Changeable and reconfigurable assembly systems – A structure planning approach in automotive manufacturing

The ability of a manufacturing system to cope with frequently changing or increasing product variants and changing production volumes is a key competitive factor in today’s volatile operational environment. After giving an introduction into the concept of changeability and explaining the interdependence of production system structures and changeability, the paper describes a planning approach for the structure of changeable and reconfigurable assembly systems in automotive manufacturing. The planning approach uses flexibly linked process modules as structural feature of the assembly system’s structural concept. Types of process modules, classified by characteristics of the assembly parts, are designed to perform assembly operations not taking into account product structure restrictions on assembly sequence. Process modules are then located in a layout of chessboard-like pattern under flow-oriented consideration of the product precedence graph. The paper presents a door module assembly use case, for which the assembly system structure was developed using the described planning approach.