An Integrated Manufacturing System for Mass Customization

In order to increase productivity, integrated manufacturing as a kind of strategy has become more and more important. A conceptual model of integrated manufacturing was proposed. Focusing on the numerical control machining of customized product, the integrated manufacturing principle for mass customization was discussed and architecture model of an integrated manufacturing system was presented as well. Firstly, the master model and master NC (numerical control) program of customized product were built. Then these manufacturing resources were unified managed in the PDM (product data management) system. Based on these resources, variant design of customized product could be carried out, at the same time NC machining program of customized product could be generated rapidly. Secondly, NC machining program was input into the NC machining tool through a DNC (distributed numerical control) system, and then remote machining and control would be realized. By adopting this integrated manufacturing system, company can implement mass customization production effectively.