Design framework for model-based self-optimizing manufacturing systems

Designing manufacturing systems requires a profound understanding of the manufacturing process and its challenges to meet final customer requirements. Considering future objectives already at an early design stage increases the flexibility of the manufacturing system and its robustness regarding changed boundary conditions. Todays manufacturing systems rather control machine settings than process variables or even product quality. The major barrier for quality control is that in most manufacturing processes, quality cannot be measured on-line. Model-based self-sptimization (MBSO) has been developed to overcome this limitation. A combination of embedded process knowledge and tailored sensor integration enables for on-line quality estimation. The overall objective is to control key characteristics of product quality in a broad manufacturing landscape. This work describes a guideline of how to design an MBSO system with examples at each stage of the development process.