Future potential analysis and selection of typological manufacturing processes

Project aim

A decision-making approach or tool for future potential analysis and comparison of typological manufacturing processes (TMP) represented by additive manufacturing and forging. The outcome of the project aim will minimise investment risk and rapid technology development’s uncertainty.

Project description

Manufacturing process technology capabilities have changed dramatically in the last decade. Furthermore, designs are rapidly analysed and produced, leading to a highly complex scenario for deciding which manufacturing process to invest in. This investment must be amortised and a profit generated before the manufacturing process becomes uncompetitive, outdated, or obsolete for the required task. Accordingly, the previous manufacturing selection tools proved their efficiency within their related developing context, but not within the current manufacturing context. It must be said that few were focused on delimited both manufacturing processes and facts. However, those that were aimed to capture the overall manufacturing context also lack from a proper evaluation of the current context. The main cause of it is the rapid manufacturing technologies development that even makes recently published approaches obsolete. Hence, the future manufacturing processes context must be forecasted and considered within the comparison.