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Topic · Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Manufacturing Process and Optimization

Manufacturing Process and Optimization is a research topic within Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Science Explorer counts 91k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the design, planning, and optimization of manufacturing processes, with an emphasis on design for manufacture and assembly. It covers topics such as assembly planning, disassembly sequencing, CAD/CAM integration, process planning, tolerance analysis, virtual prototyping, fixture design, product cost estimation, and collaborative manufacturing.

  • Design for Manufacture
  • Assembly Planning
  • Disassembly Sequencing
  • CAD/CAM Integration
  • Process Planning
  • Tolerance Analysis
  • Virtual Prototyping
  • Fixture Design
  • Product Cost Estimation
  • Collaborative Manufacturing
Research works
91k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
9.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+31%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
34% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Manufacturing Process and Optimization

Which countries lead Manufacturing Process and Optimization research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (3.8k and 2k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3.8k works
  2. 2 United States 2k works
  3. 3 Germany 1.5k works
  4. 4 India 1.1k works
  5. 5 Italy 536 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 506 works
  7. 7 France 481 works
  8. 8 Indonesia 450 works
  9. 9 Russia 446 works
  10. 10 Japan 432 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 34.0%United States: 17.4%Germany: 13.5%India: 9.8%6 others listed: 25.3%34%largest
China3,831 · 34.0%United States1,963 · 17.4%Germany1,515 · 13.5%India1,099 · 9.8%6 others listed2,850 · 25.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Manufacturing Process and Optimization research?

By volume in 2022-now, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft publishes the most Manufacturing Process and Optimization research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Fraunhofer-GesellschaftGermany 152 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 141 works
  3. 3 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 112 works
  4. 4 RWTH Aachen UniversityGermany 105 works
  5. 5 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 99 works
  6. 6 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 95 works
  7. 7 Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina 88 works
  8. 8 Beihang UniversityChina 85 works
  9. 9 Technical University of MunichGermany 74 works
  10. 10 Zhejiang UniversityChina 71 works

Who are the leading researchers in Manufacturing Process and Optimization?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Manufacturing Process and Optimization include Zhong Lin Wang, Xiangyu Zhang and Donald B. Rubin.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Xiangyu Zhang 327k citations
  3. 3 Donald B. Rubin United States 301k citations
  4. 4 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  5. 5 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  6. 6 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  7. 7 Andrew Zisserman United Kingdom 255k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Manufacturing Process and Optimization?

The most cited paper in Manufacturing Process and Optimization is "Metal Additive Manufacturing: A Review" (William E. Frazier, 2014), with 5,971 citations. Next come "Recovery of inter-block information when block sizes are unequal" (3,837) and "Computer Aided Design of Experiments" (3,485).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Metal Additive Manufacturing: A Review William E. Frazier · Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Open access 7 Apr 2014 5,971
2 Recovery of inter-block information when block sizes are unequal H. D. Patterson, Robin Thompson · Biometrika 1971 3,837
3 Computer Aided Design of Experiments R. W. Kennard, L. A. Stone · Technometrics Feb 1969 3,485
4 Quality Engineering Using Robust Design Tom Menten, Madhav S. Phadke · Technometrics May 1991 3,470
5 Optimal two‐ and three‐stage production schedules with setup times included S. M. Johnson · Naval Research Logistics Quarterly Mar 1954 3,269
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Manufacturing Process and Optimization research done?

The largest centres of Manufacturing Process and Optimization research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Xi'an (China) and Wuhan (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Zhaotong.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 632 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 340 works
  3. 3 Xi'anChina 261 works
  4. 4 WuhanChina 247 works
  5. 5 NanjingChina 183 works
  6. 6 TokyoJapan 181 works
  7. 7 MoscowRussia 161 works
  8. 8 MunichGermany 148 works
  9. 9 HangzhouChina 146 works
  10. 10 AachenGermany 140 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ZhaotongCN · 20.8 works51×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Manufacturing Process and Optimization than the world average.

See Manufacturing Process and Optimization on the map

Where is the best place to study Manufacturing Process and Optimization?

Among universities, judged by research, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, University of Patras and Petroleum & Gas University of Ploieşti score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%60%mean 26.35%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Petroleum & Gas Univ…University of PatrasHong Kong Polytechni…Huazhong University …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina 64.526.0%3.4×88 +44.1%
2University of PatrasGreece 64.428.0%10.5×40 +0.1%
3Petroleum & Gas University of PloieştiRomania 62.655.5%24.8×9 +705.1%
4Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 62.427.9%2.8×35 +144.1%
5Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 60.117.2%2.3×95 +45.3%
6Politecnico di TorinoItaly 59.620.7%7.2×47 +29.6%
7Dalian University of TechnologyChina 56.917.2%4.9×66 +72.2%
8Beihang UniversityChina 56.519.4%5.4×85 +7.2%
9Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 56.425.3%2.1×53 +38.2%
10Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore 56.426.3%2.1×24 +33.6%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Manufacturing Process and Optimization, country by country

Is Manufacturing Process and Optimization research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 31% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Manufacturing Process and Optimization.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Manufacturing Process and Optimization as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.096% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Manufacturing Process and Optimization0.078% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Manufacturing Process and Optimization over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Manufacturing Process and Optimization9.9% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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