Engineering Framework for Enabling Mass Customisation of Curvilinear Panels with Large Surfaces by Using Pin-type Tooling

Mass customisation is in contradiction with established manufacturing systems, which produce high quantities of identical parts. Even though products assembled according to individual customer demands are widely available in many areas, the shape of the individual parts of the assembled product is generally fixed. To enable mass customisation regarding the shape of these parts, new manufacturing technologies are needed. Additive manufacturing proved to be an enabling technology for this purpose. For large panels with free-form surfaces and similar parts with curvilinear and large surfaces, however, additive manufacturing is not in such an economical way commonly useful. In addition, panels additive manufactured require a postprocess for smoothing since the staircase effect is related to additive manufacturing. In conclusion, traditional die making is still being used to produce customised panels and the reason why they cannot be produced economically. As addressed in this article, pin-type tooling, however, is a technology that could enable mass customised panels. This paper analyses the challenges of mass customisation and assign them to the characteristics of pin-type tooling. Since new manufacturing technologies and business processes require suitable engineering processes, an engineering framework for producing such mass customised panels with pin-type tooling is introduced.