A microfactory either refers to a
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
-light facility used for the local assembly of a complex product or system
or a small (normally
automated
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
) factory for producing small quantities of products. The term was proposed by the Mechanical Engineer Laboratory (MEL) of
Japan in 1990 and has recently been used to describe the approach of manufacturers like
Arrival
Arrival(s) or The Arrival(s) may refer to:
Film
* ''The Arrival'' (1991 film), an American science fiction horror film
* ''The Arrival'' (1996 film), an American-Mexican science fiction horror film
* ''Arrival'' (film), a 2016 American science ...
.
The microfactory's main advantages are saving a substantial amount of space, energy, materials, time, and upfront
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
costs.
Due to their reduced dimensions, microfactories are normally highly
automated
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
. They might contain automatic
machine tools
A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, boring, grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some sort of tool that does the cutting or shaping. Al ...
, assembly systems, quality inspection systems, material feed systems, waste elimination systems, a system to evaluate tool deterioration and a system to replace tools.
At least one proposed microfactory is being designed to make many of its own parts, i.e., a partially
self-replicating machine.
A microfactory can also refer to a factory designed for flexible small
batch production
Batch production is a method of manufacturing where the products are made as specified groups or amounts, within a time frame. A batch can go through a series of steps in a large manufacturing process to make the final desired product. Batch prod ...
that can produce a wide variety of products as opposed to a single monolithic mass production type approach. Typically the manufacturing processes of microfactories take advantage of
digital fabrication technology such as
3D printing
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...
and
CNC machines
Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a pie ...
in order to accomplish this. For example,
Local Motors had microfactories in Phoenix, Ariz. and Knoxville, Tenn.
The company built products, like the
Rally Fighter prerunner sports car, in its microfactories.
See also
*
Automation
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
*
Numerical control
Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes ...
*
3D printing
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...
*
Digital modeling and fabrication Digital modeling and fabrication is a design and production process that combines 3D modeling or computing-aided design (CAD) with additive and subtractive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing is also known as 3D printing, while subtractive manufa ...
*
Flexible manufacturing system
*
Distributed manufacturing
*
Agile manufacturing
Agile may refer to:
* Agile, an entity that possesses agility
Project management
* Agile software development, a development method
* Agile construction, iterative and incremental construction method
* Agile learning, the application of increme ...
References
External links
Japanese microfactory projectMicroManufacturing Conference
Emerging technologies
Manufacturing plants
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