5 – Production equipment and tooling selection

This chapter discusses a systematic and logical approach to the selection of the production equipment and tooling to be used for processes and operations. There are many factors to be considered when selecting production equipment for a particular component. The factors considered include the machine's physical size, construction, and power. Manufacturing processes can be classified into five categories, namely, casting, shaping/forming, machining, joining, and surface processes. Although there is a huge amount of processing equipment and variables of such equipment, the problem of selecting a suitable machine is easier than selecting a suitable process. Even though there are various factors that must be considered in the selection of a suitable machine for a given job, it is relatively an easier task than the initial process selection. The tooling selection is focusing on cutting tools for machining processes. This is due to the fact that the vast majority of secondary processing is machining. The five stages of process involved in tool selection are evaluation of process and machine selections, analysis of machining operations, analysis of workpiece characteristics, tooling analysis, and selection of tooling. In no other category of process is the selection of proper tools more critical than in machining. There are numerous factors that influence the tool selection decision and these can be considered as a constraint, an operating requirement, or a tool performance factor. Although a difficult task, the selection of appropriate production equipment is easier than that of the initial process selection.