New Technologies in Industry and Production
Step into the modern factory. See how automation, robots and computers have changed industry, meet CAD and CAM, and learn the named production systems: flexible manufacturing, just-in-time and lean.
Justify the choices, the way you are assessed
Free interactive practice on the decisions the assessment actually asks you to justify.
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Inside the modern factory
Walk into a modern factory and you may see very few people. Robots weld car bodies, computers design the parts, and machines run day and night. This module is about how new technologies have changed industry and the way products are made.
Automation words
Four ideas run through this module:
CAD and CAM
Two computer tools work together to design and make a product.
Match each term
- Automation
- CAD
- CAM
- Robotics
- Machines doing tasks with little human effort
- Designing a product on a computer
- Computers controlling the machines that make it
- Programmable robots carrying out industrial tasks
Which technology?
A designer creates a 3D model of a chair on a computer, ready to edit and test. Which technology is this?
- CAD, computer-aided design
- CAM, computer-aided manufacture
- Just-in-time
- Lean manufacturing
Named production systems
Factories also use named production systems. A flexible manufacturing system, FMS, can switch quickly between making different products. Just-in-time, JIT, brings materials in exactly when they are needed, so little stock is stored. Lean manufacturing cuts out waste of time, materials and effort. Examiners expect these terms by name.
Spot the system at work
- Flexible manufacturing system
- Just-in-time
- Lean manufacturing
- CNC machine
- The same line makes a different model next week without being rebuilt
- A delayed delivery can halt the line, because there is no buffer of parts
- A team walks the process and removes any step the customer would not pay for
- The same cut is repeated to the same measurement on every part
Why automate?
Select the TWO benefits of using automation and robots in a factory.
- They work consistently, giving the same quality every time
- They can work day and night without tiring
- They invent creative new designs on their own
- They are always free, with no setup cost
From design to product
Put the steps of making a product with CAD and CAM into a sensible order.
- Design the product as a model in CAD
- Edit and test the design on the computer
- Send the finished design to a CAM machine
- The machine cuts or prints the real product
- Check the finished product against the design
Industry in words
Using machines to do work with little human effort is called _____. Designing a product on a computer is _____, and computers controlling the machines that make it is _____. A system that brings materials in exactly when needed is _____. Cutting out waste of time and materials is _____ manufacturing.
Technology in industry
Tap the TWO statements that are TRUE.
- CAD means designing a product on a computer.
- Just-in-time brings in materials exactly when they are needed.
- CAM is when a person makes a product entirely by hand.
- Lean manufacturing means adding as much waste as possible.
- Automation always creates more manual factory jobs.
Choose the technology
Help each factory choose a technology. Choose each time.
- A factory wants to store as little stock as possible and receive parts only when they are needed. Which system?
- A workshop wants a machine to cut a shape precisely from a computer design. Which technology?
- A car plant wants to weld car bodies quickly and consistently, day and night. What should it use?
Automation and industry
Explain how automation and robots have changed industry. Give one benefit and one drawback, for the business and for the workers.
- Explain what automation means in a factory
- Give one benefit of automation for the business
- Give one drawback of automation, for example for the workers
- Name one other new technology used in production and say what it does