Certification in Production and Manufacturing Automation

Classify manufacturing systems into continuous processing, batch processing, and custom or job shop, and examine how automation, instrumentation, and distributed systems shape production and the role of the batch system.

Compare three manufacturing systems, piece production (job shop), batch production, and continuous processing, across seven criteria, including primary motivation, part variety, and machine-tool flexibility.

Explore volume variety relationship in manufacturing systems, from fixed automation for high volume production to programmable automation for many varieties, guiding flexible automation and FMS at mid variety mid volume.

Learn about fixed (hard) automation, flexible automation, and programmable automation, and how production scale, cost, and 100% non-contact inspection shape automation choices.

Explore the product–process matrix and how product process flexibility aligns with volume, variety, and automation choices in production systems.

Explore the product-process matrix from low volume, high variety job shops to mass production, showing how specialization, fixed automation, and evolving process flexibility shape manufacturing systems.

Explore the product–process matrix and how automation levels—from conventional to NC and DNC, to flexible manufacturing systems—enhance process flexibility through tool magazines, fixtures, material handling, and coordinate measurement.

Explore the four-plane concept of manufacturing—planning (including scheduling), control, materials management, material flow, and shop-floor processes—and examine how automation and know-how shape these areas.

Adopt a total systems approach to cut 95% moving and waiting time by streamlining positioning, gauging, loading, and idle tasks; emphasize computer-assisted automation and the second and third shift.

Explore how product design and manufacturing systems interlink through CAD, CAE, CAPP, and CAM within CIM to optimize quality, cost, and throughput in a global, customer-driven market.

Align resources—people, technology, and processes—with corporate strategies to synchronize finance, sales, product, engineering, manufacturing, and HR toward value-driven design within the quality loop and cost considerations.

Examine 11 functions of production and manufacturing automation, from market research and specifications engineering to procurement, process planning and control, production, inspection, sales, packaging and storing, installation, maintenance, and disposal.

Explore how design leads manufacturing from 2d drafting to 3d and solid modeling, with CAD, CAM, and CAPP driving mesh generation and flexible manufacturing for a marketable product.

Explore how material handling systems integrate with production to automate material flow, storage, and transferring, reducing waiting time and work in process inventory versus manual loading and unloading.

Explore how robotics power modern manufacturing systems, tracing the term's 1921 origin in Rossum's Universal Robots by Karel Capek and its role in flexible manufacturing systems and assembly robots.

Traces the evolution of automation from 1950s mainframe planning and batch control to flexible manufacturing systems, highlighting PLC, CNC, DNC, robotics, AGVs, ASRS, and modular fixturing within FMS.

Explore the product life cycle from design to disposal, analyzing how design and manufacturing affect quality and lead time, and apply a systems approach to link production stages.

Learn design criteria for production systems, from conceptual design and simulation prototypes to physical prototyping, and assess total life cycle costing and the impact of automation.

Identify customer needs and translate them into a product brief, then convert it into an engineering specification and a design cost budget for manufacturability, producibility, and testability.

Explore manufacturing system components and the activities to run a production system, including process planning and evaluating producibility for manufacturability and quality of conformance.

Explore manufacturability and design for producibility to minimize manufacturing lead time while meeting specifications. See how process capability and an automated system align product design with manufacturing capabilities.

Develop the manufacturing strategy and automate process planning from design to production, detailing bill of materials, parts, sequences, material handling, workholding, machine tools, and process development, qualification, and verifications.

Lean manufacturing, a just-in-time approach from the Toyota production system, aims to eliminate seven wastes by minimizing inventory, material handling, setup time, lead time, and costs of labor and quality.

Develop a long-range manufacturing strategy that identifies future technologies, assesses adoption via automated systems, and guides product and process design, supplier partnerships, and make-or-buy decisions aligned with corporate objectives.

Coordinate production readiness and qualification within the manufacturing plan to prevent high rework, scrap, and missed schedules. Define tasks and critical paths to enable design-to-manufacture transition and environmental performance.

Identify and develop manufacturing and supplier processes, establishing a manufacturability program with design guidelines and qualification methods. Verify processes, prototypes, tolerances, costs, and quality; implement databases and an information system.

Assess design maturity and production readiness to determine the timing of design release to manufacturing, aiming for fully automated systems like fms while weighing technical and business risks.

Explore manufacturing methodologies and technologies to design flexible automated systems that handle multiple products and models, achieving manufacturability and producibility through quality of design and quality of conformance.

Explore manufacturing methodologies and technologies, from e-commerce and web purchasing to CAD/CAM and ERP, focusing on ergonomic interfaces, cellular and flexible manufacturing, and group technology prerequisites.

Explore electronic commerce and web purchasing, the paperless exchange of engineering and business information via email, EFT, and EDI, transforming procurement and PCB manufacturing through CAD data transfers.

Learn how cad and cae connect design and production through computer network environments, enabling continuous communication, evaluation of design alternatives, and data transfer for rapid problem solving across locations.

Apply computer aided process planning (CAPP) with group technology or a generative approach, choosing variant type or 100% automated options, and use a comprehensive manufacturing capability database.

Apply ergonomics and human factors engineering tools and techniques to the work system—human, processes, environment—focusing on interface design, safety, comfort, and convenience.

Explore material requirements planning (MRP), manufacturing resource planning (MRP II), and distribution requirement planning, culminating in enterprise resource planning (ERP) for integrated, real-time production control.

Explore just-in-time inventory control in manufacturing, aiming for zero inventory and minimal work in progress. Parts are ordered only when needed, with instant quality feedback to prevent line stoppages.

Group technology (GT) and the cellular manufacturing system (CMS) combine flow shop and batch production by using work cells to produce part families, enabling automation and reduced inventory.

Boost productivity and quality with automation and robotics through low labor costs and high repeatability. Start design for automation early with concurrent engineering and design for assembly, manufacturability, and maintainability.

Link suppliers as extended in-house capabilities, emphasizing partners, shared communication, and commitment to best in class and statistical quality control; optimize supplier count for capacity, quality, and pricing competition.

Assess the present industrial scenario, marketing knowledge, and market research before adopting industry 4.0 automation. Explore concurrent engineering, product development, sustainability, globalization, and continual innovation to optimize manufacturing under uncertainty.

Discover how innovative tools and approaches transform production systems through automation, new technologies, and processes, while balancing performance criteria like efficiency, quality, and profitability.

Explore the four phases of innovation—prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery. Assess how industry 4.0 adoption hinges on management support, collaboration, and developing the critical mass of expertise.

Industry 4.0 unites automation, data exchange, and cyber-physical systems with IoT and cloud computing. It enables intelligent networks that autonomously optimize the value chain across factory and supply chains.

Select an area to adopt Industry 4.0 and assess status. Choose improvement tools, techniques, and approaches with management and financial support; implement alternatives with benefits; establish periodic review and benchmarking.

Apply a systems approach for quality problem solving in automation, define problems, identify root and assignable causes, and implement remedial actions using online/offline methods and statistical process control.

Apply the systems approach to quality problem solving by defining the problem, identifying constraints and objectives, generating mathematical models, heuristics, or algorithms, selecting and implementing solutions, and pursuing continuous improvement.

Define the problem and constraints, generate and evaluate multiple solutions, select the most cost-effective option, implement with responsible teams, and monitor outcomes for continuous improvement.

Explore the quality loop and its 11 integrated functions, forming a closed loop from market identification to disposal, guided by quality standards for industrial products.

Trace the evolution of quality control from inspection to online real-time control, emphasizing defect reduction, quality assurance, design quality, and conformance.

Apply Taguchi quality improvement to achieve robust, low-cost products by controlling common causes, involving all staff, and using experimental design and statistical process control for prototype testing under varying conditions.

Management should lead to meet customer expectations for quality, cost, and performance, and implement a quality assurance system that replaces unit-by-unit inspection, enabling world-class manufacturing in manual and automated production.

Identify processes with prevalent quality problems, reduce unit-to-unit variability through measurement, control, and automation, and use experimental design to determine critical factors for continuous, standardized improvements.

Explore the production control framework by planning inputs, resources, methods, and bill of materials. Document the process, schedule, make or buy decisions, and monitor quality and flow time.