Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/N05871/01
Title:	RESPONSIVE DESIGN & OPERATION OF FLEXIBLE MACHINING LINES
Principal Investigator:	Stockton, Professor D
Other Investigators:	Pancholi, Mr H
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Bridgeport Machines Ltd Castillion Precision Eng Ltd Foggini KEY Europe Unipart International(cowley) Visual Thinking International Ltd
Department:	School of Engineering & Technology
Organisation:	De Montfort University
Scheme:	LINK
Starts:	01 August 2000	Ends:	31 August 2003	Value (£):	361,636
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Design & Testing Technology
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Transport Systems and Vehicles
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The proposed project will research, develop and exploit advanced simulation tools for designing Flexible Machining Lines (FM/cLs) that will enhance the UK automotive supply industry's capabilities in the key areas of responsive and low cost components manufacture. The fully collaborative project will bring together academic experts, (from both Loughborough and De Montfort Universities), in the fields of manufacturing systems design, scheduling, simulation and optimisation with major UK 1st, 2nd and 3rd tier automotive suppliers and international developers and vendors of simulation and scheduling software. The project will deliver step improvements in the time and effectiveness with which multi-component and multi-line automotive manufacturing processes can be designed and implemented.A major constraint to this is the complexity involved in FM/cL design and the lack of methods for designing such systems. The aims of the research will be achieved through the development of an integrated computer-based simulation/optimisation toolkit that will facilitate this design process.
Key Findings
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Potential use in non-academic contexts
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Impacts
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Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.dmu.ac.uk