, quasi-static overview of welding quality that may fail to deal with these new challenges and underlying complexities required to deal effectively with process variability. This paper presents a framework for welding companies to integrate horizontally their suppliers and customers with their processes and products, which are also integrated vertically in the context of Smart Manufacturing or Industry 4.0. It is focused on the development of a smart quality management system for intelligent digitization of all company manufacturing and business processes. Furthermore, an innovative data-based welding quality management framework is described for laser micro-welding applications and their implementation perspectives. The research is driven by an inductive methodology and based on a seamless integration of engineering-oriented heuristic and empirical approaches that is appropriate for intelligent and autonomous quality management, given the lack of research in this niche, but increasingly important topic area.
Highlights
Micro-fabrication in general, and micro laser welding have gained popularity in recent years as a result of a resolute interest in developing miniaturized and compact products
Industry 4.0 is expected to help challenge and eventually eliminate all orthodoxies within laser micro-welding quality evaluation and practices, by in-process data monitoring and analysis, and improving the process tracking and tracing capabilities and the process transparency. This new manufacturing era may bring along as well new challenges, such as the unprecedented product customization levels and/or the complete value chain integration, that will increase the complexity of laser welding activities in certain high-value industries. It is not the intention of this paper to be an exhaustive survey of smart welding quality management systems but to initiate a discussion and stir the debate among specialists
The research work is focused on developing the framework for an intelligent quality management system integrated with industry 4.0 principles and its implementation perspectives
Summary
Micro-fabrication in general, and micro laser welding have gained popularity in recent years as a result of a resolute interest in developing miniaturized and compact products. Industry 4.0 is expected to help challenge and eventually eliminate all orthodoxies within laser micro-welding quality evaluation and practices, by in-process data monitoring and analysis, and improving the process tracking and tracing capabilities and the process transparency This new manufacturing era may bring along as well new challenges, such as the unprecedented product customization levels and/or the complete value chain integration, that will increase the complexity of laser welding activities in certain high-value industries. It is not the intention of this paper to be an exhaustive survey of smart welding quality management systems but to initiate a discussion and stir the debate among specialists. A new laser micro-welding framework for mechanized and automated processes is further proposed and developed, and its implementation perspectives are investigated and explored
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