21st Century Manufacturing

Book excerpt: Written in a conversational style, this book explores today's technologies and the future of manufacturing -- through details of the product design process, rapid prototyping, a survey of manufacturing techniques relevant to today's production of consumer electronics or electromechanical devices, and the field of Biotechnology. It gives readers a broader appreciation of the impact of manufacturing process and not just manufacturing per se. A overview of the broader issues includes: the time to market, development of a new product, launching products into the marketplace, quality control, and the impact of technology on the next generation of products. Chapter topics cover manufacturing analysis; product design, computer aided design, and solid modeling; solid freeform fabrication and rapid prototyping; semiconductor manufacturing; computer manufacturing; metal-products manufacturing; plastics-products manufacturing and system assembly; and biotechnology. For executive education courses, appealing to both engineering and business professionals.