Modeling Manufacturing Process Chains Affected by Uncertainties and Tolerances for Economical Optimization

Separate manufacturing processes as part of a manufacturing process sequence are often designed individually. The definition of intermediate component states (component properties and tolerances) is often based on experience and individual process design. This individual design without consideration of technological dependencies does not lead to the economic optimum in relation to the entire production process sequence. In addition, the tolerances, which are often determined on the basis of experience, are cost drivers in production, so that a systematic approach to tolerance management offers economic advantages. This paper presents a concept how process variations can be considered in the cross-process design of manufacturing process sequences and how tolerance fields can be integrated into the evaluation of economic efficiency and into a procedure for determining the optimized process parameter combination.