3D Printing - Additive Manufacturing Industrial Engineering - Productivity Science and Engineering

Lesson 434  of  Industrial Engineering ONLINE Course - Applied Industrial Engineering Module

Applied Industrial Engineering - Application of Industrial Engineering in 3D Printing - Additive Manufacturing Technology to Improve Productivity

Posts on Additive Manufacturing in this blog.

Design for 3D Printing - Additive Manufacturing

Design for Assembly Using Additive Manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing - 3D Printing - Human Effort Industrial Engineering

Additive Manufacture of Mechanical Assemblies - Design and Production

Additive Manufacturing of Fixtures - Productivity Benefits

Adoption - Additive Manufacturing - Aerospace - Airplane Industry - Bibliography - 100 Online Articles

Additive Manufacturing - 3D Printing - Online Book

Design for 3D Printing - Additive Manufacturing - DFAM - Introduction

Browse 100+ Books on Additive Manufacturing - 3D Printing

2026

Metal Droplet Jetting - Magnetohydrodynamic Liquid Metal Droplet jetting - A Low-Cost Additive Manufacturing Process

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2026/04/metal-droplet-jetting.html

2025

3D Printing Mass Production: 8 Success Stories

05 June 2025

https://amfg.ai/2025/06/05/3d-printing-mass-production-8-success-stories/

High Volume 3D Printing for Mass Production: Where It Works and Where It Falls Short

11.04.2025

https://www.fictiv.com/articles/3d-printing-for-high-volume-production

2023

Minimum cost, stability constrained preform optimization for hybrid

manufacturing q

Gregory Corson a

, Christopher Tyler b

, Jake Dvorak a

, Tony Schmitz a,b,⇑

aUniversity of Tennessee, Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, Knoxville, TN, USA

bOak Ridge National Laboratory, Manufacturing Science Division, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Manufacturing Letters

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mfglet

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tony-schmitz-mtrc_hybrid-manufacturing-cost-optimization-activity-7153066278872649730-d1sC

17.10.2023

Bibliography - Links

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214860422000902

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/3dp.2022.0288

https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8022&context=utk_graddiss

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924013618302292

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.jom.2018.10.004

https://www.bassetti-group.com/structure-knowledge-additive-manufacturing-processes/?lang=en

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1706162/FULLTEXT01.pdf

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/productivity-metal-additive-manufacturing-focus-arcam-alison-m--1

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00170-017-1221-1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9586238/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36080547/

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-cost-of-additive-manufacturing%3A-machine-of-and-Baumers-Dickens/751ca907ed453d527f0bd1ef0d5f0e26f257b168

https://nexa3d.com/blog/improving-productivity-in-additive-manufacturing-operations/

Discover how to gain 20X productivity in AM

https://www.additivemanufacturing.media/articles/productivity-gains-set-to-transform-am

https://www.tctmagazine.com/additive-manufacturing-3d-printing-industry-insights/technology-insights/redefining-production-3d-systems-high-performance-plastics-batch/

https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v102y2016icp193-201.html

https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/specialpublications/nist.sp.1176.pdf

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8615803

https://typeset.io/papers/on-productivity-of-laser-additive-manufacturing-4gzpppgl3l

https://www.americamakes.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMPACT_Industry-Day-at-Virtual-TRX_June-2023.pdf

https://www.apriori.com/blog/how-to-calculate-the-additive-manufacturing-breakeven-point/

https://www.thesteelprinters.com/news/an-analysis-of-the-impact-of-additive-manufacturing-in-the-mining-industry

https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/index.php/output/771130/the-cost-of-additive-manufacturing-machine-productivity-economies-of-scale-and-technology-push

https://www.wevolver.com/article/how-3d-printing-is-enabling-faster-design-higher-productivity-and-more-customization-in-manufacturing

https://research.aalto.fi/files/94250959/1_s2.0_S2405896322019139_main.pdf

https://www.materialise.com/en/inspiration/volume-production-additive-manufacturing

https://www.jabil.com/blog/additive-manufacturing-will-disrupt-your-business.html

https://www.ornl.gov/content/additive-manufacturing

https://www.renishaw.com/en/additive-manufacturing-high-productivity-without-compromise--43994

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/455/1/012102/pdf

https://resources.sw.siemens.com/en-US/fact-sheet-maximize-additive-manufacturing-productivity-with-topology-optimization

https://www.scielo.br/j/jatm/a/rrW5H7FGWtpDrbJSPtZTJ7d/?lang=en

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/313781/reporting/de

https://www.meddeviceonline.com/doc/sensor-fusion-enables-comprehensive-analysis-of-laser-processing-in-additive-manufacturing-0001

https://www.csis.org/analysis/achieving-additive-manufacturing-breakthrough

https://www.grenzebach.com/en/company/news-press/detail/how-intelligent-automation-and-networking-of-printing-and-post-processing-increase-productivity-in-additive-manufacturing/

https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/9b06e58c-e965-4c89-a62f-9d38b6f202e6/download

https://www.nano-di.com/resources/blog/2019-additive-manufacturing-cost-drivers-4-key-considerations

https://www.raise3d.com/news/additive-productivity-a-new-era-in-fff-professional-3d-printing-is-born/

https://www.iris.unisa.it/retrieve/e2915b35-742d-8981-e053-6605fe0a83a3/423%20Lambiase%20Pre-print.pdf

March 30, 2023

Data-Driven 3D Printers: The Real Game-Changers for Manufacturing? Artificial intelligence and machine learning take additive to the next level.

Connected 3D printers can use collected data for artificial intelligence-powered automation. During each print job, 3D printers produce large quantities of data that are sent to and stored in the cloud. This data can help businesses make decisions about which parts to print and how best to print them, while improving the quality of print jobs.

Machine learning can optimize hardware, automatically enhancing 3D printers through software updates to increase printing speeds and improve resolution. AI can help businesses determine which parts, when produced in-house through additive manufacturing, will have the biggest impact on their bottom line. It can use digital catalogs of parts and detect which specific parts are the best candidates to be printed through various additive manufacturing techniques.

3D printers can use machine learning to automatically generate tooling jigs or fixtures to hold the parts they print.  AI-based optimizations  are used during the design stage of new parts — simulating how the digital design for a part, once printed, will perform under specific loads. AI is also employed in additive manufacturing to detect print failures (proactively pausing prints when needed), and to inspect parts as they’re being printed to ensure quality and conformance.

A Closed Loop

The same hardware out in the field is consistently learning, improving and getting smarter with every over-the-air update. As providers advance the quality of information collected during fabrication and build modes of collecting data about how each 3D printed part does its job on the field, manufacturing technology approaches a fully automated “closed-loop” printing process: One that can simply be presented with a real-world manufacturing problem to solve, and then design and build the part using the specific digital fabrication technology that makes the most sense given the defined time, cost, and performance constraints.

This smart, closed-loop automation of fabrication can substantially increase outputs and production speeds. And while additive manufacturing inherently streamlines the process of building parts, each savvy application of data collected by the printers can streamline distinct points within the additive manufacturing process. 

https://www.industryweek.com/technology-and-iiot/digital-tools/article/21263012/datadriven-3d-printers-the-real-gamechangers-for-manufacturing

2021

Productivity of 3D Printing - Additive Manufacturing  - High-speed 3D printing and the expanding material choice 

3D Printer manufacturers are focusing on developing technologies that support higher production volumes, and materials that enable advanced AM applications.  As a result, on the hardware side,  the rise of binder jetting and multi-laser powder bed fusion for metals and vat photopolymerisation processes for plastics is occurring. Materials manufacturers are increasingly focusing on high-performance materials, including advanced alloys and composites. 

The introduction of high-speed polymer AM technologies has significantly boosted the growth of 3D printing in dental. As estimated by the market research firm SmarTech, the AM dental and medical industry has topped $3 billion. Over 70% of dental labs in the US are predicted to own 3D printing technology by the end of 2021, with dental 3D printing becoming a $9.2 billion industry in the next five to seven years. 

Metal powder bed fusion: Metal 3D printing encompasses many technologies, but one of the most matured among them remains metal Powder Bed Fusion (PBF). Key market players are launching solutions for automated and integrated production. They offer a high level of automation in a bid to maximise efficiency and reduce the amount of manual labour required.  Thanks to these developments, laser PBF has found its way into many industries and applications. One industry that has been  adopting metal PBF is aerospace. Today, metal PBF 3D-printed parts are powering crucial aircraft and spacecraft systems like engines. This is where the technology’s key capabilities — the production of complex parts with simplified assembly and less material waste — truly shine. 

https://amfg.ai/2021/04/16/has-3d-printing-reached-the-plateau-of-productivity/

Research at VTT & Aalto University

New launches of Additive Manufacturing systems with enhanced productivity (e.g. SLM Solutions, ExOne, Nexa3D, Voxeljet, EOS Systems), and a growing number of software companies in the field of AM boost the hope for applying AM technologies for a larger share of components.  We at VTT & Aalto University are supporting productivity improvement of AM and have been developing and testing promising bio-based engineering materials produced from sustainable sources within the ValueBioMat project. We are focusing on advances in material science and innovation that are needed to get prepared for the future of AM, with productivity in line with sustainability.

https://valuebiomat.fi/additive-manufacturing-technologies-productivity-and-process-innovation-on-a-sustainable-basis/

Filtration technology boosts metal additive manufacturing ( powder-bed fusion process) productivity

Sept. 16, 2021

BOFA International (Poole, UK) has developed an innovation  that makes the exchange of filters in metal additive manufacturing processes safer, faster, and better for productivity. The laser powder-bed fusion process used in metal additive manufacturing needs filters. When new filters are needed for these systems, equipment has to be shut down and moved to a safe area for the saturated filters to be removed and replaced by operatives wearing full PPE—up until now. The new standalone AM 400 system’s technology enables the filters to be exchanged on site without risking a thermal event. The BOFA’s AM 400 filters are contained within a separate housing with a robust seal, enabling filter exchange to be completed quickly and safely without isolating the additive manufacturing equipment. This will reduce downtime of the equipment and  increase productivity.

https://www.industrial-lasers.com/additive-manufacturing/article/14210453/filtration-technology-boosts-metal-additive-manufacturing-productivity

Application of Industrial Engineering Focus Areas in Additive Manufacturing

Productivity Science - Additive Manufacturing

Productivity science has to indicate process parameters that contribute to productivity improvement.

INFLUENCE OF PROCESS PARAMETERS ON THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR AND PROCESSING TIME OF 3D PRINTING
Ramu Murugan, Mitilesh R.N, Sarat Singamneni
International Journal of Modern Manufacturing Technologies,
 Vol. X, No. 1 / 2018
http://www.ijmmt.ro/vol10no12018/10_Murugan_Ramu.pdf

Ingrassia T., Nigrelli V., Ricotta V., Tartamella C. (2017) Process parameters influence in additive manufacturing. In: Eynard B., Nigrelli V., Oliveri S., Peris-Fajarnes G., Rizzuti S. (eds) Advances on Mechanics, Design Engineering and Manufacturing. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-45781-9_27

Antonio Lanzotti, Marzio Grasso, Gabriele Staiano, Massimo Martorelli, (2015) "The impact of process parameters on mechanical properties of parts fabricated in PLA with an open-source 3-D printer", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 21 Issue: 5, pp.604-617, https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-09-2014-0135
https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/RPJ-09-2014-0135


A Process Modelling and Parameters Optimization and Recommendation System for Binder Jetting Additive Manufacturing Process

Han CHEN
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, McGill University, Montreal
2015 Nov
Master of Engineering – Thesis
http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/webclient/StreamGate?folder_id=0&dvs=1551929237031~812

Thesis | A process modelling and parameters optimization and recommendation system for binder jetting additive manufacturing process | ID: gf06g5493 | eScholarship@McGill

Product Design Improvement for Productivity - Design for Additive Manufacturing

A design framework for additive manufacturing based on the integration of axiomatic design approach, inverse problem-solving and an additive manufacturing database
by
Sarath Renjith
MASTER OF SCIENCE
Major: Industrial Engineering
Program of Study Committee:
Gül Erdem Okudan Kremer, Major Professor
Michael Scott Helwig, Committee Member
Mark Mba-Wright, Committee Member
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
2018
http://www.imse.iastate.edu/files/2018/11/Chennamkulam-RenjithSarath-thesis.pdf

Design for Additive Manufacturing
Authors: Erin Komi
2016
https://www.vtt.fi/inf/julkaisut/muut/2016/VTT-R-03159-16.pdf

Large collection of articles on DFAM

Design for 3D Printing - Additive Manufacturing - Product Industrial Engineering

Process Improvement for Increasing Productivity  of Additive Manufacturing

30 January 2018
To improve additive manufacturing productivity and lower cost per part, Renishaw has launched its latest system, the RenAM 500Q. Featuring four 500 W lasers, the compact machine will greatly improve productivity in the most commonly used platform size
https://www.renishaw.com/en/pioneering-productivity-in-additive-manufacturing--43150


VERY HIGH POWER ULTRASONIC ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (VHP UAM)
FOR ADVANCED MATERIALS
K. F. Graff, M. Short and M. Norfolk
Edison Welding Institute, Columbus, OH 43221
2010

To extend current ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) to advanced materials, higher
speeds and larger parts, it was essential to greatly increase the process ultrasonic power. EWI,
with Solidica™, several industry, agency and academic partners, and support of Ohio’s Wright
Program, have developed a “Very High Power Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing System” that
greatly extends current technology. A key part was the design of a 9.0 kW “push-pull”
ultrasonic system able to produce sound welds in materials such as Ti 6-4, 316SS, 1100 Cu and
Al7075. The VHP system can fabricate parts of up to 1.5m x 1.5m x 0.6m.
http://sffsymposium.engr.utexas.edu/Manuscripts/2010/2010-06-Graff.pdf

Industrial Engineering Economic Analysis of Additive Manufacturing

Digital Alloys’ Guide to Metal Additive Manufacturing – Part 5. Economics of Metal Additive Manufacturing
January 31st, 2019
https://www.digitalalloys.com/blog/economics-metal-additive-manufacturing/

Justifying A 3D Printer Investment For Rapid Prototyping
Stratasys 2017 Report

ZHU, Z. ... et al, 2017. Economic analysis of plastic additive
manufacturing for production of end use products: a preliminary study. Presented at the 15th Conference on Rapid Design, Prototyping & Manufacturing
(RDPM2017), Newcastle, UK, 27th-28th April 2017.
https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/bitstream/2134/25269/3/RDRM%20paper_Zhu_Pradel_Bibb_Moultrie.pdf


"An economic analysis comparing the cost feasibility of replacing injection molding processes with emerging additive manufacturing techniques,"
Franchetti, M. & Kress, C. Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 88: 2573. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-016-8968-7
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00170-016-8968-7


Economic Aspects of Additive Manufacturing: Benefits, Costs and Energy Consumption
by Martin Baumers
Doctoral Thesis Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University
September 2012
https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/bitstream/2134/10768/3/Thesis-2012-Baumers.pdf

Mathematical Optimization - Engineering Optimization of Additive Manufacturing

A modified genetic algorithm for time and cost optimization of an additive manufacturing single-machine scheduling
International Journal of Industrial Engineering Computations,
Volume 9 Issue 4 pp. 423-438 , 2018,  Pages 423-438
http://growingscience.com/beta/ijiec/2802-a-modified-genetic-algorithm-for-time-and-cost-optimization-of-an-additive-manufacturing-single-machine-scheduling.html

TOPOLOGY OPTIMIZATION FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
D. Brackett, I. Ashcroft, R. Hague
Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University,
Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK
2011
http://sffsymposium.engr.utexas.edu/Manuscripts/2011/2011-27-Brackett.pdf

Statistics Based Optimizations of Additive Manufacturing

Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) for additive manufacturing applied to an innovative multifunctional fan
Alfredo Liverani,  · Gianni Caligiana,  · Leonardo Frizziero,  Daniela Francia,  Giampiero Donnici, ·
Karim Dhaimini
Received: 6 November 2018 / Accepted: 15 January 2019
© Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature 2019
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs12008-019-00548-9.pdf


Optimal process parameters for 3D printing of dental porcelain structures
Hadi Miyanajia, Shanshan Zhanga, Austin Lassella, Amir Ali Zandinejadb, Li Yanga
Department of Industrial Engineering, J.B. Speed School of Engineering
Department of Oral Health and Rehabilitation, School of Dentistry
University of Louisville, KY, 40292
2015
http://sffsymposium.engr.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/2015/2015-132-Miyanaji.pdf

Human Effort Industrial Engineering of Additive Manufacturing

Research on the Design of FMD Desktop 3D Printer based on a User-Centred Perspective
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=uUNwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA187#v=onepage&q&f=false

Are 3D printers bad for worker health?
Some printers produce a large amount of particles, causing respiratory symptoms in workers
BY LINDA JOHNSON
02/01/2018| CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
https://www.cos-mag.com/occupational-hygiene/35967-are-3d-printers-bad-for-worker-health/


3D-PRINTING AND THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT
Jeroen Junte, November 2016
https://osha.europa.eu/sites/default/files/seminars/documents/Draft%20article%20foresight%203D%20printing.pdf

Industrial Engineering Measurements - Cost, Productivity and Time Measurement of Additive Manufacturing

Resource Consumption of Additive Manufacturing Technology
Nanond Nopparat, Babak Kianian
School of Engineering, Blekinge Institute of Technology  Karlskrona, Sweden
2012
Thesis submitted for completion of Master of Sustainable Product-Service System Innovation (MSPI)
Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden.
https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:831234/FULLTEXT01.pdf



TIME ESTIMATION FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
By
Mina Amini
A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Technology with a Major in Industrial Technology
December 2014
https://digital.library.txstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10877/5353/AMINI-THESIS-2014.pdf?sequence=1


Implementation of Additive Manufacturing Cost Estimation Tool (AMCET) Using Break-down Approach
Procedia Manufacturing,Volume 17, 2018, Pages 70-77
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351978918311302

Cost Estimation of Laser Additive Manufacturing of Stainless Steel
Physics Procedia
Volume 78, 2015, Pages 388-396
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875389215015436

Productivity Management

September  2018

Technology Adoption
Partnering in Technology Development for Productivity Improvement

Volkswagen  adopts the latest 3D printing technology, the "HP Metal Jet" process, which simplifies and speeds up metallic 3D printing. The process improves productivity by a simply staggering 50 times compared to other 3D printing methods for some components.

This process produces production-ready components for mass production applications in the automotive industry for the very first time. Volkswagen has closely partnered with printer manufacturer HP and component manufacturer GKN Powder Metallurgy in development for mass production use. The  new process was demonstrated at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago this week.

Volkswagen's Head of Technology Planning and Development, Dr. Martin Goede said that  we are relying on state-of-the-art technologies to ensure a smooth and fast production and  3D printing will play an  important role in manufacturing of individual parts.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/autos/volkswagen-turning-to-3d-printing-to-boost-productivity-1.4090893

Ford: Reinventing efficient manufacturing using 3D printing
https://ultimaker.com/en/stories/52786-ford-reinventing-efficient-manufacturing-using-3d-printing

85% Cost Reduction Due to Additive Manufacturing - $50,000 to $7,000.

10 sets of inlet booster rake for measuring air flow turbine engine test cells were made for $50,000 using a combination of welding, brazing, EDM, and other conventional medicines. The additive  machining technology center made it for $7,000.

Donald Godfrey, Honeywell, ISABE 2015 Manuscript
https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/handle/2374.UC/745636/browse?type=title

Huge Savings at Company Level - Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies

Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies has achieved huge cost reduction. As of FY 2018, they have printed more than 60,000 tooling fixtures for product testing and calculated $125 million in cost avoidance.

Design for Additive Manufacturing - Additive Manufacturing Industrial Engineering are Necessary for Effectiveness and Productivity

3D Printing is not simple.
For industrial parts, There is a workflow before the machine and after the machine with hundreds of variables that need to be specified and controlled to make sure of getting an industrial-grade part reliably, repeatably at reduced cost.
https://www.industryweek.com/technology-and-iiot/state-3d-printing-2019-all-grown-ready-work

Design for 3D Printing - Additive Manufacturing - Product Industrial Engineering

2019

Huge Hybrid Manufacturing Machine is Ready to Start 3D Printing Construction Parts and Structures and Give Higher Productivity

31 JAN 2019

The machine will be tested to manufacture demonstrator parts, such as large cantilever beam structures, airplane panels and wind turbine parts. The machine and the process technologies are expected  provide a more productive solution for the hybrid manufacturing of large engineering parts and deliver a projected 20% reduction in time and cost expenditure, as well as a target 15% increase in productivity for high-volume additive manufacturing production.
https://adsknews.autodesk.com/news/huge-hybrid-manufacturing-machine-ready-to-start-3d-printing-construction-parts

http://www.constructionmanagermagazine.com/news/massive-construction-3d-printer-goes-live/

3D printing 100 times faster with light

Rather than building up plastic filaments layer by layer, a new approach to 3D printing lifts complex shapes from a vat of liquid at up to 100 times faster than conventional 3D printing processes, University of Michigan researchers have shown.
Michigan Engineering
January 11, 2019
https://news.engin.umich.edu/2019/01/3d-printing-100-times-faster/


SLA 3D Printing 100 Times Faster
________________


________________

MIT Researchers Developed FDM 3D Printing Head that makes Build Speed 10X

 A. John Hart, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity and the Mechanosynthesis Group at MIT.

Screw mechanism for feeding the wire and a laser in the printhead to melt the wire more thoroughly were incorporated into the print head.

https://www.wideformatimpressions.com/article/mit-accelerates-3d-printing/


---------------
February 2016 information

Productivity Drivers - 3D Printing

The output per unit time of  3D printer depends on

–Size of extrusion nozzle opening: ; The bigger the opening the more the material flow.

–Size of part to be printed. More volume, more time

–Part orientation on the build bed. X-Y orientations can usually be built faster than parts set up to build in the Z orientation.

–Complexity of part to be printed. Parts with many angles, curves and other geometric features will take longer to build than a straightforward box type shape.

–Material choice. In extrusion systems, every material flows at a different rate.

–Type of laser used in powder-bed systems.

–Type of material used in powder-bed systems. Plastics and metals will build at different rates.

–Required print resolution; Fine resolutions mean slower build rates.

–Part density. Fully dense parts can take longer to build than those with filler support.

The Ultimaker desktop 3D printer, gives its depositio rates as: With a 0.25 size nozzle, it is up to 8 mm3/s, a 0.40 nozzle it is  up to 16 mm3/s, a 0.60 nozzle up to 23 mm3/s, and a 0.80 nozzle can deposit up to 24 mm3/s.

Professional 3D printer, the SLM Solutions 500HL gives deposition rates for its two-laser version as 55 cubic centimeters/hour, and its four-laser version as 105 cubic centimeters/hour.


Comparison of FDM, SLA and SLM

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)

Fused Deposition Modeling is the most widely used form of 3D printing at the consumer level. ,  FDM 3D printers build parts by melting and extruding thermoplastic filament, which a print nozzle deposits layer by layer in the build area. FDM works with a range of standard thermoplastics, such as ABS, PLA, and their various blends. The technique is well-suited for basic proof-of-concept models, as well as quick and low-cost prototyping of simple parts. .

Stereolithography (SLA)

Stereolithography was the world’s first 3D printing technology, invented in the 1980s, and is one of the most popular technologies for professionals. SLA uses a laser to cure liquid resin into hardened plastic in a process called photopolymerization. SLA parts have the highest resolution and accuracy, the clearest details, and the smoothest surface finish of all plastic 3D printing technologies.  Material manufacturers have created innovative SLA resin formulations with a wide range of optical, mechanical, and thermal properties to match those of standard, engineering, and industrial thermoplastics.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)

Selective laser sintering is the most common additive manufacturing technology for industrial applications. SLS 3D printers use a high-powered laser to fuse small particles of polymer powder. The unfused powder supports the part during printing and eliminates the need for dedicated support structures. SLS is ideal for complex geometries, including interior features, undercuts, thin walls, and negative features. Parts produced with SLS printing have excellent mechanical characteristics, with strength resembling that of injection-molded parts.

https://formlabs.com/blog/fdm-vs-sla-vs-sls-how-to-choose-the-right-3d-printing-technology/



2018

Beyond prototyping: Scaling up to additive manufacturing for production
Charlie Wood
Friday, September 28, 2018
http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/beyond-prototyping-scaling-up-to-additive-manufacturing-for-production/manufacturing


Design for Additive Manufacturing
David Rosen
Georgia Institute of Technology

Conference Paper, January  2014

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269231954


Igor Yadroitsev, Ina Yadroitsava, Philippe Bertrand, Igor Smurov, (2012) "Factor analysis of selective laser melting process parameters and geometrical characteristics of synthesized single tracks", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 18 Issue: 3, pp.201-208, https://doi.org/10.1108/13552541211218117

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/13552541211218117


Paper available for review in the Google Book

https://books.google.co.in/books?id=tMndCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA121#v=onepage&q&f=false


Nowadays to increase productivity of SLM process, high laser power up to 400 W and high scanning speed up to 3 m/s are used.

Smaller thickness of layer allows for better accuracy of the manufactured part. But increases manufacturing time. (page 122 of the book)

Related Articles from this Blog

Design for 3D Printing - Additive Manufacturing - Product Industrial Engineering

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2019/01/design-for-3d-printing-additive.html

3D Printing Materials

https://nraoetkc.blogspot.com/2012/12/3d-printing-materials.html

3D Printing - Production Applications

https://nraoetkc.blogspot.com/2015/01/3d-printing-production-applications.html

Additive Manufacturing - 3D Printing - Human Effort Industrial Engineering

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2019/04/additive-manufacturing-3d-printing.html

Updated on 5.9.2025, 18.1.2024,  17.10.2023,  31.3.2023, 22.4.2022,  29 Sep 2021,  7 March 2019,   2 Feb 2019 29 January 2019,
5 October 2018, 4 August 2017

Behavioral Aspects in Industrial Engineering

Industrial Engineers use behavioral science discoveries and behavioral management approaches in their discipline.

F.W. Taylor was made a villain by some human behavior authors and the campaign was amplified by many without reading Taylor's original works. A study of original writings of Taylor will make it clear that Taylor respected workmen and the human behavior experts. The work of Taylor was evaluated in a book by Lilian Gilbreth, a psychologist. But the trumpeteers have no place for her work in their papers and books. Some statements by Taylor which were included in a book by special introduction by him were wrongly used to create a picture of Taylor who did not recognize the importance of man and his dignity in factories. 

F.W. Taylor in Shop Management

Regarding the personal relations which should be maintained between employers and their men, Taylor  quoted  the following paragraphs from a paper written in 1895. 

Additional experience has only served to confirm and strengthen these views; and although the greater part of this time, in his work of shop organization, has been devoted to the difficult and delicate task of inducing workmen to change their ways of doing things he has never been opposed by a strike.

"There has never been a strike by men working under this system, although it has been applied at the Midvale Steel Works for the past ten years; and the steel business has proved during this period the most fruitful field for labor organizations and strikes. And this notwithstanding the fact that the Midvale Company has never prevented its men from joining any labor organization. All of the best men in the company saw clearly that the success of a labor organization meant the lowering of their wages in order that the inferior men might earn more, and, of course, could not be persuaded to join.

"I attribute a great part of this success in avoiding strikes to the high wages which the best men were able to earn with the differential rates, and to the pleasant feeling fostered by this system; but this is by no means the whole cause. It has for years been the policy of that company to stimulate the personal ambition of every man in their employ by promoting them either in wages or position whenever they deserved it and the opportunity came.

"A careful record has been kept of each man's good points as well as his shortcomings, and one of the principal duties of each foreman was to make this careful study of his men so that substantial justice could be done to each. When men throughout an establishment are paid varying rates of day-work wages according to their individual worth, some being above and some below the average, it cannot be for the interest of those receiving high pay to join a union with the cheap men.

"No system of management, however good, should be applied in a wooden way. The proper personal relations should always be maintained between the employers and men; and even the prejudices of the workmen should be considered in dealing with them.

"The employer who goes through his works with kid gloves on, and is never known to dirty his hands or clothes, and who either talks to his men in a condescending or patronizing way, or else not at all, has no chance whatever of ascertaining their real thoughts or feelings.

"Above all is it desirable that men should be talked to on their own level by those who are over them. Each man should be encouraged to discuss any trouble which he may have, either in the works or outside, with those over him. Men would far rather even be blamed by their bosses, especially if the 'tearing out' has a touch of human nature and feeling in it, than to be passed by day after day without a word, and with no more notice than if they were part of the machinery.

"The opportunity which each man should have of airing his mind freely, and having it out with his employers, is a safety-valve; and if the superintendents are reasonable men, and listen to and treat with respect what their men have to say, there is absolutely no reason for labor unions and strikes.

"It is not the large charities (however generous they may be) that are needed or appreciated by workmen so much as small acts of personal kindness and sympathy, which establish a bond of friendly feeling between them and their employers.

"The moral effect of this system on the men is marked. The feeling that substantial justice is being done them renders them on the whole much more manly, straightforward, and truthful. They work more cheerfully, and are more obliging to one another and their employers. They are not soured, as under the old system, by brooding over the injustice done them; and their spare minutes are not spent to the same extent in criticizing their employers."

The writer has a profound respect for the working men of this country. He is proud to say that he has as many firm friends among them as among his other friends who were born in a different class, and he believes that quite as many men of fine character and ability are to be found among the former as in the latter. Being himself a college educated man, and having filled the various positions of foreman, master mechanic, chief draftsman, chief engineer, general superintendent, general manager, auditor, and head of the sales department, on the one hand, and on the other hand having been for several years a workman, as apprentice, laborer, machinist, and gang boss, his sympathies are equally divided between the two classes.

He is firmly convinced that the best interests of workmen and their employers are the same; so that in his criticism of labor unions he feels that he is advocating the interests of both sides. The following paragraphs on this subject are quoted from the paper written in 1895 and above referred to:

"The author is far from taking the view held by many manufacturers that labor unions are an almost unmitigated detriment to those who join them, as well as to employers and the general public.

"The labor unions--particularly the trades unions of England--have rendered a great service, not only to their members, but to the world, in shortening the hours of labor and in modifying the hardships and

improving the conditions of wage workers.

"In the writer's judgment the system of treating with labor unions would seem to occupy a middle position among the various methods of adjusting the relations between employers and men.

"When employers herd their men together in classes, pay all of each class the same wages, and offer none of them any inducements to work harder or do better than the average, the only remedy for the men lies in combination; and frequently the only possible answer to encroachments on the part of their employers is a strike.

"This state of affairs is far from satisfactory to either employers or men, and the writer believes the system of regulating the wages and conditions of employment of whole classes of men by conference and agreement between the leaders of unions and manufacturers to be vastly inferior, both in its moral effect on the men and on the material interests of both parties, to the plan of stimulating each workman's

ambition by paying him according to his individual worth, and without limiting him to the rate of work or pay of the average of his class."

The amount of work which a man should do in a day, what constitutes proper pay for this work, and the maximum number of hours per day which a man should work, together form the most important elements which are discussed between workmen and their employers. The writer has attempted to show that these matters can be much better determined by the expert time student than by either the union or a board of directors, and he firmly believes that in the future scientific time study will establish standards which will be accepted as fair by both sides.

There is no reason why labor unions should not be so constituted as to be a great help both to employers and men. Unfortunately, as they now exist they are in many, if not most, cases a hindrance to the prosperity of both.

The chief reasons for this would seem to be a failure on the part of the workmen to understand the broad principles which affect their best interests as well as those of their employers. It is undoubtedly true, however, that employers as a whole are not much better informed nor more interested in this matter than their workmen.

One of the unfortunate features of labor unions as they now exist is that the members look upon the dues which they pay to the union, and the time that they devote to it, as an investment which should bring them an annual return, and they feel that unless they succeed in getting either an increase in wages or shorter hours every year or so, the money which they pay into the union is wasted. The leaders of the unions realize this and, particularly if they are paid for their services, are apt to spend considerable of their time scaring up grievances whether they exist or not This naturally fosters antagonism instead of friendship between the two sides. There are, of course, marked exceptions to this rule; that of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers being perhaps the most prominent.

The most serious of the delusions and fallacies under which workmen, and particularly those in many of the unions, are suffering is that it is for their interest to limit the amount of work which a man should do in a day.

There is no question that the greater the daily output of the average individual in a trade the greater will be the average wages earned in the trade, and that in the long run turning out a large amount of work each day will give them higher wages, steadier and more work, instead of throwing them out of work. The worst thing that a labor union can do for its members in the long run is to limit the amount of work which they allow each workman to do in a day. If their employers are in a competitive business, sooner or later those competitors whose workmen do not limit the output will take the trade away from them, and they will be thrown out of work. And in the meantime the small day's work which they have accustomed themselves to do demoralizes them, and instead of developing as men do when they use their strength and faculties to the utmost, and as men should do from year to year, they grow lazy, spend much of their time pitying themselves, and are less able to compete with other men. Forbidding their members to do more than a given amount of work in a day has been the greatest mistake made by the English trades unions. The whole of that country is suffering more or less from this error now. Their workmen are for this reason receiving lower wages than they might get, and in many cases the men, under the influence of this idea, have grown so slow that they would find it difficult to do a good day's work even if public opinion encouraged them in it.

In forcing their members to work slowly they use certain cant phrases which sound most plausible until their real meaning is analyzed. They continually use the expression, "Workmen should not be asked to do more than a fair day's work," which sounds right and just until we come to see how it is applied. The absurdity of its usual application would be apparent if we were to apply it to animals. Suppose a contractor had in his stable a miscellaneous collection of draft animals, including small donkeys, ponies, light horses, carriage horses and fine dray horses, and a law were to be made that no animal in the stable should be allowed to do more than "a fair day's work" for a donkey. The injustice of such a law would be apparent to every one. The trades unions, almost without an exception, admit all of those in the trade to membership--providing they pay their dues. And the difference between the first-class men and the poor ones is quite as great as that between fine dray horses and donkeys. In the case of horses this difference is well known to every one; with men, however, it is not at all generally recognized. When a labor union, under the cloak of the expression "a fair day's work," refuses to allow a first-class man to do any more work than a slow or inferior workman can do, its action is quite as absurd as limiting the work of a fine dray horse to that of a donkey would be.

Promotion, high wages, and, in some cases, shorter hours of work are the legitimate ambitions of a workman, but any scheme which curtails the output should be recognized as a device for lowering wages in the long run.

Any limit to the maximum wages which men are allowed to earn in a trade is equally injurious to their best interests. The "minimum wage" is the least harmful of the rules which are generally adopted by trades unions, though it frequently works an injustice to the better workmen. For example, the writer has been used to having his machinists earn all the way from $1.50 to seven and eight dollars per day, according to the individual worth of the men. Supposing a rule were made that no machinist should be paid less than $2.50 per day. It is evident that if an employer were forced to pay $2.50 per day to men who were only worth $1.50 or $1.75, in order to compete he would be obliged to lower the wages of those who in the past were getting more than $2.50, thus pulling down the better workers in order to raise up the poorer men. Men are not born equal, and any attempt to make them so is contrary to

nature's laws and will fail.

Some of the labor unions have succeeded in persuading the people in parts of this country that there is something sacred in the cause of union labor and that, in the interest of this cause, the union should receive moral support whether it is right in any particular case or not.

Union labor is sacred just so long as its acts are fair and good, and it is damnable just as soon as its acts are bad. Its rights are precisely those of nonunion labor, neither greater nor less. The boycott, the use of force or intimidation, and the oppression of non-union workmen by labor unions are damnable; these acts of tyranny are thoroughly un-American and will not be tolerated by the American people.

One of the most interesting and difficult problems connected with the art of management is how to persuade union men to do a full day's work if the union does not wish them to do it. I am glad of the opportunity of saying what I think on the matter, and of explaining somewhat in detail just how I should expect, in fact, how I have time after time induced union men to do a large day's work, quite as large as other men do.

In dealing with union men certain general principles should never be lost sight of. These principles are the proper ones to apply to all men, but in dealing with union men their application becomes all the more

imperative.

First. One should be sure, beyond the smallest doubt, that what is demanded of the men is entirely just and can surely be accomplished. This certainty can only be reached by a minute and thorough time study.

Second. Exact and detailed directions should be given to the workman telling him, not in a general way but specifying in every small particular, just what he is to do and how he is to do it.

Third. It is of the utmost importance in starting to make a change that the energies of the management should be centered upon one single workman, and that no further attempt at improvement should be made until entire success has been secured in this case. Judgment should be used in selecting for a start work of such a character that the most clear cut and definite directions can be given regarding it, so that failure to carry out these directions will constitute direct disobedience of a single, straightforward order.

Fourth. In case the workman fails to carry out the order the management should be prepared to demonstrate that the work called for can be done by having some one connected with the management actually do it in the time called for.

The mistake which is usually made in dealing with union men, lies in giving an order which affects a number of workmen at the same time and in laying stress upon the increase in the output which is demanded instead of emphasizing one by one the details which the workman is to carry out in order to attain the desired result. In the first case a clear issue is raised: say that the man must turn out fifty per cent more pieces than he has in the past, and therefore it will be assumed by most people that he must work fifty per cent harder. In this issue the union is more than likely to have the sympathy of the general public, and they can logically take it up and fight upon it. If, however, the workman is given a series of plain, simple, and reasonable orders, and is offered a premium for carrying them out, the union will have a much more difficult task in defending the man who disobeys them. To illustrate: If we take the case of a complicated piece of machine work which is being done on a lathe or other machine tool, and the workman is called upon (under the old type of management) to increase his output by twenty-five or fifty per cent there is opened a field of argument in which the assertion of the man, backed by the union, that the task is impossible or too hard, will have quite as much weight as that of the management. If, however, the management begins by analyzing in detail just how each section of the work should be done and then writes out complete instructions specifying the tools to be used in succession, the cone step on which the driving belt is to run, the depth of cut and the feed to be used, the exact manner in which the work is to be set in the machine, etc., and if before starting to make any change they have trained in as functional foremen several men who are particularly expert and well informed in their specialties, as, for instance, a speed boss, gang boss, and inspector; if you then place for example a speed boss alongside of that workman, with an instruction card clearly written out, stating what both the speed boss and the man whom he is instructing are to do, and that card says you are to use such and such a tool, put your driving belt on this cone, and use this feed on your machine, and if you do so you will get out the work in such and such a time, I can hardly conceive of a case in which a union could prevent the boss from ordering the man to put his driving belt just where he said and using just the feed that he said, and in doing that the workman can hardly fail to get the work out on time. No union would dare to say to the management of a works, you shall not run the machine with the belt on this or that cone step. They do not come down specifically in that way; they say, "You shall not work so fast," but they do not say, "You shall not use such and such a tool, or run with such a feed or at such a speed." However much they might like to do it, they do not dare to interfere specifically in this way. Now, when your single man under the supervision of a speed boss, gang boss, etc., runs day after day at the given speed and feed, and gets work out in the time that the instruction card calls for, and when a premium is kept for him in the office for having done the work in the required time, you begin to have a moral suasion on that workman which is very powerful. At first he won't take the premium if it is contrary to the laws of his union, but as time goes on and it piles up and amounts to a big item, he will be apt to step into the office and ask for his premium, and before long your man will be a thorough convert to the new system. Now, after one man has been persuaded, by means of the four functional foremen, etc., that he will earn more money under the new system than under the laws of the union, you can then take the next  man, and so convert one after another right through your shop, and as time goes on public opinion will swing around more and more rapidly your way.

I have a profound respect for the workmen of the United States; they are in the main sensible men--not all of them, of course, but they are just as sensible as are those on the side of the management There are some fools among them; so there are among the men who manage industrial plants. They are in many respects misguided men, and they require a great deal of information that they have not got. So do most managers.

All that most workmen need to make them do what is right is a series of proper object lessons. When they are convinced that a system is offered them which will yield them larger returns than the union provides for, they will promptly acquiesce. The necessary object lessons can best be given by centering the efforts of the management upon one spot. The mistake that ninety-nine men out of a hundred make is that they have attempted to influence a large body of men at once instead of taking one man at a time.

Personal Relations Between Employers and Employed

Have you as an industrial engineer or manager read the above content by Taylor.

What are your views after the reading this piece of writing by Taylor in 1895. Does industrial engineering have behavioral orientation since its beginning or not?

These conclusions will include the following:

Psychology Evaluation of Scientific Management by Lilian Gilbreth - 1914

The conclusions  include the following:

1. "Scientific Management" is a science.
2. It alone, of the Three Types of Management, is a science.
3. Contrary to a widespread belief that Scientific Management kills individuality, it is built on the basic principle of recognition of the individual, not only as an economic unit but also as a personality, with all the idiosyncrasies that distinguish a person.
4. Scientific Management fosters individuality by functionalizing work.
5. Measurement, in Scientific Management, is of ultimate units of subdivision.
7. Standardization under Scientific Management applies to all elements.
8. The accurate records of Scientific Management make accurate programmes possible of fulfillment.
9. Through the teaching of Scientific Management, the management is unified and made self-perpetuating.
10. The method of teaching of Scientific Management is a distinct and valuable contribution to Education.
11. Incentives under Scientific Management not only stimulate but benefit the worker.
12. It is for the ultimate as well as immediate welfare of the worker to work under Scientific Management.
13. Scientific Management is applicable to all fields of activity, and to mental as well as physical
work.
14. Scientific Management is applicable to self-management as well as to managing others.
15. It teaches men to cooperate with the management as well as to manage.
16. It is a device capable of use by all.
17. The psychological element of Scientific Management is the most important element.
18. Because Scientific Management is psychologically right it is the ultimate form of management.
19. This psychological study of Scientific Management emphasizes especially the teaching features.
20. Scientific Management simultaneously
a. increases output and wages and lowers costs.
b. eliminates waste.
c. turns unskilled labor into skilled.
d. provides a system of self-perpetuating welfare.
e. reduces the cost of living.
f. bridges the gap between the college trained and the apprenticeship trained worker.
g. forces capital and labor to cooperate and to promote industrial peace.

Management Theory Review: Psychology Evaluation of Scientific Management by Lilian Gilbreth - 1914

A Conference Paper Presentation by Prof. K.V.S.S. Narayana Rao in 2012 on Employee Involvement in IE Projects - It summarizes the thoughts of IE scholars on the area

Employee Involvement in Industrial Engineering Projects

Narayana Rao - Presentation - 2012 - YouTube Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ3Hj7NsnaQ

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Post included in

Industrial Engineering Encyclopedia - A to Z of Industrial Engineering - Principles, Methods, Techniques, Tools and Applications.

Applied Industrial Engineering - IE Applied to Agentic AI

 

Applied Industrial Engineering  - IE in New Technologies

Industrial Engineers have to develop productivity science, productivity engineering and productivity management for new technologies.   Are they doing it effectively? No industrial engineers are not doing it adequately.

Applied Industrial Engineering: Prof. Narayana Rao's Vision for Systemic Efficiency and Profitability
https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2025/07/applied-industrial-engineering-prof.html

Applied Industrial Engineering - Industrial Engineering 4.0 - Online Course Module

IE Applied to Agentic AI

AI and AI Agents are new technologies with application potential in many processes and systems. Industrial engineers have to learn those technologies and develop IE for those technologies.

Operations Function - The key areas where AI agents are making a significant impact
 

The Business Case

The adoption of AI is not just an upgrade to the technology stack; it is a disruption to operational processes and cost structure. With the real-time decision-making process,  manufacturers are seeing improvements in operational efficiency that were very difficult to achieve with rules-engine-based automation.

The key areas where AI agents are making a significant impact include:

Autonomous manufacturing operations (Smart Manufacturing): AI agents can oversee entire production processes, ensuring robotic systems operate at peak efficiency and managing deviations in schedules. They can handle most real-time decisions, with human workers intervening only for issues requiring judgment.

Predictive maintenance: By continuously monitoring machine performance and sensor data, AI agents can predict equipment failures before they occur. This allows for scheduling  maintenance. It is observed that  plants significantly reduced unplanned downtime by up to 40% and cut maintenance costs by 20-25% using predictive maintenance agents.

Quality control and defect detection: AI agents can be used for real-time inspection, using machine vision, sensor fusion and anomaly detection to spot subtle defects that human inspectors might miss, especially in high-speed production. They can also adjust processes in real-time to correct issues, leading to a 30-50% reduction in defect rates.

Automated Inspection - Introduction and Bibliography

Supply Chain Agents: AI agents can predict and react to supply chain disruptions by monitoring raw material availability, adjusting production schedules, optimizing resource use and even identifying alternative suppliers. They streamline logistics, forecast demand and manage inventory, helping to avoid bottlenecks and material shortages.

Energy optimization and sustainability: Manufacturers can significantly reduce energy waste as AI agents monitor consumption across machines and make real-time adjustments to minimize usage without compromising production targets. From our observations the implementation of AI tools at our plants, this can lead to energy savings of 15-20% and supports green manufacturing objectives.

Process automation and optimization: Beyond traditional robotics, AI agents enable cognitive process automation by improving decisions and workflows that were previously manual or rule-bound. They can dynamically adjust parameters like temperature and pressure in real-time based on historical data, ambient conditions and input materials, leading to less waste, fewer mistakes and consistent quality.

Workplace safety: AI agents can monitor environmental factors and safety metrics on the factory floor, predicting potential hazards and automatically triggering safety protocols—such as shutting down machinery or alerting workers—to ensure safe operations.

Intelligent manufacturing assistants: These agents integrate design intelligence into the engineering process, using generative design algorithms to explore product variants, analyzing customer data to recommend product tweaks and evaluating manufacturability before prototyping.

End-to-end automation: Advanced "super AI agents" can manage complex, cross-functional tasks across the entire manufacturing process, from material procurement and production planning to quality control and shipment. They integrate data from all aspects of the supply chain and manufacturing floor to ensure seamless automation.

https://www.industryweek.com/technology-and-iiot/emerging-technologies/article/55362524/were-data-experts-at-ford-heres-how-we-see-ai-agents-reshaping-the-shop-floor

A Dilemma of Marketing Managers - The First Customer Could be an AI Agent

“How do we remain visible and persuasive when the first ‘customer’ in the funnel is not a human, but an AI agent?”

McKinsey & Company

Our research estimates that by 2030, agentic commerce could orchestrate $3 trillion to $5 trillion globally, as AI agents increasingly influence discovery, decision-making, and transactions across categories.

As AI quickly becomes the first stop in the shopping journey in Europe and among industry leaders, the strategic question is shifting to: “How do we remain visible and persuasive when the first ‘customer’ in the funnel is not a human, but an AI agent?” https://mck.co/3Q7kKIM

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/our-research-estimates-that-by-2030-agentic-share-7444669940797755392-d0zm

Interesting LinkedIn Posts on AI and Agentic AI

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andreashorn1_anthropic-claude-skills-ugcPost-7444286437992103936-HP3D

100 AI  agents

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/adamdanyal_i-analyzed-100s-of-ai-agent-use-cases-from-activity-7443990342397296640-AOJn

6 Imp AI Reports

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/adamdanyal_i-read-2000-pages-of-ai-research-heres-activity-7444352724369969152-qb44

"Global AI Leadership Summit- Edition 1"

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/shaikabdulkhadar_global-ai-leadership-summit-virtual-edition-activity-7443523890301206528-OzUG

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aiforenterprise_generative-vs-agentic-ai-vs-ai-agents-%F0%9D%97%95-activity-7444383150631194624-dwTt

𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/supplychainaipro_supplychain-ai-procurement-activity-7444635932672188416-Gw4X

Post included in

Industrial Engineering Encyclopedia - A to Z of Industrial Engineering - Principles, Methods, Techniques, Tools and Applications.

Lubricants and Productivity

Increasing productivity of each and every input is to be attempted by industrial engineers.

Lubricants Can Drive Savings and Productivity

Machine failures occur for a variety of reasons. Each of these failures creates a ripple effect of costs and productivity loss. Some of these issues can be mitigated by choosing a high-performance lubricant — one that can withstand time and harsh environments.

https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/30524/lubricants-drive-savings

Signs of Lubricant Starvation 

https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/30027/lubricant-starvation-signs

EFFECTIVE LUBRICATION FOR PRODUCTIVITY FOR MINING MACHINERY

JAN 2018

http://www.equipmentindia.com/News.aspx?nId=Sq3UrF79qADKnrte59j0bA==

2026

Centralised Lubrication System: Revolutionising Machinery Maintenance

Centralised Lubrication System: Revolutionising Machinery Maintenance

How Automatic Greasing Systems Are Quietly Powering India’s Industrial Backbone

How Automatic Greasing Systems Are Quietly Powering India’s Industrial Backbone - Auto Greasing System

2021

One of the Largest Cement Producer in India puts a seal to their oil spillage problems in Gear Motors with MOSIL

https://www.mosil.com/case-studies-details/5

2019

Our performance lubricants enhance productivity and profit for our customers.

24th April 2019

http://equipmenttimes.in/our-performance-lubricants-enhance-productivity-and-profit-for-our-customers

Food-Grade Lubricants Are Greasing the Path to Productivity

Whether synthetic or petroleum-based, food-grade lubricants keep equipment operating safely.

By Pan Demetrakakes, Senior Editor

Oct 26, 2018

https://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2018/food-grade-lubricants/

Ud   1.4.2026, 28.8.2021

Pub 5.6.2019

Maintenance System Industrial Engineering

News - Information for Maintenance Operation Analysis

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2020/07/news-information-for-maintenance.html

University of Reims Champagne Ardenne
MAINTENANCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING (GIM)

UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGICAL DEGREE IN MAINTENANCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING (GIM)
http://www.univ-reims.eu/courses/available-courses/degrees-and-preparations-to-teacher-examinations/science-technologies-health/university-technological-degrees,177,261.html

Maintenance system  industrial engineering is the study of resource use in various maintenance activities with a view to increasing the efficiency or eliminating the waste wherever possible. While the maintenance is carried out to keep the machines and equipment in good condition to perform, resources are used the activity. This resource use is carefully investigated by the industrial engineering to identify and remove waste. Industrial engineering succeeded in reducing the cost of many processes designed in the first iteration by the managers by significant percentage and hence it is a very important activity in systems design or systems engineering.

Famous example of  manufacturing industrial engineering, is Henry Ford's production system redesign, that reduced the price of the automobile by half. Taylor reduced cost of many manufacturing activities. Gilbreth and Harrigton Emerson also achieved similar cost reduction in construction activity and rail road operations.

Industrial engineering has two components - System efficiency engineering and Human effort industrial engineering.

In another explanation, we can say industrial engineering consists of productivity science, productivity engineering and productivity management.


System Industrial Engineering - System Human Effort Engineering - System Efficiency Engineering

Human Effort Engineering - Techniques

1. Principles of Motion Economy
2. Motion Study
3. Workstation Design
4. Application of Ergonomics and Biomechanics
5. Fatigue Studies
6. Productivity/Safety/Comfort Device Design
7. Standardization of  Methods
8. Operator training
9. Incentive Systems
10. Job Evaluation
11. Learning effect capture
12. Work Measurement


EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING


1. Process Analysis
2. Operation Analysis
3. Layout Efficiency Analysis
4. Value engineering
5. Statistical quality control
6. Statistical inventory control and ABC Classification Based Inventory Systems
7. Six sigma
8. Operations research
9. Variety reduction
10. Standardization
11. Incentive schemes
12. Waste reduction or elimination
13. Activity based management
14. Business process improvement
15. Fatigue analysis and reduction
16. Engineering economy analysis
17. Learning effect capture and continuous improvement (Kaizen, Quality circles and suggestion schemes)
18. Standard costing

Industrial Engineering in Different Functions of an Industrial Organization

Industrial Engineering in Data Center Design and Processes

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2020/07/industrial-engineering-in-data-center.html

Logistics System Industrial Engineering

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2021/06/logistics-system-industrial-engineering.html

Maintenance 

Maintenance System Industrial Engineering

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2012/09/maintenance-system-industrial.html

Product Industrial Engineering

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2012/09/product-design-industrial-engineering.html

Quality - Inspection System Industrial Engineering

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2012/10/quality-system-industrial-engineering.html

Supply Chain Industrial Engineering - Bibliography

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2012/01/supply-chain-industrial-engineering.html

Industrial Engineering Techniques Specially Applied in Maintenance IE

Replacement analysis
Group replacement analysis
Total productive maintenance
Predictive maintenance - IIoT Support
Spare parts inventory decisions
Spare parts storage
Maintenance activities ergonomics
Maintenance work measurement
Lean Maintenance - Lean Smart Maintenance
Poka Yoke design for maintenance
Reduction of maintenance time (using 5S and SMED techniques)

New techniques - 2017

Smart Maintenance
Maintenance 4.0

Advanced predictive maintenance (PdM), enabled by extensive sensor integration and machine-learning techniques, is one of the most widely-heralded benefits of the fourth industrial revolution. The idea is certainly a compelling one, and many companies in asset-intensive sectors are pursuing  investments in digital maintenance and reliability. Many companies are offering summer internships to students in this area and are getting pilot projects done.

Progress of Industrial Engineering of Maintenance in Japan.

1961 The Japan Management Association (JMA) establishes a Plant Maintenance Committee.  JMA is the body responsible for promotion of scientific management in Japan.
1964 A system for awarding PM Awards is established.
1969 The Plant Maintenance Department is dissolved and the Japan Institute of Plant Engineers is established.
1971 The concept of plant maintenance with total participation (Total Productive Maintenance) is proclaimed.
1981 The Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance is launched, following approval from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry as charitable corporation.
1989 The definition of TPM is revised. The Society of Plant Engineers Japan is established.
1990 The Japan Association of Maintenance and Service Contractors is launched.
2005 JIPM Solutions company limited is separated and transferred from JIPM as a profit-seeking corporation.
2012 JIPM was approved as a public interest incorporated association by the prime minister.

https://www.jipm.or.jp/en/company/history/

Mission Statement JIPM 2017

We contribute to promoting safe, secure and reliable production and maintenance activities, as well as stabilizing and improving quality, in the world of industry through supporting problem-solving related to the enhancement of productivity, equipment-management technologies, and maintenance technologies and skills.

https://www.jipm.or.jp/en/company/mission/

Total productive maintenance - Evolution in Industrial Engineering/Scientific Management

In a message in a 2013 JIPM video, Seiichi Nakajima mentions the foundation of industrial engineering in the development of total productivity maintenance. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZezLYax8E0

Total productive maintenance is planned maintenance is for increasing productivity and reducing defects. It is a zero defect, zero loss approach to equipment engineering and management involving design, manufacturing, operation, and maintenance.

Digital-Maintenance - McKinsey

To capture everything digital can offer in increasing reliability and reducing costs, companies should boost their digital-maintenance ambitions.

Advanced predictive maintenance (PdM), enabled by extensive sensor integration and machine-learning techniques, is one of the most widely-heralded benefits of the fourth industrial revolution. The idea is certainly a compelling one, and it is encouraging companies in asset-intensive sectors to pursue investments in digital maintenance and reliability.

However, treating PdM as panacea for maintenance and reliability challenges may prove to be short-sighted. Today's advanced predictive techniques can only be practically applied to a subset of use cases. An over-emphasis on one approach means companies won’t position themselves to capture all the potential benefits of a fully digitized maintenance and reliability function. Companies  focused on increased uptime and improved maintenance efficiency have to use all the techniques available.

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/digitally-enabled-reliability-beyond-predictive-maintenance

Lean Smart Maintenance (LSM)

Maintenance is a strategic factor and key enabler for smart factories. Therefore, it needs to be intelligent – SMART – and cost-efficient – LEAN. The Lean Smart Maintenance (LSM) concept combines these two perspectives and enables a dynamic, smart and value-oriented maintenance/asset management for smart factories. This paper introduces LSM and explains its major components. It consists of efficiency drivers, e.g. maintenance processes and planning, outsourcing, and effectiveness factors, e.g. data and knowledge management, qualification and maintenance strategy. Besides that, an LSM implementation model is introduced. The four-step LSM implementation model is described with a maintenance strategy example.

http://www.lean-smart-maintenance.net/fileadmin/projects/lsm/Publikationen/LSM_WhitePaper.pdf


Articles and Papers

Emerson Process Management on Maintenance Cost Reduction, Time Reduction, Productivity Improvement

Reducing operations & maintenance costs - Emerson

Emerson Process Management 2003.  www.PlantWeb.com. Reducing operations & maintenance costs with PlantWeb® digital plant architecture.

https://www.emerson.com/documents/automation/product-data-sheet-reducing-operations-maintenance-costs-en-41038.pdf

PlantWebís predictive intelligence increases maintenance productivity by detecting and diagnosing potential equipment problems before they grow ñ  reducing the frequency, severity, and cost of repairs while enabling your team to  avoid unnecessary and unproductive tasks.

%RAV. One frequent benchmark of maintenance productivity is annual maintenance cost as a percentage of replacement asset value (RAV). For example, a plant spending $5,000,000 annually to maintain assets that  could be replaced for $100,000,000 has a 5% RAV.

The worst plants are operating with 20% RAV. The best are operating with 2% RAV. Typical plants operate at 6 to 7% RAV.

For a plant with $250,000,000 in assets to maintain, moving from typical to best-in-class status could mean over $10,000,000 in annual savings.

Recent data shows that 86% of maintenance is reactive (too late) or preventive (unnecessary). 

Span of control. For operations, one measure of productivity is the number of loops each operator manages. 

A typical plant might have 125 loops per operator, so managing 1500 loops would require 48 operators to staff four shifts. In a best-in-class plant, on the other hand, each operator might handle 250 loops ñ requiring only 24 operators over the same number of shifts. At a fully burdened cost of $80,000 per year for each operator, the savings would approach $2,000,000 annually. Even greater productivity and economic benefits are possible when operators also have the tools and information to continuously optimize energy use, feedstocks, and other economic factors for the loops they control, as well as to reduce costs in related areas such as safety, health, and environment; utilities; and waste and rework.

Waste in Maintenance Activities

Too much of the work done by maintenance teams is unnecessary, unproductive, or even counterproductive. 

Unnecessary work. Over half of typical maintenance activities are unnecessary. This includes routine equipment checks as well as preventive maintenance on equipment that doesnít need it. 

• One analysis showed that 63% of all instrument work orders did not result in corrective action, because there was nothing wrong with the equipment. 

• A study of 230 valves scheduled for rebuilding during a shutdown found than only 31% needed such extensive service. 

Unproductive work. In a typical plant, the maintenance department averages about 30% is wrench time. The rest of the time they are doing data entry and retrieval, work-order reporting, and other paperwork. Best-practices plants use automated tools to manage this information more efficiently, increasing wrench time to 50% or more.

Counterproductive work. Some maintenance actually reduces equipment reliability. Problems can result from incorrect re-assembly, incorrect tightening, misalignment, or other errors. In fact, as many as 

70% of equipment failures happen shortly after initial installation or major preventive maintenance.

 

Inefficient  maintenance strategies 

 Many of these problems could be reduced by adjusting the mix of reactive, preventive, predictive, and proactive maintenance strategies so maintenance workers can focus on doing the right things at the right time. 

1. Reactive maintenance. Fixing equipment when it breaks. This is the most basic maintenance strategy. Its major drawback is obvious: the cost to repair (or replace) equipment that ís run to failure is typically 

much higher than if the problem were detected and fixed earlier. Also there is additional  cost of lost production during extended downtime. 

2. Preventive maintenance. A preventive strategy assumes equipment is relatively reliable until, after some period of time, it enters a wear-out zone where failures increase. To postpone this wear-out, equipment is serviced on a calendar- or run-time basis. It may or may not require the maintenance. On 

average, preventive maintenance  is about 30% less expensive than reactive maintenance. Hence development of preventive maintenance method gave higher productivity and lower costs.

But about 30% of preventive maintenance effort is wasted, and another 30% turns out to be harmful because of errors committed in disassembly and reassembly and calibration. 

3. Predictive maintenance. The third strategy overcomes these drawbacks by constantly monitoring actual equipment condition and using the information to predict when a problem is likely to occur. With 

that insight, you can schedule maintenance for the equipment that needs it ñ and only what needs it − before the problem affects process or equipment performance. That ís a great way to improve maintenance productivity, as well as reduce costs for repairs and unexpected downtime. 

A best-practices plant uses predictive maintenance for most equipment where condition-monitoring is practical, limiting reactive and preventive strategies to equipment that ís not process-critical and will cause little or no collateral damage if run to failure.

4. Proactive maintenance. The next strategy is proactive maintenance, which analyzes why performance is degrading and then corrects the source of problems. The goal is not just to avoid a hard failure, but to 

restore or even improve equipment performance. For example, a valve failure might be caused by excess packing wear, which in turn was caused by poor loop tuning that caused the valve to cycle continuously. Retuning the loop will prevent further failures while also improving process performance. 

The best-practices plant of the future will actually spend more on maintenance to include this proactive approach in their arsenal ñ and more than regain the investment in increased plant efficiency.

Training Course from Emerson - 2003 - Operations & Maintenance 101 - Maintenance Strategies and Work Practices to Reduce Costs

https://www.emerson.com/documents/automation/training-maintenance-strategies-work-practices-to-reduce-costs-en-41084.pdf

Rosemount 5300 Guided Wave Radar with a Smart Wireless THUM™ Adapter.: Reduce Operations and Maintenance Costs with Guided Wave Radar Diagnostics and Wireless Communication

Potential Results 

• Reduce operations costs

• Decrease maintenance costs

• Minimize risk of lost throughput 

• Decrease safety risks

• Reduce project costs

2010

https://www.emerson.com/documents/automation/case-study-reduce-operations-maintenance-costs-guided-wave-radar-diagnostics-wireless-communication-rosemount-en-87502.pdf

ESSENTIAL ASSET MONITORING.

Improve Reliability and Reduce Your Costs.

Up to 5 percent of production availability is lost annually due to unscheduled slowdowns and shutdowns. 

Just nine asset classes account for the majority of this loss.

2013

https://www.emerson.com/documents/automation/brochure-eam-business-brief-en-41836.pdf

Emerson Provides Services to  Alaska's Largest Wind Farm 

08/09/2021

Emerson announced the completion of a digital transformation project to increase the reliability of clean energy generation at Golden Valley Electric Association’s (GVEA) Eva Creek wind farm. The project improves the management of Alaska’s largest wind farm.

Emerson’s sustainable grid solutions have delivered fast results, increasing the reliability of GVEA’s wind turbines and contributing to a 65% reduction in operations and maintenance costs.

https://www.powersystemsdesign.com/articles/emerson-helps-alaskas-largest-wind-farm-w-affordable-clean-energy/31/18111

More Articles

----------------------------

Lubricants and Productivity

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2019/06/lubricants-and-productivity.html

LUBRICATION AND GREASING: WORKING PRINCIPLE
22 July 2016
https://www.mobility-work.com/blog/lubrication-and-greasing-working-principle

AUTONOMOUS MAINTENANCE: 5 STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION
4.0 Context
https://www.mobility-work.com/blog/autonomous-maintenance-5-steps-to-successful-implementation
29.5.2016


Why You Should Try Smart Maintenance
http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/30723/smart-maintenance

What Is Lean Maintenance?
2004
http://www.mt-online.com/october2004/what-is-lean-maintenance

Six Sigma Keys to Lean Maintenance
2004
http://www.mt-online.com/november2004/six-sigma-keys-to-lean-maintenance

Six Sigma in Maintenance
SIX SIGMA CONCEPT IN THE MAINTENANCE PROCESS OF TECHNICAL SYSTEMS
2005
http://facta.junis.ni.ac.rs/me/me2005/me2005-08n.pdf

Plant maintenance management practices in automobile industries: A retrospective and literature review
2010
http://upcommons.upc.edu/revistes/bitstream/2099/9948/1/pophaley.pdf


Total Productive Maintenance Review and Overall Equipment Effectiveness Measurement
Osama Taisir R.Almeanazel
Department Of Industrial Engineering, Hashemite University, Zarqa, 13115 Jordan
http://www.jjmie.hu.edu.jo/files/v4n4/JJMIE-129-08_Revised(11)/JJMIE-129-08_modified.pdf



VTT operation and maintenance solutions deliver trouble-free, predictable fleet operation. Our smart solutions optimize safe fleet operation and maintenance, and constitute new competitive service business models for your knowledge-intensive services. Thanks to our significant experience and deep knowledge in this area, we are able to optimize the total operating performance of your fleet. We can also minimize your maintenance time with fast failure identification and recovery.
http://www2.vtt.fi/service/machines_and_vehicles_operation_and_maintenance.jsp?lang=en


Analysis and Scheduling of Maintenance Operations for a Chain of Gas Stations
Mehmet Savsar
Kuwait University, College of Engineering and Petroleum, P.O. Box 5969, 13060 Safat, Kuwait
Journal of Industrial Engineering
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 278546
Received 6 November 2012; Revised 2 February 2013; Accepted 3 February 2013
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jie/2013/278546/


Analysis on Costs for Aircraft Maintenance
U. PeriyarSelvam, T. Tamilselvan, S. Thilakan and M. Shanmugaraja
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Park College of Technology,
Karumathampatti, Coimbatore – 641 659.
Advances in Aerospace Science and Applications.
ISSN 2277-3223 Volume 3, Number 3 (2013), pp. 177-182
© Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com/aasa.htm
http://www.ripublication.com/aasa/aasav3n3spl_08.pdf

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An Assessment of Maintenance Practices and problems in Jordanian Industries
K. K. Tahboub. 2011
Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

http://jjmie.hu.edu.jo/files/v5n4/JJMIE-206-09.pdf


ESTABLISHING MAINTENANCE RESOURCE LEVELS USING SELECTIVE MAINTENANCE
Ilyas Mohammed Iyoob, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, Texas, USA
C. Richard Cassady, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
Edward A. Pohl, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville,
Arkansas, USA
2006
http://ilyasiyoob.com/IyoobCassadyPohl_The_Engineering_Economist.pdf


ANALYSIS OF MANAGEMENT METHODS AND APPLICATION
TO MAINTENANCE OF GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS
MSc thesis
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
University of Iceland
2008
http://www.os.is/gogn/unu-gtp-report/UNU-GTP-2008-05.pdf




DUTTA, U, Maze, T, (1987) APPLICATION OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING TECHNIQUE IN TRANSIT MAINTENANCE, ITE Journal, Volume 57, Issue 6, p. 45-49.
http://www.worldtransitresearch.info/research/1757/



Maintenance and Industrial Engineering (GIM)
University Technological Degree in Maintenance and Industrial Engineering (GIM)
http://www.univ-reims.eu/courses/available-courses/degrees-and-preparations-to-teacher-examinations/science-technologies-health/university-technological-degrees,177,261.html


Book Engineering Maintenance - Modern Approach - B.S. Dhillon, 2002
http://site.iugaza.edu.ps/sabdelall/files/2010/02/Engineering_Maintenance_a_modern_approach.pdf




Just-in-time Maintenance, Repair, & Overhaul (Presentation)
Anonymous. IIE Annual Conference. Proceedings (2008): 1-34.



Updated 2022

 2026 - 1.4.2026

2022 - 8.2.2022,   2021 - 3.12.2021 18 Nov 2021,  4 August 2021, 24 May 2021,  2019 - 24 August 2019

2018 -  12 June 2018, 21 August 2017,  21 April 2015
First published on 27 September 2012