Integration of product design and manufacturing through real-time due-date estimation and scheduling systems

Abstract

The present paper discusses the integration of product design and manufacturing by means of information sharing through due-date estimation and scheduling systems. The present author and other researchers have investigated a due-date estimation method in a make-to-order context. We analyzed and considered several manufacturing problems using the due-date estimation method. Among the problems researched were the following two: the first is the problem of optimizing the allocation of module inventories on semi-finished products and processed parts, and the second is the due-date estimation and production scheduling for customer orders with unfixed specification. In conducting our research, we realized that these problems are closely related with the integration of product design and manufacturing. In the present paper, we discuss the concrete examples found in these two problems and verify that the information sharing between the product design section and the manufacturing division is necessary in order to meet the increasingly strict requirements of customers and achieve more efficient manufacturing.

Keywords

• integration
• product design
• manufacturing
• due-date estimation
• production scheduling
• due-date buffer
• shortening lead time
• module inventories
• unfixed specification
• information sharing