About Us

The Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Lean Systems was established in 2007 at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to provide the greater San Antonio and south Texas area industries, public and private agencies with a one-stop, unique source of expertise in flexible and lean technologies and systems, state-of-the-art technology applications with the following two thrust areas:

Advanced Manufacturing Systems: effective and efficient integration and synthesis of automation technologies, human resources, and decision-making models for design, planning, scheduling, and control of production of goods and delivery of services.

Lean Enterprise Systems: systematic elimination of waste (anything that does not add value) across the enterprise by using various lean and six-sigma tools and methodologies to continuously improve value creating processes in manufacturing and service sectors.

BACKGROUND

The fundamental motivation in establishing a center of manufacturing and enterprise excellence at UTSA comes as a response to the recent rapid growth of San Antonio's manufacturing base. With strong efforts for retaining and enhancing Port San Antonio (formerly KellyUSA/Kelly AFB) employment base since 2001, the more recent Toyota's new truck assembly plant creating well over 5,000 manufacturing jobs (direct employment and its suppliers), and Caterpillar's recent acquisition of a manufacturing facility, San Antonio's manufacturing sector has been growing dramatically in the last few years. In addition to an established presence of major aviation industry with companies, such as Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Pratt & Whitney, Standard Aero, and San Antonio Aerospace, Inc., San Antonio is also home to hundreds of manufacturers with fewer than 500 employees. These small-and-medium sized enterprises, which play a critical role in supporting San Antonio's economy base, also have urgent needs for training and education in the areas of advanced machining, lean manufacturing, and integrated manufacturing systems.

Motivated by these developments and San Antonio's further potential growth in the manufacturing industry, UTSA has decided to add manufacturing programs and an interdisciplinary manufacturing center at the College of Engineering, led by faculty in its Mechanical Engineering Department.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of the Center is to establish a well recognized research platform with unique expertise in flexible and lean manufacturing technologies and systems, as well as state-of-the-art sensor technologies, applied to manufacturing, service and defense industries, with ample funding from industry and government agencies.

The Center is designed to be highly interdisciplinary with faculty participation from multiple engineering departments, as well as faculty members from other colleges/schools, including the College of Business and the College of Sciences. It provides an excellent collaborative infrastructure for UTSA faculty to work closely with industry to address their urgent needs.

The Center provides a leadership role in forging close ties with major firms to continue fueling the economic growth of San Antonio and the South Texas area.

The Center actively seeks collaboration with Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio Manufacturers Association, and UT Health Science Center at San Antonio in joint research and educational initiatives, especially in teaming to pursue federal research funding.

The Center seeks to evolve into a nationally recognized research center, with strong leverage from the Center's consortium members with major funding from federal funding agencies.

In the long run, the Center in conjunction with the Mechanical Engineering Department will facilitate the offering of new interdisciplinary M.S. and Ph.D. programs in [Advanced Manufacturing and Enterprise Engineering], with participating faculty from Engineering, Business and Science colleges, after a strong industry/government consortium and a funded research program have been well established.

TECHNICAL GOALS

Facilitate visibility across all levels of an enterprise and the supply chain.
Develop innovative technologies that seamlessly integrate process elements, such as machinery, tooling, material, and people, in order to enhance productivity and reduce waste.
Provide people with the right technology in order to make timely decisions and to add value.
Adopt a broader vision on the enterprise; focus on products, processes, and systems in an integrated manner.
Explore innovative decision-making schemes for network-enabled environments that rely on real-time data.