Application of Digital Manufacturing in Global Automotive Industry: A Review

This paper attempts to unfold the possible areas and functions in an organization where Digital Manufacturing could have considerable effect on the overall efficacy of the sub-system and the system as a whole. With the introduction of Digital Manufacturing over the conventional setup, the Process Design, Workflow, Plant Layout, Resource Management and all other such functions are radically influenced and need to be reviewed in the light of the changed perspective for achieving production goals. The role of Information Technology and Communications or Network Engineering in the IT domain, form a backbone for this system. At a micro-level, the blending or the integration of the Mechanical Engineering aspects in the manufacturing setup with its counterparts in the Electronics and Communications domain is crucial to exploit the technology in realizing organizational objectives. The scope and the possible applications of Digital Manufacturing in Automotive Industry have been discussed in this treatise.