1 Introduction to Modern Manufacturing
A What is Manufacturing?
Maybe you've never thought about it before, but it is all around you. It affects every part of your life. What is it? In this case, "it" is manufacturing. Actually "manufacturing" is not all around you. But manufactured products are. Look around you right now. Name some things you see that were manufactured. Chairs, notebooks, blue jeans, chalkboard, books floor tile, light bulbs, pencils, eyeglasses – nearly everything around you was manufactured.
Manufacturing affects our daily lives – what we wear (blue jeans), what we eat (breakfast cereal), what we watch (television), how we travel (cars), and many, many other things. In this text, you will learn more about this process, this industry, called manufacturing.
Imagine your life without manufacturing. You would have no bicycle to ride, no television to watch, and no sneakers to wear. There would be no clothes, no furniture, no airplanes. Lifesaving devices such as artificial hearts could not even be imagined. Manufacturing is making products. And the products can be large or small, simple or complex.
Making parts and putting them together is manufacturing, if you make parts and put them together to make a product, you are manufacturing. But, today, when most people think of manufacturing, they think you the manufacturing industry.
The manufacturing industry is important to our society. It's essential to our economy. An economy is a system for producing and distributing products and services. Many people work in manufacturing. They help produce products. And they buy products with the money they earn. The more products people buy, the more products are manufactured. And this allows more people to work.
Manufacturing is also important to the economy in another way. A piece of material is worth more after it's been changed into a useful product. That's value added. Value is increased by the manufacturing process.
added value 附加值
a piece of material 一块原材料
manufacturing process 制造工艺
put manufactured parts together 组装零件
lifesaving device 救生装置，指人造心脏(artificial heart)等人造器官
B Automated Factory and Automatic Factory
The combination of computerized planning, production, and control or Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is an efficient way to manufacture parts and products. But buying all the hardware and software is expensive.
There are two stages of development in CIM: automated factory and automatic factory.
The Automated Factory
An automated factory is one in which many of the processes are self-operating. That is, the processes are directed and controlled by computers. The automated factory includes: manufacturing cells, islands of automation, and flexible manufacturing systems
Manufacturing cells are groups of machines working together as directed by a computer. Manufacturing dells that aren't connected in any way are called islands of automation. They're like islands in an ocean. Each is independent of the others.
Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) are groups of manufacturing cells and flexible machining centers (FMC). The cells and FMCs are tied together by an automated materials-handling system and by computer control.
The Automatic Factory
Imagine a factory in which there are no people working. All the parts are made by automatic machines. All materials are moved by automatic materials-handling equipment. All assembly work is done by automatic assembly machines. And the quality control checking is all done automatically. The factory may be dark inside. It may not even be heated or air conditioned. Most machines do not need lights or comfortable temperatures. A factory in which everything is done by machines automatically is an automatic factory.
Integration of Systems. In an automatic factory, all the various systems work together. This integration of the various systems into one giant system makes the factory "automatic". All the information collected from all the subsystems is kept in a main computer. The main computer directs the other computers.
Since all records are kept in computer files there is no need for file cabinets, typewriters, and similar types of equipment. A copy of a report or drawing can easily be printed at any time.
automated 自动化的
automatic 自动的
self-operating （能）自主操作的
air condition 空气调节
assembly machine 装配设备
file cabinet 文件柜
flexible manufacturing systems 柔性加工系统
islands of automation 自动化孤岛
manufacturing cell 制造单元
materials-handling equipment 材料搬运设备
第一章
课程A 什么是制造？
你以前也许从未思考过，但是它就在你的周围，而且影响着你生活的方方面面。那么，它到底是什么呢？在这里"它"就是制造。实际上在你周围所看到的并非"制造"，而是制造出来的产品。请你现在就环顾一下你的周围，说出你所看到的一些制品，如椅子、笔记本、蓝色牛仔裤、黑板、书本、地板砖、灯泡、铅笔、眼镜——在我们的周围，几乎每一样东西都是制造出来的产品。
制造影响着我们的日常生活——我们穿的（蓝色牛仔裤）、吃的（早餐麦片粥）、看的（电视机）、乘坐的（汽车）等许许多多。在本课中，你将更多地了解到称为制造的这一工业过程。
请设想一下没有制造业的生活吧：没有自行车、没有电视、没有鞋，没有衣服、没有家具、也没有飞机。像人工心脏一类的救生装置更无法想象。制造业就是生产产品，生产出来的产品可大可小，可以简单也可以复杂。
生产零部件并把它们组装起来就是制造。如果你这样做了，那么你就是在制造。但是，现在大多数人一谈起制造，就会想起制造业。
制造业对我们的社会非常重要，在经济中起着重要作用。经济是一个包括产品生产、销售和服务的体系。许多人从事制造业的工作，他们生产产品，同时也用他们赚来的钱购买制造出来的产品。人们买的产品越多，制造的产品也就越多，从事制造业工作的人也就越多。
制造对经济从另一方面讲也非常重要。原材料一旦制造成有用的产品，它将值更多的钱，这就是附加值。于是，制造过程为产品增值。
课程B 自动化工厂和自动工厂
将计算机规划、生产和控制组合在一起，即计算机集成制造（CIM）是制造零件和产品的一种有效方法。但是购置硬件和软件的花费都是十分昂贵的。
CIM的发展经历了两个阶段：自动化工厂和自动工厂。
自动化工厂
在一个自动化工厂里，很多制造过程都是自动运行，即这些过程由计算机进行指导和控制，自动化工厂包括：制造单元、自动化孤岛和柔性制造系统。
制造单元指的是由计算机指导的在一起工作的一组机器，不以任何方式互相连通的制造单元称为自动化孤岛。它们就像海洋上的孤岛，每一个都独立于其他孤岛。
柔性制造系统（FMS）是一组控制单元群和柔性制造中心（FMC），这些制造单元群和柔性制造中心都通过材料自动搬运系统和计算机控制连在一起。
自动工厂
想象一个没有人工作的工厂，所有零件都由自动机器生产，所有原料都由自动化的原料搬运设备输送，所有组装工作都由自动化装配设备完成，所有的质量控制检测都自动进行。在这样的工厂里可能漆黑一片，甚至不需要供暖或安装空调，大多数机器不需要灯光或适宜的温度。这就是自动工厂里的一切工作都由机器自动来完成。
系统集成。在一个自动工厂里，各式各样的系统一起协同运行。这些系统组成一个巨大的系统，使工厂实现了"自动化"。从所有子系统中收集到的信息保存在主计算机内，主计算机控制其他计算机的运行。
所有的记录保存在计算机文件中，因此不需要文件柜、打字机以及类似的设备，可以很方便地随时打印报告或图纸的副本。
