Event Scheduled for Oct 30, 2009

Event: ME Fall 2009 Seminar Series: "Modeling Product Variety Induced Manufacturing Complexity for Assembly System Design," Prof. Jack Hu, University of Michigan

Location: UTEB 150

Time: 02:00 pm

Details of Event:
Abstract
Mass customization has been the mantra for today’s manufacturing. As a result of the paradigm change from mass production to mass customization, the number of product variety offered by manufacturers has increased drastically. Such an increase presents enormous difficulties in the design and operation of manufacturing systems. It has been shown by both empirical data and simulations that increased variety can impact manufacturing performance, such as quality and productivity. Hence it is necessary to investigate how product variety complicates the design and operations of a manufacturing system. In this talk, I will present the recent research progresses in modeling product variety induced manufacturing complexity in mixed model assembly systems. An information entropy based measure is proposed to quantify the complexity in manufacturing. Then models are developed to analyze the propagation of complexity in multi-stage assembly systems. Finally, we apply such models to assembly system design and discuss the next emerging paradigm of manufacturing.


Biography
S. Jack Hu is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the G. Lawton and Louise G. Johnson Professor of Engineering at the University of Michigan. He also holds a joint appointment as Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering at Michigan. He co-directs the General Motors Collaborative Research Laboratory in Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing and serves as Engineering Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Prior to his current appointment, he was Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education. From 2002 to 2006, he served as the Director of Program in Manufacturing (PIM) and Director of the Interdisciplinary Professional Programs at the University of Michigan. Dr. Hu conducts research and teaches courses in assembly, manufacturing systems, and statistical quality methods. He has published more than 100 papers in professional journals and 40 papers in conferences. Dr. Hu is the recipient of many awards, including the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, ASME Design Engineering Conference Best Paper Award, and the College of Engineering Research Excellence Award. He was elected a fellow of ASME in 2003.

Sponsored By: Mechanical Engineering

Pamphlet/Flyer: View file here