**4. Recommendations**

*Mass Production Processes*

overall process challenges.

towards mass production.

*enterprises*

in-process inventory [27].

**3. Conclusions**

taken into account when designing products.

divided into front-end factors, machine related factors, back end factors and

b.**Operational factors:** Production planning and control systems are crucial in all evaluated cases for controlling for the quality of the process output. The unique characteristics of the additive manufacturing processes require new design tools and practices to be developed. There is not an absolute geometric freedom and based on the specific process, different considerations have to be

c.**Organisational factors:** The operation strategy for AM systems vendor is characterised by offering comprehensive customer support and by deriving revenues from powder supply and maintenance service. Organisational structure of a company, often defined by its size, is the key factor to successful implementation of new manufacturing technology and therefore it could be essential for an organisation to first re-design organisational structures and

d.**Internal and external factors:** The level of success in the implementation of a complex technology innovation is often related to the level of user-supplier interaction. Machine manufacturers and other additive manufacturing technology companies can play a role in effective implementation of the technology by advising on operational and organisational changes to the user geared

processes before adopting a new manufacturing technology [26].

*2.3.2 Simplification of production processes, cost reduction prospects for mass* 

AM technology also enables some manufacturers to alter their production processes, simplifying supply chains by reducing the number of assembly steps that a product must undergo to reach its final form. AM does this by giving designers the ability to redesign parts to take advantage of part and sub-assembly consolidation. Parts and sub-assemblies machined as separate pieces can be manufactured as single objects using AM. This can have major impacts on the supply chain, including reductions in labour inputs, the required tooling and machining centres, and work-

In this work, the deployment of recent technological advances relating to the fourth industrial revolution particularly the use of robotic and additive manufacturing solutions for mass production in the rail industry was discussed. A dual arm, 12-axis welding robot with advance sensors, camera and algorithm as well as intelligent control system was designed in the Solidworks 2017 environment and simulated using the adaptive neuro-fuzzy interference system (ANFIS) in order to evaluate the performance of the robot and determine the kinematic motion of the robotic arm. The simulation results showed the smooth motion of the robot and its suitability to carry out the welding operations for mass production of components during rail car manufacturing. In addition, the prospects of additive manufacturing for mass production in the rail manufacturing industry can be harnessed due to its ability to fabricate several physical models directly from digital data through additive manufacturing. This is a key factor in ensuring mass production and rapid product development cycle.

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Furthermore, the deployment of virtual and augmented reality (VAR), with machine vision and light-based communication technologies (LiFi); artificial intelligence (AI) and digital solutions in rail car manufacturing as well as monitoring systems with low-cost sensor networks and smart algorithms are will boost mass production, cost effectiveness, process improvement, reliability and safety in the railway industry. It will also make the supply chain faster and flexible with attendant increase in productivity and efficiency due to access to real time data, digital business models and virtual simulation tools. This will also bring about significant improvement in the developmental stages of the rolling stock, which encompasses design, fabrication and optimization.
