472
B. Kianian and C. Andersson
supply and allocation, knowledge (know-how) and information on processes, and
material utilization—to just name of few. Nevertheless, there is a lack of thorough
methods and tools to assist companies’ decision makers in their analysis of both cost
and sustainability (Kianian and Andersson 2018; Kianian et al. 2019).
The electrification trend has begun to show its considerable effects on the transportation industry globally (in particular on the automotive industry). New drivetrains need to be designed and produced based on the ever increasing automakers’
requirements (Kotthoff 2018) e.g. higher performance, better noise vibration harshness (NVH) behavior, and in the same time the cost is asked to be reduced to gain
or sustain market competitiveness. The manufacture of motor vehicles accounts for
100 million per year globally and is uninterruptedly growing. Hence, components
manufacturers constantly strive for more performance and cost efficient materials
and manufacturing processes (Kruzhanov 2018). Nearly 75% of iron powder production globally is utilized in powder metallurgy (PM) processes, and the component
manufacturers for automotive industry consume more than 80% of produced powder
components worldwide (Kruzhanov 2018).
Therefore, in general PM technology, and in particular press and sintering (P/S)
are rather well established in the manufacturing industry but their usage is limited
in drivetrain applications e.g. transmission gears given its current shortcomings in
e.g. material properties, technological limitations and performance gaps (Kianian
2019) (Kianian and Andersson 2017). To tackle these limitations, there has been
many studies on P/S design and process simulation, performance data generation
and also full system validation e.g. demonstrator cases illustrating P/S gear manufacturing technological readiness (Leupold et al. 2017). Nevertheless, beyond those
cases showcasing PM production capabilities, studies showing P/S components
manufacturing economic aspects e.g. P/S gear manufacturing cost analysis are rare
or maybe not publicly available (Kianian 2019; Economic considerations and for
powder metallurgy structural parts 2012; Steinert 2015).
In an ongoing research project, a cost and sustainability based decision support
system (DSS) is intended to be developed for comparison of conventional machining
processes and PM gear manufacturing techniques (Kianian and Andersson 2017). As
a baseline, detailed knowledge regarding the manufacturing cost of machined gears
has been created using a manufacturing cost model developed in the research project
(Kianian and Andersson 2018). Afterward, the current state of the art of P/S gear
manufacturing process routes were reviewed based on the final gear’s performance
and quality. A life cycle costing (LCC) comparative case study between conventional
and P/S gear manufacturing techniques acquisition costs indicated that P/S acquisition costs were nearly three times higher than that of machining processes (Kianian
2019). Now as the next step, the main objective of this paper is to perform a detailed
P/S gear manufacturing cost analysis with the intention of bridging the gap on lack
of studies on P/S gears economic aspects as mentioned in the previous paragraph.
The scenarios development and analytical capabilities of the selected manufacturing
cost model is also illustrated.
B. Kianian and C. Andersson
supply and allocation, knowledge (know-how) and information on processes, and
material utilization—to just name of few. Nevertheless, there is a lack of thorough
methods and tools to assist companies’ decision makers in their analysis of both cost
and sustainability (Kianian and Andersson 2018; Kianian et al. 2019).
The electrification trend has begun to show its considerable effects on the transportation industry globally (in particular on the automotive industry). New drivetrains need to be designed and produced based on the ever increasing automakers’
requirements (Kotthoff 2018) e.g. higher performance, better noise vibration harshness (NVH) behavior, and in the same time the cost is asked to be reduced to gain
or sustain market competitiveness. The manufacture of motor vehicles accounts for
100 million per year globally and is uninterruptedly growing. Hence, components
manufacturers constantly strive for more performance and cost efficient materials
and manufacturing processes (Kruzhanov 2018). Nearly 75% of iron powder production globally is utilized in powder metallurgy (PM) processes, and the component
manufacturers for automotive industry consume more than 80% of produced powder
components worldwide (Kruzhanov 2018).
Therefore, in general PM technology, and in particular press and sintering (P/S)
are rather well established in the manufacturing industry but their usage is limited
in drivetrain applications e.g. transmission gears given its current shortcomings in
e.g. material properties, technological limitations and performance gaps (Kianian
2019) (Kianian and Andersson 2017). To tackle these limitations, there has been
many studies on P/S design and process simulation, performance data generation
and also full system validation e.g. demonstrator cases illustrating P/S gear manufacturing technological readiness (Leupold et al. 2017). Nevertheless, beyond those
cases showcasing PM production capabilities, studies showing P/S components
manufacturing economic aspects e.g. P/S gear manufacturing cost analysis are rare
or maybe not publicly available (Kianian 2019; Economic considerations and for
powder metallurgy structural parts 2012; Steinert 2015).
In an ongoing research project, a cost and sustainability based decision support
system (DSS) is intended to be developed for comparison of conventional machining
processes and PM gear manufacturing techniques (Kianian and Andersson 2017). As
a baseline, detailed knowledge regarding the manufacturing cost of machined gears
has been created using a manufacturing cost model developed in the research project
(Kianian and Andersson 2018). Afterward, the current state of the art of P/S gear
manufacturing process routes were reviewed based on the final gear’s performance
and quality. A life cycle costing (LCC) comparative case study between conventional
and P/S gear manufacturing techniques acquisition costs indicated that P/S acquisition costs were nearly three times higher than that of machining processes (Kianian
2019). Now as the next step, the main objective of this paper is to perform a detailed
P/S gear manufacturing cost analysis with the intention of bridging the gap on lack
of studies on P/S gears economic aspects as mentioned in the previous paragraph.
The scenarios development and analytical capabilities of the selected manufacturing
cost model is also illustrated.