Robust technology chain design: considering undesired interactions within the technology chain

Existing methodologies in technology chain design are used to plan the deployment of manufacturing technologies under consideration of interactions between these technologies and workpiece properties. Present methodologies focus on workpiece characteristics which the technologies are designated to change. However, workpiece properties can also be negatively affected because of interactions between the manufacturing technologies and features which the technologies are not supposed to change. These undesired interactions can cause a lower quality of the produced parts and an increased amount of defective parts. In this paper, a new methodology is presented which enables the user to identify undesired interactions during the technology chain design process. Firstly, the product to be manufactured is analyzed and described as a set of individual features. Secondly, feature-specific technology chains are designed under consideration of possible undesired interactions. Thirdly, the individual feature-specific technology chains are merged to generate a robust technology chain for the manufacturing of the analyzed product. Since undesired interactions usually occur during production ramp-ups for the first time, the methodology is applied to a case study concerning a ramp-up in the automotive industry. In this context, improving the process stability by preventing the occurrence of undesired interactions is of high economic importance.