Assessment of Process Robustness for Mass Customization

Abstract

Abstract. In mass customization, the capability Robust Process Design defined as the ability to reuse or recombine existing organizational and value-chain resources is essential to deliver a high variety cost effectively. We argue that there is a need for methods which can assess a company's process robustness and their capability to develop it. Through literature study and analysis of robust process design characteristics a number of metrics are described which can be used for assessment. The metrics are evaluated and analyzed to be applied as KPI's to help MC companies prioritize efforts in business improvement.

An Entropy-Based Formulation for Assessing the Complexity Level of a Mass Customization Industry 4.0 Environment

“…Regarding the issue of mass customization variety-induced complexity, the current manufacturing complexity metrics do not reflect the true aspect of this last [24], and quantification approaches that investigate how the adoption of the Industry 4.0 paradigm increases its complexity are limited [27]. Some of the work in this venue includes Nielsen and Brunoe [67], who proposed two indexes to measure the level of mass customization, namely, the differentiation point index and the setup index, which take into account elements like number of different manufacturing processes, number of different manufactured varieties, average throughput time, number of setup, and related costs. Mourtzis et al [68,69] proposed an entropic measure to quantify the complexity before and after shifting from a traditional manufacturing system into a Manufacturing 4.0 manufacturing system.…”

“…At this point, it must be noted that, in order for the βε MC 4.0 expression to truly represent the manufacturing complexity of a mass customization production system operating within an Industry 4.0 environment, the complexity contribution of the product, process, and resources elements must be taken into account. ese elements refer to (i) Product: the different number of manufactured products, the number of number of corresponding components and functions, and the overall products' mix ratio (ii) Process: the different routings for each product and the corresponding processing times (iii) Resources: the different types of machinery, number and type of operations capable of performing, and number of required setups Mass customization measurement [24,27,67] Mass customization and complexity [27,68,69] Mass customization and flexibility [22,[72][73][74][75] Flexibility and complexity [30] 4 Mathematical Problems in Engineering Now, Martínez-Olvera explained in his work of [76] (equation 1) and [77] (equation 2) why formulations such as the ones presented by [58,86] need to be modified in order to reflect the impact the BOM structure has on the process flow. In a similar way, equations (1) and (2) must be adapted in order to reflect the manufacturing complexity contribution to the mass customization production system operating within an Industry 4.0 environment:…”

Mass Customisation Assessment and Measurement Framework

“…in response to changed market requirements. The first metric is the rate of which new configuration attributes are introduced manufacturing system (TlV) [17] and Cost of introducing a new opiion in the manufacturing system (ClV) t17l have been defined.…”

“…-'* -etric Degree of manual labour (DML) [17] can be used as an -: -::i indicator of process robustness, since a low need for i --: processing will indicate that the non-manual manufacturing : ::is.ses are able to supply a high variety.…”

“…:sses need to be introduced when a product option is " :: -:ed and thus that the existing processes can accommodate .,,'n :-:,juct variety. The capacity expense (CAPEX) increase when -::,: ng a new option is introduced (CAPIV) [17]. This is done ' :;' : righ PVI does not necessarily come a high cost, given a ",u :':cess is implemented on existing flexible equipment.…”