An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Programs Fiscal Year 1994 (1994) / Chapter Skim
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3 Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory
3 Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory
Pages 51-66
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Chapter 3 Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory
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BirIa, General Motors Corporation Submitted for the pane} by its Chair, Stuart G Miller, this assessment of the fiscal year ~ 994 activities of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory is based on a site visit of the pane!
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The laboratory director recognizes the need for a revised strategy, and the panel recognizes the difficulty of achieving a rapid cultural change. The laboratory's strengths are intelligent machines, control augmented processing, information integration, and precision machining.
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The most important of these projects are the Automated Manufacturing Research Facility and the Office of Industrial Relations. In planning follow-on efforts for these projects, as in all project planning, MEL must ascertain industrial neec!
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The new NIST-DOE Gear Metrology Center will provi(le NIST-traceable and Nl[ST-calibrated gear elements, master gears, and first articles oftypes and accuracies specified by industry. A second effort involves use of a Y-12 M60 coordinate measuring machine (CMM)
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The strategy currently being implemented to accomplish the division's mission is on target. Assessment of Technical Programs The Precision Engineering Division had many noteworthy accomplishments during fiscal year 1993; only highlights are given here.
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In spite of the excellent productivity of the Microelectronics Dimensional Metrology Group during the past year, the group is greatly below critical mass with only three scientists and one part-time guest worker. Since the work of this group is vital for the development of linewidth standards for the microelectronics industry, every effort should be made to ease this staffing shortfall so that important projects currently on hold can proceed!
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The other prong consists of applications projects based on sensor technology with specific product or process goals organized around a theme that, until recently, was labeled quality in automation (QlA)
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Robot Systems Division M· e sslon The Robot Systems Division (RSD) develops and maintains competence in intelligent machines and systems, robotics, real-time sensory-interactive control, reference mode} architectures, software development techniques, and methods for intelligent system design and testing; conducts research in new concepts and techniques for planning and control, world modeling, sensory processing, ant!
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other agencies to develop and apply intelligent systems technologies. Its approach to meeting this goal is to identity customers, study customer needs, establish strategic alliances, develop project plans, perform research and development, and establish consortia of commercial suppliers.
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maintains competence in product data exchange, flexible computer-integrated manufacturing, enterprise integration, manufacturing communications, and manufacturing database systems; and develops methods for the software development and testing of manufacturing systems and data interfaces.
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S manufacturing community; assist industry in implementing voluntary consensus standards, including standards for networking, electronic data interchange, and digital product data sharing; make high-performance computing and networking technologies an integral part of design and production of products; conduct research to identify and overcome technical barriers to the successful and cost-effective operation of advancer!
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There is little evidence that the current document guides day-to-day division operations; a more specific plan could be an effective project management tool, giving the stafffocus and allowing it to make daily decisions based on specific, mission-oriented goals. The Factory Automation Systems Division is doing a good job of developing a vision of the virtual enterprise and other developments needing its technology.
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Fabrication Technology Division The Fabrication Technology Division is a basic service division, providing machine shop services to MEL and other NIST laboratories. The true value of this organization is the one-onone coupling between in-house craftsmen and the research scientist.
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The pane} views the program as a success, with some 33 commercial products, IS patents, and 39 standards as key accomplishments. The pane} believes that it is now time to redefine and clarity the mission of the office and to determine through industry consensus whether a follow-on effort is needed and whether it should take the form proposed in MEL's Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Networking Testbed.
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