Fully Automated Rebar CAD/CAM System: Economic Evaluation and Field Implementation

Abstract

This paper describes an economic evaluation that determines the value to the user of a fully automated rebar computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) system. That value is $167,000, rising to more than $1,000,000, depending on the assumption of various economic parameters. Compared with the cost of the whole machine (about $100,000), this value is very high. The economic evaluation is based on the development of a fully automated rebar manufacturing machine, employing current technology of computerized numerically controlled machines used for the purpose. This paper also describes an actual field implementation of fully automated rebar productions in a large rebar manufacturing plant. The implementation was based on the integration of a CAD/CAM system with the existing setup of the plant. A communication link was developed to enable the data to be transferred after being extracted and processed with the CAD/CAM system.