The Handy Engineering Answer Book (The Handy Answer Book Series) - Hardcover

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

DeLean Tolbert Smith, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering department at the University of Michigan–Dearborn. She earned her Ph.D. in engineering education from Purdue University, and her research led to a National Science Foundation CAREER award. She is a Detroit native and resides there with her husband.

Aishwary Pawar is a doctoral candidate in industrial & systems engineering at the University of Michigan–Dearborn. His research is focused on investigating the factors that influence undergraduate enrollment, retention, graduation, and dropout. For his Ph.D., he plans to incorporate human-centered design and data analytics to promote student success in undergraduate engineering programs and to support higher education professionals in recognizing minoritized students' diverse needs. A graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, he teaches lab sessions in engineering and engineering design and resides in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Nicole P. Pitterson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She has a Ph.D. in engineering education from Purdue University. She researches how curriculum design, testing, and teaching can boost students’ understanding. She currently resides in Christiansburg, Virginia.

Debra-Ann C. Butler, Ph.D., received her bachelor of arts from the University of Miami and her Ph.D. in educational policy, planning, and leadership with a focus on higher education from William and Mary. Dr. Butler's career span over 20 years in higher education working in student services, academic affairs, and program administration. She currently resides in Michigan with her husband and two beautiful daughters.

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What do engineers do?

Engineers work in a variety of contexts using their knowledge of mathematics and science to develop safe, economically sound and context specific solutions to everyday problems. These problems might be of various scales - small, medium, or large, and complexity. Engineering work is not always about creating new solutions as sometimes engineers work to improve and maintain existing systems and or processes. 

Engineering practice falls into three broad categories: 

• Problem-solving incorporates the systematic process that engineers use to scope, define, and solve problems of varying nature.
• The knowledge that is specific to each discipline and is necessary to engage in the problem-solving process.
• The integration of engineering problem-solving processes and knowledge.

What is Advanced Manufacturing?

Advanced manufacturing is the integration of new innovative technology and techniques to improve both product design and production processes, with the relevant/ advanced technology to facilitate, cost-effective and competitive products. These production processes highly depend on automation, networking, computation, and information. Thus, advanced manufacturing integrates the most up-to-date machinery with processes to add value and create highly differentiated products.

What is Agile Manufacturing?

Agile manufacturing is a strategy that focuses on responding quickly to the needs of the customer. The goal is to provide personalized products at unprecedented speeds while controlling the overall costs and maintaining high-quality standards. Industries that use agile manufacturing develop platforms for the designers, the marketers, and the production workforce to share information and updates about parts and products, production capacities, and problems particularly concerning the quality of a product to ensure that customers' needs are met.

What are the key elements of Agile Manufacturing? 

The key elements of agile manufacturing include:

• Modular Product Design: Products are broken up into small sub-assemblies (modules) that can be built independently and used in diverse ways. 
• Information Technology: With advancements in manufacturing processes and increased automation and technology there is more and more information (data) generated about the needs of the customers, the current state of the markets, and the materials/products. In order for industries to be agile, they must quickly analyze the information and disseminate it around the company in order to ensure that they have a fast response to changes in the customer and market needs. 
• Corporate Partners: Agile industries must create partnerships with other organizations and industries that will help them acquire materials and resources quickly to meet changing customer needs. 
• Knowledge Culture: An Agile industry or organization must create an internal culture with their employees that resembles flexibility and adaptability. These organizations typically invest in ongoing employee training. 

Why would an industry change from traditional manufacturing to agile manufacturing? 

The rapidly evolving environment, constant technological development, more access to information, workforce transformation led to major shifts in the manufacturing industry and the adoption of agile manufacturing. Nowadays, companies are working in a highly competitive environment, where the small decline in performance, product quality, or product delivery can have a huge effect on a company's survival and reputation among consumers. Through agile manufacturing, companies take a competitive advantage while focusing on rapid response to customers and making fast changes based on customer demand.

What is automation?

Automation is the technology that helps to perform a procedure with minimal or no human assistance. People often think about robots when the concept of automating comes up in conversation. It is used in various control systems for operating applications ranging from simple on-off control such as a household thermostat controlling a boiler to a multi-variable high-level algorithm such as a large industrial control system. There are four different types of automation: 

• Basic Automation: This is typically the use of software to manage business practices. For example, companies may use software that creates, sends, and processes invoices and send them to the right person at the right time. The tasks that the software completes are usually repetitive and tasks that would be done on a daily basis.
• Process Automation: A robotic process automation system can log into software or application, move files, fill in forms, perform basic internet searches, make calculations, and even open emails. This will typically reduce the number of employees needed to complete some tasks and can lead companies to save money. Ideally, some employees can be moved to higher-level positions. 
• Integration automation: At this level, humans define the machine function, the boundaries within which it will operate, and the tasks it will complete. The machine will be able to mimic human tasks. Through intelligent automation, the industry can increase the speed and scale of work completion. Can do more work than if it were just humans performing the work. The company/organization would examine their process and identify the ways to best use the human worker’s support and high levels of thinking. If the task can be done without a human, then it will, otherwise, it will just include the human when necessary. 
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Automation:  This is the most complex level of automation. At this level, the machines can learn and make decisions. Basically, they keep track of all the previous situations, analyze the actions and results, and then they apply the old to the new situation. An example of this are the virtual assistant/virtual chats that companies employ as customer service agents on their websites. 

What are the manufacturing applications of automation and robotics?

Manufacturing and production are the most important applications for automation. Automated production systems are classified as Fixed automation, Programmable automation, and flexible automation. In the industrial workplace, automation helps in improving productivity and quality, reducing errors and waste, making the manufacturing process flexible, and thus increasing safety, reliability, and profitability. Automation can be achieved by various means including mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, electronic devices and computers, etc. The benefit of automation includes labor savings with lower operating costs, faster return on investment (ROI), Increased production output, improvements to quality, accuracy, and precision and reduced factory lead time.

• Fixed Automation: fixed automation in a production environment that is sequenced and comments are pre-programmed in machines and is not easily changed from one product to another because the programming involves intricate aspects of the machinery like gears, wiring, and electronics. This can be seen in large volume manufacturing industries such as the...