Abstract
Mixed-model assembly line has been widely used in automotive assembly industry to quickly respond the diverse product demands. But, this model can lead to part confusion, which is a source for assembly errors when parts are physically interchangeable in a mixed-model assembly line. With the recent application of new technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) and ZigBee wireless sensor network (WSN) to the assembly process, real-time information has become available in this manufacturing systems through IT infrastructures. At first, this paper presents an RFID application for assembly processes, specifically, for a mixed-model assembly line. Thus, to ensure that parts be picked accurately, each cockpit module on the assembly line is attached with a RFID tag and the tag is scanned using a RFID reader and recognizes the vehicle, and each part of the cockpit module is attached with a barcode and the barcode is scanned by a barcode reader and each part is identified correctly for the vehicle. Second, this paper presents a ZigBee wireless sensor network (WSN) protocol-based application for a reconfigurable mixed-model assembly line of cockpit module to reduce the assembly errors and the cost of the change/reconfiguration on the assembly lines due to the various orders and new models from the motor company, avoiding the wiring efforts and inconvenience by wiring between the several RFID devices and the IT server system. Finally, we presents the operation results for several years using this RFID/ZigBee wireless sensor network (WSN) protocol-based cockpit module assembly line.
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