Framework for the Development of a New Reconfigurable Guillotine Shear and Bending Press Machine

Abstract

In today's manufacturing world, consumer satisfaction is difficult to achieve owing to the dynamic and continuous changes in their requirements and the rapid change in product designs. Research has been carried out on several innovations addressing this problem with various machine designs having been produced to deal effectively with the dynamic customer needs. Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs) and machines (RMTs), having superseded the dedicated manufacturing lines (DMLs) with dedicated machine tools (DMTs); and flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) with their machines (FMTs), have led to a new era that takes the best aspects of both DMLs, FMSs and machines to conceive a new manufacturing system, RMS and RMTs that satisfy the dynamic nature of customer requirements. The aim of this paper is to present a structured framework that will optimise the development process of a new reconfigurable guillotine shear and bending press machine to be used in sheet metal work. The framework provides a guide for designers and manufactures of sheet metal machines in developing the new machine. To develop the framework, research used various tools such as reviewing existing literature on RMSs & RMTs, DMLs & DMTs, FMSs & FMTs and expected product change responsiveness. Research also explored literature on the development of machine modules for reconfigurable machines and reconfigurable technology systems. The framework seeks to provide a structured approach towards the machine development by highlighting important steps to be taken and various aspects to be considered. The results give a framework that will guide the development of a reconfigurable guillotine shear and bending press machine tool that can be configured and reconfigured to enable cutting and bending of varying sheet metal products by a single machine with dual functionality.