Quality information feedback within a contemporary metalworking smaller manufacturing enterprise

This paper reports ongoing research into a workshop-oriented PC-based machining and inspection and analysis facility within a contemporary metalworking smaller manufacturing enterprise (SME). It identifies a novel manufacturing and inspection framework, which is supported by the use of information models. A major feature of the framework is the ability to produce rapid manufacturing control through feedback data from both the inspection and production data analysis activities in order to influence the responsiveness to manufacturing disturbances experienced through the machining of discrete prismatic components. The major contribution of this paper explores a production data analysis (PDA) concept, which forms the basis of a prototype facility that closes the manufacturing feedback loop void that exists in the metalworking SME. The paper outlines the three major constituents of the prototype PDA facility, namely machine and inspection planning, comparative tolerance analysis and manufacturing data analysis and the information resources contained within a quality information feedback model (QIFM).