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Features: Nov. 12, 2001
Flexible Engineering Center Formed
The School of Engineering has formed the
Flexible Manufacturing Center (FMC) under the leadership
of Stephen Derby '76, associate professor of mechanical,
aerospace, and nuclear engineering, and Raymond Puffer,
who most recently served as associate director of the Center
for Automation Technologies. The FMC is part of the department
of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering.
"E-commerce allows information to
flow up and down the supply chain with the speed of
light. In order to capitalize fully on the information
age, manufacturing systems must also be flexible, agile,
and rapid to respond to changes in the marketplace"
—Raymond Puffer —
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Research and education at the FMC will focus
on flexible, modular manufacturing systems and processes
that can be easily reconfigured in response to changes in
product design, product mix, and process changes. Such systems
allow rapid change from one product to another, extend the
useful life of the manufacturing system, and minimize the
cost impact of these changes, Derby explained.
"E-commerce allows information to flow up
and down the supply chain with the speed of light. In order
to capitalize fully on the information age, manufacturing
systems must also be flexible, agile, and rapid to respond
to changes in the marketplace," said Puffer.
The FMC uses existing industrial robots,
custom automation design, vision systems, embedded controllers,
and computers for many of their systems. Projects that have
been initiated already will help to
- design palletizing systems that handle
a mix of case sizes, weights, and contents;
- efficiently accommodate airplane baggage
of varying size, shape, and weight; and
- automate handling of flexible, fragile,
or potentially hazardous materials during manufacture.
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