SEED Guides Selecting Manufacturing Processes < >

Objectives

To provide specialist knowledge across a range of manufacturing technologies to enable the correct process selection to be made from the breadth of possibilities.

To provide technological and economic data on a range of important manufacturing processes. Manufacturing PRocess Information MAps (PRIMAs) give detailed data on the characteristics and capabilities of each process in a standard format under general headings including: material suitability, design considerations, quality issues, general economics and process fundamentals and variations. A distinctive feature is the inclusion of process tolerance capability charts for processing key material types.

Scope

This guide is largely based on the manufacturing process selection and costing text published by the authors (1). In this guide the reader is introduced to a systematic approach to process selection supported by a sample of ten PRIMAs only. Space does not permit the inclusion of all the available PRIMAs and the method for detailed costing of component designs given in reference (1). A computer based (PC) version of the authors' component costing method is available for educational purposes only from the SEED website at http://www.cad.strath.ac.uk/~bill/seed.htm.