Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A novel concept of agile assembly machine for sets applied in the automotive industry

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Flexibility and agility are principles increasingly necessary and used in current automotive manufacturing processes due to the market paradigm change, going from mass production to customized one. Some countries, where the human labour cost is very attractive, design processes depending essentially on the workers’ performance. However, some risks can be induced by the use of intensive labour due to uncertainties related to human behaviour and fatigue. Small assembly operations comprising a large variety of models and short cycle time are usually carried out manually, due to their flexibility and agility. However, critical factors such as quality, commitment with the delivery time, and increase of labour costs become attractive factors to start developing flexible and agile equipment that allows simple set-up, short cycle time, and traceability. Robotics is widely used to cover these purposes, but the required space to operate with a robot and the cost involved (which will need tools as an automatic equipment) make unfeasible its use in some applications.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. INTELI (2005) Diagnóstico da Indústria Automóvel em Portugal. Ministério da Economia e Inovação, in Portuguese. http://www.iapmei.pt/resources/download/bim/diagnostico_automovel_doc15.pdf, Accessed 10 October 2013

  2. Ford M (2005) The lights in the tunnel: automation, accelerating technology and the economy of the future. Acullant Publishing, United States of America (2009). ISBN-13 978–1–4486-5981-4

  3. Moniz A (2006) Competitivity in the Portuguese automotive sector and innovative forms of employment management. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/6970/, Accessed 5 September 2016

  4. Nunes PMS, Silva FJG (2013) Increasing flexibility and productivity in small assembly operations: a case study. Advances in sustainable and competitive manufacturing systems. Lecture notes in mechanical engineering. Springer, p 329–340. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-00557-7_27.

  5. Araújo W, Silva FGS, Campilho RDSG (2016) Manufacturing cushions and suspension mats for vehicle seats: a novel cell concept, Int J Adv Manuf Technol, in Press. doi: 10.1007/s00170-016-9475-6.

  6. Chryssolouris, G (2006) Manufacturing systems: theory and practice, mechanical engineering series, 2nd edn. Springer. ISBN: 978–0–387-25683-2

  7. Pintzos G, Triantafyllou C, Papakostas N, Mourtzis D, Chryssolouris G (2016) Assembly precedence diagram generation through assembly tiers determination. Int J Comput Integr Manuf 29:1045–1057. doi:10.1080/0951192X.2015.1130260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Hu SJ, Ko J, Weyand L, ElMaraghy HA, Lien TK, Koren Y, Bley H, Chryssolouris G, Nasr N, Shpitalni M (2011) Assembly system design and operations for product variety. CIRP Ann Manuf Technol 60(2):715–733. doi:10.1016/j.cirp.2011.05.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Groover MP (2000) Automation, production systems, and computer-integrated manufacturing. 2nd edn. Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA. ISBN-13: 978–0132393218

  10. Michalos G, Makris S, Papakostas N, Mourtzis D, Chryssolouris G (2010) Automotive assembly technologies review: challenges and outlook for a flexible and adaptive approach. CIRP J Manuf Sci Technol 2(2):81–91. doi:10.1016/j.cirpj.2009.12.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Johansson B, Fasth A, Stahre J, Heilala J, Leong S, Lee YT, Riddick F (2009) Enabling flexible manufacturing systems by using level of automation as design parameter, proceedings of the 2009 winter simulation conference. In: Rossetti MD, Hill RR, Johansson B, Dunkin A, Ingalls RG (eds), p 2176–2184. doi: 10.1109/WSC.2009.5429728.

  12. Rosati G, Maurizio F, Andrea C, Rossi A (2013) Fully flexible assembly systems (F-FAS): a new concept in flexible automation. Assem Autom 33(1):8–21. doi:10.1108/01445151311294603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Iç YT, Yurdakul M, Dengiz B (2013) Development of a decision support system for robot selection. Robot Computer Integrated Manufacturing 29(4):142–157. doi:10.1016/j.rcim.2012.11.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. BBA & R Association: BARA—why use robots? http://www.bara.org.uk/robots/why-use-robots.html. Accessed 2 February 2016

  15. Yamauchi Y (1993) Application and evaluation of robots in Nissan. Automot Manuf Int (93): 73–81

  16. Kumar R, Garg RK (2010) Optimal selection of robots by using distance based approach method. Robotics and Computer Integrated Manufacturing 26(5):500–506. doi:10.1016/j.rcim.2010.03.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Bélanger-Barrette M. Robotics industry news, applications and trends. http://blog.robotiq.com/bid/69722/Top-5-Robotic-Applications-in-the-Automotive-Industry. Accessed 11 February 2016.

  18. Koren Y (2010) The global manufacturing revolution—product-process-business integration and reconfigurable systems. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 978–0–470-58377-7.

  19. Thomas PE, Kurfess R (2005) Robotics and automation handbook. CRC Press. ISBN 9780849318047

  20. Wise E (2005) Robotics demystified. McGraw-Hill. doi: 10.1036/0071436782

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISEP (School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto), Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal

    R. J. S. Costa, F. J. G. Silva & R. D. S. G. Campilho

Authors
  1. R. J. S. Costa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. J. G. Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. D. S. G. Campilho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. J. G. Silva.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Costa, R.J.S., Silva, F.J.G. & Campilho, R.D.S.G. A novel concept of agile assembly machine for sets applied in the automotive industry. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 91, 4043–4054 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-017-0109-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-017-0109-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation