Local flexible manufacturing of green personalized furnitureClose To the Customer in time, space and cost

Local flexible manufacturing of green personalized products Close to The Customerin terms of features offered, place of fabrication, time to deliver, and cost.

CTC CONCEPT

CTC Mini-Factory layout

Mini-factory

area<150m2

Mini-factory

«Behind the

glass pane»

concept

Low footprint innovative

CNC machine

Product

personalization

interface

Just-In-Time

Supply Chain

Management

CTC 5 pillars

CTC Green Label

Pillar V

Basic design

Customized design

NC part program and system setup

Component Nesting

CTC furnitureClose to the Customer

N001 G01 G41 X005 Y017 EOB N002 N001 G41 E0B 002 G01 X005

MiniFactory

CTC “Design to manuf.”

CTCConfigurator

CTC post-processor

CTC Basic Design tool

Pillar I

CTCMiniFactory

Pillar III

CTC prod system model – last mile furniture system

configuration

management

Pillar II

CTC Flexible production technologies

FlexibilitySafetyNoiseEmissionsAutomation

Pillar IV

Designers

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1. Product• Customizable design (RESULT CTC product configurator integrated in TopSolid)• Standardized components (e.g joints) and panel based products• Product sustainable footprint (RESULT CTC Green Label)

2. Production System Model• Factory in the Mall – Urban Manufacturing• Specific machinery that fits into the mall (RESULT CTC CNC Flexible Machine, emission

abatement equipment, noise reduction techs)• Integration between factory and front-desk (RESULT CTC “Design To Manufacturing in

one step” post-processor)• High visibility of the production processes

3. Supply chain• Local Suppliers (RESULT CTC last mile furniture)• Limited number of Suppliers• Short delivery time

CTC system and results

CTC configurator focus on pillar I

Basic Design (Designer):

Make and manage the portfolio

Parameterise the furniture (dimension, colour, material,

options)

Generate assembly document

Manage technical aspects

Generate tablet User Interface

1

Basic Design XML generator

CTC configurator focus on pillar I

Basic Design (Designer)1

Basic Design XML generator

Configuration (customer + shop assistant): Customize product (tablet)

Personalize product (laptop)

Configurator

2

CTC design to manufacturing focus on pillar I

Basic Design (Designer)1

Basic Design XML generator

Configuration (customer + shop assistant):

Configurator

2

Post processing: gateway software

Post Processor

3

Gateway is the integration software module that manages

the order processing within the mini-factory from the order

acquisition to the delivery, ensuring the correct

configuration of the IT infrastructure and the seamless

communication among:

Configurator Gateway

Machine Tool SW

ERP

Scheduling System

Assessment Engine

CTC Machining System focus on pillar IV

State-of-the-Art: Carpentry environmentDifferent entry level machines able to perform a single operation, with manual handling of panels.

Challenge

Space constraints: the instantiation in the Mall raises the necessity of reducing the space available for the working centre and the associated logistics (costs of commercial areas, limited number of operators) Manufacturing constraints: Furniture with an high degree of functional and aesthetical customizability calls for a relevant level of production flexibility.Shopping Mall constraints: limitations in terms of noise generation, cleanness and safety measures.

define a machining and automation system compliant with the new approach “factory in the mall”, thus respecting:

CTC Machining System focus on pillar IV

Development of a strongly automated machining centre, including panels set-up, integrating all advanced functions required for CTC production in a single mechatronic and automation platform (nesting ,routing, boring, edge-banding), with a new suction hood technology capable of unique results in terms of noise and dust emissions reduction

CTC Machining System Highlights: Smart Bars

The smart bars worktable: the pop up system adds the third z dimension to the working table

12 bars with 48 suction cups. Automatic positioning of each bar along x-axis and of each suction cup along y-axis execution of nesting process on bars and not on a full flat bed.

pillar IV

CTC Machining System Highlights: Smart Bars

Nesting and edge-banding in the same machine without unloading: Integration of conflicting functions thanks to SW development and exploitation of the z axis

pillar IV

CTC Machining System Highlights: unloading

Automatic unloading device of finished panels with vacuum cups and conveyor mat.

pillar IV

CTC Machining System Highlights: extraction hood

“two-part construction” (to fully encapsulate the tool) and streamlined hood shape (to deflect the chips mechanically in the direction of the suction opening)

• Ensuring Air Pollution Control• Empowering the automated

processes so that chips won’t hinder the loading and unloading of machines and bars repositioning

• Being compliant the shopping mall’s requirements.

pillar IV

CTC Machining System Highlights: extraction hoodexperiments:Some results with new hood

Patent pending

pillar IV

CTC Machining System main innovations

Flexibility for batch size 1 production

Customer’s demand 100% satisfaction

High degree of automation thanks to machine-robot integration under supervision of a lone worker

A single machine-platform of multiple functions (nesting, boring, routing, edgebanding)

High performance in terms of safety in an holistic manner

pillar IV

CTC design to manufacturing focus on pillar V

proposes an automatic approach to the evaluation of the sustainability of its process that allows the establishment of a green label for its products by:

Establishing a model of green label largely recognized and granting feasibility of implementation in an automatic way

Defining a benchmark from the traditional furniture manufacturing sector, to highlight the benefits of having a sustainability analysis embedded in the customization procedure

Implementing the sustainability computational model for the Mini-Factory production systems

Creating the opportunity for the customer to easily evaluate the environmental impact of its personalization choices at purchasing stage

CTC design to manufacturing focus on pillar V

The CTC Assessment tool allows customer awareness on the environmental impacts generated by the personalized furniture and to recognize the more sustainable configuration.This is performed through:

An Assessment Model (AM), based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is performed through the CML2001 method, considering the indicators identified.

Customized Product

Supply chain Mini Factory Configurator Seller Consumer

The consumer proactively

design the product and

acquires knowledge on his

choices.

The final preferences affect

the whole product chain.

CTC

ecolabel

CTC

ecolabel

CTC design to manufacturing focus on pillar V

The CTC Assessment tool calculates impact values of each operation the selected furniture pass through. This has been performed through:

Gathering Inventory data

from SCM working centre.

Transforming SCM data

into Impact Assessment

data.

Completing the needed

information through data

from literature and DB

concerning wooden and

hardware materials.

Calculating product-

related impact data.

Close to The Customer 3 main results

Product• Customizable design• Sustainable footprint

Production System Model• Factory in the Mall• Integration between shop & factory

Supply chain• Local• Short delivery time

Local flexible manufacturing of green personalized furnitureClose To the Customer in time, space and cost

Giuseppe Lucisano – SCMGROUP – glucisano@scmgroup.com – Paolo Pedrazzoli – SUPSI – paolo.pedrazzoli@supsi.ch