Modern production is one system: the process, the machine that runs it, the controller that commands the machine, and the data layer that judges the result. This book teaches all four.
Most manufacturing books stop at the cutting tool or the robot cell. This one follows the whole chain, from the material being shaped to the dashboard that reports whether the shift succeeded. You will size cutting parameters and predict tool life, compensate springback in a formed panel, choose between welding and adhesive joining, and decide when additive manufacturing actually pays for itself. Each process chapter connects the physics of the operation to the numbers an engineer has to put on a process sheet.
Then the book crosses to the control side. You will read part programs, condition sensor signals, tune motion profiles, lay out deterministic industrial networks, integrate robots and cells, and design safeguarding that survives a real risk assessment. The final chapters turn machine data into overall equipment effectiveness, digital twins, and predictive maintenance, so the shop floor becomes a source of evidence rather than guesswork.
What you will learn:
• Select engineering materials and match them to casting, moulding, and forming processes
• Size machining parameters, estimate tool life, and choose abrasive or nontraditional methods for hard-to-cut work
• Compensate springback in sheet metal and compare welding, adhesive, and mechanical joining for a given assembly
• Judge when additive manufacturing is economically justified and how to qualify the resulting parts
• Build metrology and quality plans that tie measurements back to process capability
• Read and write CNC part programs and understand the machine architecture behind them
• Condition sensor signals and tune controller and motion profiles for repeatable positioning
• Lay out deterministic industrial networks and integrate robots, cells, and material handling
• Design machine safeguarding and functional safety that holds up under a formal risk assessment
• Convert machine data into OEE, digital twins, and predictive maintenance programs
Written for manufacturing and mechanical engineers, automation technicians, and engineering students, the book assumes you want working knowledge rather than theory alone. If you specify processes, program machines, commission cells, or maintain the systems that keep a plant running, this is the practical reference that connects the material to the machine to the data.