Plan for making and Quality control and Assurance

Plan for manufacturing.

This is a list of step by step things you will have to do to make the project. You can use the following general headings but will need to put the detail necessary for YOUR project under them.

As an example lets look at Marking out:

You need to do this plan as if it were for another person so they need to know:

The Part name - Base of lamp

The Material - Acrylic

The Size - 600x200x3mm

The drawing to refer to - Dwg 1A

Any special tools or equipment needed.

Do this for each part you want to make.

Then do the same for cutting out (we all know we cut out on the waste side of the line don't we?) so after cutting out we need to finish the part to the correct size.

QA and QC - You need to show what Quality assurance and or Quality Control you intend to apply to your work. QC is about measuring things to see if they are right - If they are wrong then you have to throw the part away and do it again - this is a waste of time and materials. QA is about developing a system to prevent you making mistakes so what you make will be right because of the tools or system you use.

Typically in school you will have difficulty in measuring accurately, cutting out neatly and accurately or finishing to size correctly - It is possible to make tools to help you do these jobs. A Template is a pre made shape that you draw round to mark out your work. imagine that you are making 100's of you project rather than just one. You need to make sure they are all marked out the same. A template makes this quick and relatively foolproof.

A jig is a tool used to aide cutting out or assembly of the parts, If you have used a saw guide to cut 45 degree angles for the corners of a frame then you have been using a Jig.

Another great help in QA is to use CAD and CAM - (Computer aided Design and Computer Aided manufacturing) This may be a cutter controlled by a computer (e.g. a router) or a similiar machine that will take the CAD drawing you have done and will use the drawing to guide the cutting out of some material.

Because the machine is accurate and provided the original drawing is correct it will cut out the same thing over and over again the quality of the parts you cut out is guaranteed.

Marking out	QC Check measurements	QA Use of templates – Use of CAD
Cutting out	QC Cut on waste side of the line and check each part for size.	QA use of jigs - Use of CAM
Finishing to size	QC checking for fit and accuracy.	QA use of jigs to guide tools. Use of CAD/CAM
Assembly		QA Use of jigs to aid assembly
Test	QC testing finished product against specification.

Note that for each step you should detail the QA/QC checks you will do. (see below for meaning of QA/QC) Select one or the other QA or QC in general you would not so both.

Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QA - QC).

You should identify where you will use quality control and or quality assurance techniques in you work.

Quality control. – This requires that you check each part to make sure it will do what it is supposed to do, often a check of size or fit with another part.

Example. It is the right size, it performs the correct functions, e.g. a motor turns the right way. If the part fails then some remedial measures need to be taken to fix it. If this is impossible, say the part is too small then it will have to be remade.

QC is costly in time and materials.

Quality Assurance – This requires that you use some sort of plan to make sure that all of the parts of the project will be made correctly. This may mean making a jig or template, once this has been proven to be correct it will allow the construction or assembly of the same part many times and each time it will be correct because the jig or template guides what you do.

Example. A jig to make sure you drill the holes in the correct place. The used of CAD – CAM, once the file has been produced then many more of that part can be made by the machine and they will all be the same.

This is much better because any costs are minimised by the reductions in errors during construction.

The development ends in:

a) The production of orthographic working drawings of each part of the product with all dimensions marked on them. These should show enough detail such that another person could make the project if required.

Use Orthographic drawings and if possible an exploded drawing to show where each part fits.

b) A materials list so that the correct materials can be ordered.

c) A plan for making showing a step–by-step plan to make your project, this should be detailed. Details of quality assurance and quality control should be included. Some idea of time should be included – be realistic. You can/will refer to the orthographic drawings of each part you have already put in your folder.

If and when you have to change your plans or your design you must note down these changes and record why you have had to make them. There are marks for doing this – in fact you lose marks if you don’t

Possibly because you:

q Underestimate the amount of time needed

q Find a different and better way to make some part of the product.

q Find that a process you planned to use isn’t available or isn’t working as well as you expected.

q You have to use different materials because of availability or because they are better for your purpose.

q You have changed the design because what you are trying to do isn’t working.