In this paper, we recorded a furniture manufacturer’s effort to convert from traditional build to order manufacturing to digital manufacturing of customized bookcases. The traditional process starts with customer working with a designer to create a model using CAD software. Regular customers do not have the skills to operate CAD software hence rely on the designer to help create the product model. Meanwhile, the designer takes down other information such as wood selection, color, hardware selections, etc. This step is very time consuming and expensive due to the involvement of a designer. Then the order information, together with the CAD model of the bookcase is emailed to the manufacture. An experienced engineer who understands the design, as well as the specific machining capabilities, rebuild the model of each part from scratch. It includes adding joints between wood pieces, recalculating the geometries considering the machining and assembly requirements. This step again is very time consuming. Finally, CNC code is generated for each part, which requires human review and modifications before being used on a CNC router. The following processes such as sanding, assembling, finishing, etc. are the same for all furniture makers and cannot be automated at this stage. 

The manufacturer worked with us in the process of developing a digital framework that enables customers to design bookcases online. Then the system generates CNC code automatically, with instructions telling works what to do at each step, such as the wood stock to be loaded, how to install the work piece on the router, filename of the CNC code, etc. This will greatly reduce human interactions and increase the flexibility of the entire process, hence allowing the manufacture to product customized products with much lower costs. This paper introduces several major modules of the system:  
1.    Online CAD spreadsheet. A set of parametric CAD models were pre-created to cover all the possible design layouts, such as different number of shelfs, with/without doors, etc. It also has an identifying system to locate and regenerate the correct CAD models using the customers’ input parameters.   
2.    Model Partition tool. The CAD model is chopped into blocks composed of simple geometries. After adding pre-defined joints, such as dovetail, mortise and tenon, etc., these blocks are re-combined, or merged, into individual parts.   
3.    CNC code generation, which is done using a set of pre-defined parametric CNC code that is already available to the manufacturer. MasterCAM is used to regenerate CNC code on the fly when unique parts are designed.  
4.    Workflow control that generates an instruction sheet for machine operators. This is simply instructions telling operator how to complete the process.   
 


Conversion From Traditional Manufacturing to Digital Manufacturing, an Industry 4.0 Application in Furniture Making

Division / Sponsors: 
Aerospace, Bioengineering, Applied Mechanics, Design Engineering Division, Advanced Energy Systems, Manufacturing Engineering Division, Noise Control and Acoustics, Nondestructive Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Prognosis (NDPD), Nuclear Engineering Division, Process Industries Division, Fluids Engineering, Heat Transfer, Materials, Microelectromechanical Systems, Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis, Computers & Information in Engineering


Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2020/volume/84478

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