Citation:
P.D. Ball, S. Roberts, A. Natalicchio and C. Scorzafave, Modelling production ramp-up of engineering products. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture, June 2011, vol. 225, no. 6, pp959-971
Abstract:
Companies that introduce new products quickly have been shown to be better
performers. The effectiveness of the new product introduction process is
critical to their performance. Production ramp-up is a necessary phase of new
product introduction, and both planning and execution need careful
consideration, especially for engineered products, which are generally typified
by design, purchasing, and production complexity. Better understanding of the
issues, and more effective modelling of options, should lead to more predictable
and quicker ramp-up. Examination of the literature, however, reveals that little
attention has been paid to this area. What knowledge does exist tends to
concentrate on specific aspects such as capacity or learning or costs. This
paper reviews the ramp-up literature in general, along with the specific
components in more detail, to establish how current work can be combined to
develop the architecture for a modelling tool for engineering product ramp-up.
The contribution of the paper is to provide a wider view of ramp-up, to present
it as a topic worthy of consideration in its own right, and to introduce a
prototype modelling tool that can aid the investigation and solutions of the
issues that the paper raises.