Demonstration of a Concept for Scalable Automation of Assembly Systems in a Learning Factory

Abstract

Companies operating assembly systems in global production networks constantly have to deal with change drivers. For the design of adaptable assembly systems, change drivers can be considered as fluctuating KPIs, such as labor costs, as well as changing KPI targets, such as rising quality requirements.In this paper, a concept for the design of changeable assembly lines with scalable automation is introduced and applied to the Learning Factory Global Production at KIT. The change of the automation level over time is based on an ex ante evaluation and ex post performance assessment of the impact of change drivers.