A cyber-physical system approach to zero-defect manufacturing in light-gauge steel frame assemblies

Recent advances in manufacturing research have set the stage for the industrial integration of zero-defect manufacturing strategies, aiming towards a more sustainable production paradigm. A systematically deployment guideline to implement zero-defect manufacturing is needed to transform the future cyber-physical factory floor. This paper describes a novel framework based on a well-known cyber-physical architecture that provides advanced information analytics, robust information flows, and data acquisition systems that support defect detection and prediction introduces repair technologies and sets up procedures for preventive maintenance. Through continuous inspection of product and equipment status during the manufacturing process, raw quality and tool health data from different sources is used to obtain key performance indicators. Statistical tools such as cross-correlation are then applied to quantify underlying relationships between product quality specifications and equipment health. The resulting correlations are then used to reduce non-conformance of products manufactured by implementation of preventive maintenance. A unified implementation for zero-defect manufacturing cyber-physical processes eases their integration in future Industry 4.0 facilities and validated in the context of offsite construction manufacturing of steel frame assemblies.