Author(s)

Tong Zhao¹, Frank Vollertsen^1,2

¹BIAS—Bremer Institut für angewandte Strahltechnik GmbH, Bremen, Germany.
²University of Bremen, Faculty of Production Engineering—Mechanical Engineering & Process Engineering, Bremen, Germany.

Using control and repairing loops to remove production errors is not the only solution to increase the manufacturing yield. The production of errors can also be directly avoided, prevented or eliminated, even as early as in the planning phase. This paper suggests that the idea of Process Signatures can help to achieve Loopless Production. Loopless Production offers an option to guarantee the production quality towards the vision of the zero-defect manufacturing. It is considered that closed loops are used in a production process chain to identify and to correct the unknown and the systematic errors. These errors can actually be avoided through specifically adjusted or optimal arranged production processes. This puts a higher demand on the understanding of processes, which involve various energy-material interactions. This demand can be met via Process Signatures which aims to develop a process-independent description method of effects of processes. A supportive relationship is foreseen between Process Signatures and Loopless Production. The combination of these two ideas shall allow the simplification of the work for the rationalization of process sequences, the streamlining of closed loops as well as the selection of optimal substitute processes.

Unknown Error, Systematic Error, Process Chain, Closed Loop, Energy-Material Interaction

Zhao, T. and Vollertsen, F. (2017) Process Signatures as a Measure for Loopless Production. Engineering, 9, 328-337. doi: 10.4236/eng.2017.93017.