Abstract

<p>Informed production decision-making requires a structured understanding of the production process and costs associated. This research proposes a decision support system incorporating the learning effects on selecting cost-effective machining production process. The approach is applied to the case on manufacturing wind turbine blades. The machining industry has experienced a surge in demand for complex machining applications and an availability of a wide range of new machining technologies. Producing complex structures requires experienced CNC programmers that perform extensive strategy planning, design and optimization. The system developed considers the production processes, cost items, power learning curve and experience of the programmers. This enables managers to evaluate between various production processes and select the most cost-efficient process. An analytical approach to evaluate cost efficiency between 3-axis CNC and 5-axis CNC machines. The result is a user-friendly planning and selection tool aiding in answering critical managerial questions related to cost-effectiveness.</p><div><br></div>

Highlights

  • The globalized and highly competitive steel industry requires manufacturers to minimize cost of production and manufacture high-quality complex structures from hard to cut materials

  • The tool referred to as the decision support system, it is applied to the computer numerical control (CNC) machining process to evaluate feasibility of different machining methods, the business can apply for production

  • The first stage of the research was the recognition the components that make up the machining process, followed by the recognition of issues faced by CNC manufacturers when selecting between various methods

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Summary

Introduction

The globalized and highly competitive steel industry requires manufacturers to minimize cost of production and manufacture high-quality complex structures from hard to cut materials. The industry has experienced a surge in new technology like 3D Printing, 4-axis and 5-axis CNC machines along with software programs Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), Computer-aided design (CAD) and SIM (Simulation). The technological advancements have created a wide variety of options to manufacture high quality complex structures (Zębala & Plaza, 2014a). To remain competitive, achieving the most cost-effective method of machining can be important to achieving the accurate surface finish, quality and precision of the finished product. It is crucial for machining companies to select the appropriate machine for production, frequently upgrade or optimize their manufacturing equipment, use specialized CNC programmers and apply cost effective methods of production.

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