Manufacturing at AWE is undergoing an exciting and challenging period of transformation, as new and improved systems are being implemented and integrated to form a robust design to manufacture system, to meet the future needs of the business.
Work is being undertaken to develop and implement digital manufacturing solutions such as Model Based Enterprise (MBE), to allow the manufacture and certification of components directly from 3-Dimensional CAD models, rather than the traditional 2-Dimensional paper based drawing approach.
Running in parallel with this work is a strong drive to improve the design to manufacture cycle, with time and cost reductions achieved through the robust application of lean and six sigma process improvement techniques. |
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AWE also possesses an in-house rapid prototyping capability, utilising Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), 3D Printing (3DP) and Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) machines. This allows rapid product and tooling development, thus enhancing design to manufacture collaboration early in the product lifecycle.
AWE utilises a Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) system which provides functionality for production planning, process control and product management across the manufacturing organisation. An ongoing programme is also underway to capture and deliver critical manufacturing knowledge across the technical community, in order to sustain long-term manufacturing capability.