5.2 Industry

The distinctive uses of computers in industry is their use in developing products (Computer Aided Design, CAD) and in the control of manufacturing (Computer Aided Manufacturing, CAM).

Using a CAD system, a developer might design a product as a collection of geometric shapes (such as cuboids and cylinders); he may specify the dimensions of each shape and the materials of which the shapes are made; he may specify typical forces that are expected to be applied to the product during use so that the computer can calculate the resulting strain in the various parts of the products, using stored characteristics of the materials; he may simulate the action of a product, such as the motion of an aeroplane wing or a car through air and the computer may then calculate the resulting forces on the product (for example, the amount of drag and the amount of lift). These analyses can be repeated whilst varying criteria such as temperature and wind speed, and whilst varying the component specifications.

The objectives of such analyses may be: to gain a better understanding of where the maximum strain occurs and to use this information to improve safety or to reduce component weight; to reduce production costs by trying different configurations and different combinations of materials; or to improve product performance. Such analyses tend to be time consuming and can be expensive, but may be cheaper than alternatives (such as building various prototypes and using real stress tests or a real wind tunnel).

A CAM system can be used to organize the manufacture of products, particularly when manufacture is performed using robots. The CAM system may analyse orders that have been accepted by a factory; schedule production; check supplies and if necessary place orders with the suppliers; program robots for the required milling, drilling, wiring, assembling, painting, etc; and schedule delivery of the completed products.

The advantages of computer controlled manufacture is that the computer can organize what may be extremely complex operations (manufacturing products containing perhaps thousands of parts) to make best use of available equipment. This may involve changing a factory configuration several times a day -- this would have been impossible before automation. Computer controlled manufacturing can help minimize the number of parts held in stock (reducing overheads for storage), minimize the time between an order being accepted and the time it is available (keeping customers happy), enhance flexibility (for rush orders) and reduce overheads for accounting by keeping records of all processes.

In some cases, a CAM system may be able to accept product specifications directly from a CAD system, producing prototypes within hours.