Cost Drivers in Microlamination Based on a High-Volume Production System Design

The purpose of this research is to develop a cost estimation model in an attempt to begin exploring the current cost drivers for microlamination. To do this without actual cost information, a production system design is proposed for the high-volume production of MECS devices. Constraints on this facility are that it produces microlaminated structures from stainless steel diffusion bonding. Also, a cost estimation model is developed based on the known cycle time and capital equipment costs from the production system design. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the cost drivers under different market and product scenarios. Results from the sensitivity analysis indicated that device size and production rate do have an effect on the overall manufacturing cost of microlamination devices. Therefore, it is concluded that the emphasis of future research in metallic microlamination should focus on bonding larger laminae and in reducing both cycle time and warpage.Copyright © 2002 by ASME