Planning and Optimisation of Manufacturing Process Chains for Functionally Graded Components – Part 2: Case Study on Self-reinforced Thermoplastic Composites

In this sequel paper, the previously presented framework for the planning and optimisation of functionally graded components Biermann et al. (Production Engineering Research & Development 7(6):657–664, 2013) is applied within a case study. In addition to the application, the implementational infrastructure of the framework is provided and the preliminaries for applying the framework to the respective production system are presented. Hence, the practical realisation of the models and methods is documented. In the context of the case study, each step of the planning process is demonstrated in a visually assisted way. These visualisations are based on the specific steps of the wizard guiding the planner through the framework. As a central contribution, the specification of a non-trivial gradation and the planning of the corresponding process chain by means of the planning framework are demonstrated.