Manufacturing and Inspection Technologies

TC S362 Manufacturing and Inspection Technologies is a one-semester, five-credit, higher-level undergraduate course. It is one of the compulsory courses for the BSc/BSc (Hons) in Product Design, Testing and Certification programme at Hong Kong Metropolitan University. This course provides comprehensive coverage of manufacturing and inspection technologies. The advisory prerequisite for taking this course is SCI S319 Quality Management for Science and Technology.

This course introduces you to the principles of manufacturing and inspection technologies and laboratory works (non-medical) practices.

Aims

TC S362 aims to provide you with:

• comprehensive knowledge and information on manufacturing and inspection technologies;
• the ability to design, evaluate and manage a manufacturing process;
• knowledge in computer-aided manufacturing technology; and
• knowledge and skills in inspection for analysis and selection of inspection systems for manufacturing processes.

Course learning outcomes

Upon completion of TC S362, you should be able to:

• Analyse the manufacturing process.
• Evaluate and manage a manufacturing process.
• Select and apply computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technologies.
• Evaluate and implement testing and inspection technologies.
• Design effective inspection systems for manufacturing processes.

The following table gives a general overview of the course structure. It suggests the amount of time you should allow for completing units and provides a broad schedule for you to plan your work. These amounts of time are intended only as a guide and should be adjusted to fit your personal needs more closely. You will need about 10–12 hours per week to work through the course. This estimation includes time for reading the units, completing activities, self-tests and assignments, attending tutorials and preparing for the final examination.

The course materials include this Course Guide, study units, online readings and an Assignment File. There will also be a lab manual for the practical laboratory sessions you will take part in. You do not have to use other materials. However, you are recommended to read updates on manufacturing and inspection activities from the Internet.

Materials

In addition to this Course Guide, the course has the following important components. Please ensure that you have all of these materials available.

Study units

The five study units in this course are:

Unit 1 Foundations of manufacturing

Unit 2 Design of a manufacturing process

Unit 3 Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)

Unit 4 Inspection technologies

Unit 5 Effective inspection systems for manufacturing processes

Set textbook

You are required to purchase the following set textbook:

Kalpakjian, S and Schmid, S (2013) Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, 7th edn, Prentice Hall.

Audiovisual materials/software

You will need access to a computer with Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 and an Internet browser.

Assignment File

The Assignment File (available on the Online Learning Environment, OLE) provides you with guidelines for working on your assignments. You can refer to the Course Guide section on assessment that follows, and to the Assignment File itself for more information.

Presentation Schedule

The Presentation Schedule (available on the OLE) is included in the course materials. It gives the dates for completing assignments, attending tutorials, surgeries, and so on.

Supplementary readings

Groover, M P, Wesis, M, Nagel, R N and Odrey, N G (2008) Industrial Robotics, Technology, Programming, and Applications, Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited.

Selected websites

Online readings from selected websites are also assigned in this course.

Laboratory sessions

Two three-hour laboratory sessions will be led by the tutor. Students will work in teams to complete various assigned tasks. An attendance record will be taken, and each student is required to attend at least one session in order to pass the course. The exercises in these practical sessions will not be counted towards the final course award, but will aim to enhance your overall understanding of the knowledge acquired from the study units.

Assessment

Course assessment consists of two assignments and one final examination. In addition, students are required to attend at least one of the two practical laboratory sessions in order to pass the course. The exercises in the two practical sessions will not be counted towards the final award. Informal assessment such as self-assessed activities and self- tests are included throughout the course materials.

Assignments

There will be two assignments for this course. The first assignment will cover Units 1–3, and the second assignment will cover Units 4–5. Each assignment will count for 25% of the final assessment, thereby contributing 50% of the total grade for the course.

Assignments submission extension policy

The assignment policy of the University as stated in the Student Handbook should be observed. You are required to submit assignments for this course in accordance with the dates communicated by your Course Coordinator. You may apply for a submission extension on the grounds of illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances.

Applications for extensions of up to seven days should be submitted to the tutor. The tutor shall consider valid and unexpected emergencies on an individual basis. Normally, documented proof of the extenuating circumstances is not required for extensions of up to seven days. The tutor shall decide and advise you of the revised date for submission.

For extensions of over seven days, you should note the following:

1. If you require an extension of more than seven days on the grounds of illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances, you are required to complete an 'Application Form for Assignment Extension over seven days' and submit it to the Course Coordinator through the OLE.
2. Supporting documents must be submitted along with the application for extension of over seven days to justify the claim.
3. Applications for extension should normally be lodged before or on the due date.
4. Applications are considered by:
   a. the Course Coordinator for extensions of 8 to 21 days; and
   b. the Dean for extensions of over 21 days.

If the assignment is posted to the tutor, it is your responsibility to check that the assignment has successfully arrived (see Assignment File). Extension applications without supporting documents on the grounds of postal loss will not be accepted. The University cannot accept any responsibility for assignments that are not received by your tutor due to problems with the post. As a precaution, you are advised to keep a copy of each assignment you submit and obtain a certificate of posting from the post office when you post your assignment.

According to the University's policy, there is no extension of the due date for the final assignment.

Final examination and grading

The final examination will be a two-hour closed book examination that accounts for 50% of the total course grade. It covers all the units. Emphasis will be put on the assessment of your ability to apply the knowledge and techniques learned in this course, as well as your understanding of the concepts and principles behind them.

Course marking scheme

The assessment items are outlined in the following table.

Remember that in order to pass the course you must attend at least one of the two laboratory sessions as well as passing the assignments and the examination.

There are five units in total in this course. Each of the five units consists of two to three weeks of work and includes directions for study, commentary on the activities, and summaries of key concepts and techniques. The units direct you to work on self-tests and activities related to the material covered. These help you gauge your progress and reinforce your understanding of the material covered in the unit. More importantly, they give examples to help you fully understand the concepts presented in the text, and can assist you in applying these concepts and techniques in the working environment. Also, you can read manufacturing journals and websites on related issues and events to keep pace with the latest developments.

Please note that the biggest temptation that students face, when they are short of time, is just to read the course materials. When they get to a learning activity or self-test, they flip straight to the back of the study unit to see the suggested answer. It saves time and students still know the correct answer, right? Wrong! Terribly wrong! Many contemporary educationists believe that learning is not a process that happens when people listen to a lecture or read a book passively. They think that learning takes place as people actively construct the knowledge. Do not take a shortcut that compromises your learning. Attempt the learning activities and self-tests presented in the study units.

When done properly, working with fellow students on difficult learning activities or assignments can be beneficial. However doing so without acknowledging the contributions of other students in your own work is plagiarism. It has happened that after enough cosmetic changes had been made, the act of cheating may not be caught by the tutor who is marking the assignment. But in this case, the student's learning will suffer and it will show in the final examination. Be an honest and successful student.

Tutors and tutorials

Apart from self-study, tutorials and regular surgeries will be held throughout the course. Tutorials will be based on the major course units and tutors may also introduce further explanation, examples and readings. Full details are given in the Presentation Schedule.

Attendance at tutorials is optional but you are urged to take advantage of them. You can get the most from tutorials by pre-studying the relevant materials, making comments and asking questions. Remember that learning does not happen passively. Your active participation in tutorials is crucial.

Compared to the mega classes attended by hundreds of students in a typical university, the tutorials with 30 students or so at HKMU provide a good opportunity for you to meet your classmates and to get to know your tutor. You will find that support and encouragement from classmates and tutors are very helpful.

While you may think you are studying on your own, it doesn't need to be that way. You can be in regular contact with your tutor and, once you've met for the first tutorial, you can be in contact with your fellow students. Make a point, when you meet fellow students, to exchange phone numbers or email addresses. In this way, you will be well on the way to developing a learning network of your own.

Your assignments will be marked and commented on by your tutor, who will keep an eye on your progress and assist you if you encounter problems during the course. Marked assignments will be returned to you as soon as possible.

It is good practice to keep a copy of each assignment submitted for marking, so that you can always refer to queries with the tutor during discussion. Please contact your tutor should the following arise:

1. You do not understand any part of the study units or the assigned readings.
2. You have any difficulty with self-tests.
3. You have a question or problem with the assignment, or with your tutor's comments on or grading of an assignment.

We have mentioned in a previous section that there will be two laboratory sessions in TC S362. The schedule of the laboratory sessions will be available for download from the OLE in due course. It is important to note that you are required to attend at least one of these laboratory sessions. Otherwise, you will fail the course (even if you pass both the continuous assessment and the examination). Of course, we strongly encourage you to attend both laboratory sessions.

Online Learning Environment

This course is supported by HKMU's Online Learning Environment (OLE). You can find course materials and the latest course information from the OLE and use the discussion board to communicate with your tutor, the Course Coordinator and fellow students.

TC S362 Manufacturing and Inspection Technologies is designed to develop your understanding, knowledge and analytical skills in manufacturing and inspection and laboratory practices. To understand the content of this course you will need to analyse the course materials and apply the concepts and techniques you are learning. We hope you will find the course interesting, and more importantly, you will be able to use the knowledge and skills acquired from this course throughout your career or even in your daily life. We wish you every success in your study and hope you enjoy the course.

Mr Kenneth Y M Li (Units 1-5)

Mr Kenneth Y M Li received a BEng (Hons) degree in Electronic Engineering from City University of Hong Kong in 1993, a Certificate in Training and Development in 1995 from the Hong Kong Institute of Education, and an MSc degree in Industrial Automation from City University of Hong Kong in 1996. Mr Li started his career in the manufacturing industry from 1972 to 1975. Afterwards he joined Cable & Wireless Co. Ltd, and he left the company in 1997 as a Quality Engineer in the telecommunications industry. He then joined the Hong Kong Airport Authority in 1997 as a Training Coordinator, responsible for the coordination and management of training activities for most of the airport staff to ensure smooth operations of the new airport from the construction phase to the operations and maintenance phase. This included inspection training for the acceptance of most of the airport facilities manufactured from overseas or outside Hong Kong. The inspection process was vital for the reliable operations of the new airport facilities. He retired from the Hong Kong Airport Authority in early 2011 and his last position was as a Quality and Safety Engineer. He had over 20 years' managerial experience in service quality and work safety from the Cable & Wireless Co. Ltd and the Hong Kong Airport Authority From 1982 to 1999, Mr Li was also a part-time lecturer of the Vocational Training Council. He is a member of the IET and is an RSO and RSA. After retirement he has become a part-time safety consultant in construction and industrial business.

Ms Crystal Ling (laboratory work)

Ms Crystal Ling received a Higher Diploma in Applied Science from the City University of Hong Kong in 1992, a BSc in Applied Environmental Science in 1995 from University of Portsmouth, and an MSc degree from the Polytechnic of Hong Kong in 2009. She worked at commercial testing laboratories, a trading company, a factory and an environmental consultancy and was responsible for both testing and quality assurance. She was a full-time quality system auditor for toy, textile, food, pharmaceutical and medical device factories in the Asia Pacific region before joining HKMU. She is an ISO 14001 and HACCP Lead auditor; and a Certified Carbon Leader. She is a member of Chartered Quality Institute.