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Com uter inibblin

26th November 1983
Page 19
Page 19, 26th November 1983 — Com uter inibblin
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

AUTOMATE or liquidate is the stark choice facing British manufacturers, according to Sir leuan Maddock, technology development vice-chairman of the General Electric Company USA.

Speaking at an industrial automation seminar organised by CM's parent company, Business Press International, Sir leuan claimed that in spite of the enormous growth in the micro and home computer sector within the UK, British manufacturers, were still only 'nibbling' at computer technology, and that other European countries such as West Germany, were well ahead of Britain in computerised product manufacturing.

Computers would be put to great use within the factory environment, and he suggested five possible key sectors — computer-aided design and engineering (CAD and CAE), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), intelligent warehousing, operations management systems, and data management and communications linking all five together.

To illustrate the capabilities of one sector, computer-aided design, Sir leuan used CAD drawings of a small internal combustion engine. By using CAD, the individual components could be displayed or stored by the computer, with physical details such as dimensions, weight, centre of gravity and material characteristics readily available for engine components such as crankshafts, connecting rods, pistons and cylinder blocks.

The engine components could be "assembled" by the compu ter and displayed as a three-dimensional line drawing on a visual display unit (vdu), allowing engineers to examine component fit and operation.

Using sophisticated programs, moving parts such as a crankshaft could be rotated through 360 degrees by the computer and displayed in animated form on the vdu allowing engineers to observe components during every stage of the combustion cycle.

The use of three-dimensional cad gives designers the opportunity to study an engine from a number of viewpoints, while other components such as doors can be opened or closed by the computer to ensure correct location against bodywork.

Sir leuan added that computers "can even insert a human being into the vehicle, examine the location of the major sub assemblies, and study safety is sues." These techniques could be applied in most manufacturing sectors claimed Sir leuan.

Computers could also be used extremely effectively in structural or finite element analysis (FEA) said Sir leuan, and he displayed as an example, a component part of a robot welding arm represented graphically using colours to indicate areas of maximum load during operation.

The ability of the human eye to assimilate large amounts of information visually had kept it ahead of the computer in the area of quality control said Sir leuan, although recent developments in optoelectronic inspection equipment using fibre optics had meant a step closer towards full computerisation of quality control procedures.

It was in this area that Sir leuan saw Japanese and West German competitors scoring over UK manufacturers, with their superior quality control methods, which he summarised forcefully "We don't buy Japanese because they are made any better, it's because they are more reliable."

Also speaking at the seminar was David Streeton, general manager of Calma UK, a General Electric subsidiary producing CAD and CAM systems. He claimed that FEA by computer had replaced a great deal of prototype testing, particularly among car manufacturers, but for certain safety requirements such as type approval impact legislation, physical testing with hard vehicles would continue to be carried out.

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