I have read and understood the rules on cheating, plagiarism and appropriate referencing as outlined in my handbook and I declare that the work contained in this assignment is my own, unless otherwise acknowledged.

Signed: ......

(for on-line submission it is only necessary to type your name in this space)

MODULE TITLE: Digital Manufacturing Integration

MODULE CODE: DMI 06DM01

MODULE DATE: 20/11/06-16/02/07

NAME/NUMBER: ......

GROUP: ......


THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

MANUFACTURING GROUP

MSc PROGRAMMES

POST MODULE ASSIGNMENT

DIGITAL MANUFACTURING INTEGRATION

Mini-project Assignment

IMPORTANT NOTE:

This assignment is worth 30 CATS which makes it worth three times more than an ordinary PMA so your work should reflect this. This means that there should be correspondingly more effort, greater depth, with more critical analysis but this should not necessarily mean three times as many words. The guideline length is between 30 and 40 pages excluding appendices.

Task: undertake a formal literature review of the subject of digital manufacturing, tracing its theoretical origins, development history and application. Critically evaluate the application of the underlying theories and applications in industry from its foundation through to its current stage of development using published case-studies to support your analysis (these may come from textbooks, academic and trade journals, and web-based materials including vendor published case-studies). Highlight any major achievements and significant failings and give your explanation of the causes of these.

In an appendix provide an outline assessment of the suitability of applying digital manufacturing technologies to the following four general cases. You should consider a range of aspects, including but not limited to technology, economics and people-issues.

1.  Food processing (e.g. meat packaging, tinned food production)

2.  Consumer electronics products (e.g. handheld devices, music systems)

3.  Infrastructure projects (e.g. major construction projects)

4.  Engineering products (e.g. hydraulic cylinders, motor-drives)

Use the following title for your submission and format and structure the document according to the instructions in the WMG Full-time MSc student handbook for dissertation projects.

TITLE: A critical review of the current development and application of digital manufacturing from technology and business perspectives.

COMPLETION DATE:

To be submitted electronically using the appropriate web-form available from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/ftmsc/postmodulework/pmw-2006/ and following the guidelines provided in your handbook BEFORE 09:00 on 16/04/07.

PLEASE NOTE

1. PMW received after 09:00 will be stamped as having arrived on the next working day.

2. Post Module Work which does not reach Warwick Manufacturing Group by the due date will be considered to be late. Penalties for lateness may be applied at the rate of 3 percentage points per University working day after the due date, up to a maximum of 14 days late. After this period the work may be counted as a non-submission.