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Title:
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AN AUTOMATED FLEXIBLE FIXTURE SYSTEM FOR MASS CUSTOMIZATION |
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Author(s):
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Andrew Illidge, Glen Bright, Anthony Walker |
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ISBN:
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978-989-8533-39-5 |
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Editors:
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Ajith P. Abraham, Antonio Palma dos Reis and Jörg Roth |
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Year:
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2015 |
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Edition:
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Single |
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Keywords:
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Mass Customization, flexible fixtures, Automated Flexible Fixture System, Computer Aided Fixture Design |
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Type:
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Short Paper |
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First Page:
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167 |
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Last Page:
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172 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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The need for mass customization is growing due to customer demand for unique, customized products. This has brought about developments in Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS), which are manufacturing systems that can be adjusted to produce a variation of parts. This paper presents a conceptual framework and a prototypical design of an Automated Flexible Fixture System (AFFS) that meets the requirements imposed by mass customization. The flexibility issues in FMS implementation are largely related to the utilization of jigs and fixtures. Current fixtures that are used in FMS are either modular or dedicated fixtures, which require excessive change-over times for new products and set-ups, especially in the case of dedicated fixtures. If mass customization is to be achieved, an automated flexible fixture system must be developed that can handle a variety of parts, perform set-up change overs automatically, analyze Computer-Aided Drawing (CAD) models and select suitable clamping and locating configurations. They should also have the intelligence to allow for adaptability during machining processes. |
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