Design methodology for production systems retrofit in SMEs

Abstract

Investment in the productive systems of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector is usually quite limited. For this reason, normal practice is to apply minor developments internally, or upgrade equipment as it becomes obsolete to increase their productive capacity and competitiveness at lower cost. However, the work team, mostly made up of engineers, does not usually have experience in the use of design methodologies but also they are often familiar with the functioning of various design and quality-management tools. This paper presents a clear and simple design methodology that facilitates the development of adaptations to items of equipment that might be considered one-off products. It includes a selection of design tools that are, according to literature on the subject, the most common and best-known among engineers, and which are also best-suited to the environment of an SME. The design methodology was validated experimentally with the upgrading of a gear-rolling tester installed on the premises of an SME in the sector. The recommended techniques and tools were satisfactory applied opening the possibilities for further application of the methodology in similar machine's upgrades in the future.

Industry 4.0: a systematic review of legacy manufacturing system digital retrofitting

“…To demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology, the authors used a CNC [104] lathe machine as part of a case study. A similar study was conducted by Pueo et al [76] who illustrate the general steps with a resource allocation matrix for retrofitting. A gearrolling tester machine was rebuilt as a case study in their study.…”

“…Lack of knowledge includes the absence of clear strategies, lack of awareness of Industry 4.0 technologies, as well a lack of knowledge of where to begin and how to apply it [73][74][75]. The complexity of Industry 4.0 technologies and the different terminologies that are being used, the integration and interoperability between legacy operational technology and information technology (IT-OT) and new equipment are still complex [76][77][78].…”

Artificial-Intelligence-Driven Customized Manufacturing Factory: Key Technologies, Applications, and Challenges

“…It is worth mentioning that retrofitting strategies may apply for the sensing or monitoring scenarios while they are not suitable or less suitable for the cases requiring to make active actions (like control or movement). Furthermore, a comprehensive plan should be made in advance rather than arbitrarily adding sensors to the existing production line [94]. Retrofitting strategies also have their limitations, such as a limited number of internal physical quantities can be monitored in a retrofitted asset with respect to a newly-designed smart machine.…”

Measuring Sensors Calibration in Worm Gear Rolling Testers

“…A worm gear rolling tester has been developed retrofitting an obsolete gear profile-measuring machine [39]. It integrates single-flank and double-flank tests allowing us to characterize potential error sources in the same kinematic structure, maintaining identical execution conditions in both tests [40].…”