Design and management of reconfigurable assembly lines in the automotive industry

Abstract

Automotive suppliers are facing the challenge of continuously adapting their production targets to variable demand requirements due to the frequent introduction of new model variants, materials and assembly technologies. In this context, the profitable management of the product, process and system co---evolution is of paramount importance for the company competitiveness. In this paper, a methodology for the design and reconfiguration management of modular assembly systems is proposed. It addresses the selection of the technological modules, their integration in the assembly cell, and the reconfiguration policies to handle volume and lot size variability. The results are demonstrated in a real automotive case study. Assembly System; Reconfiguration; Co---evolution.

Integrated production and reconfiguration planning in modular plug-and-produce production systems

“…The transition probability matrix 𝜆 !,! and the rewards vector μi,c can be directly constructed as the Kronecker product of the transition probability matrices and the reward vectors characterizing the dynamics of the composing mechatronic modules contained in the set Μc,i [9].…”

“…In [8] a method to allocate products to reconfigurable lines and to optimally manage production modules is developed, neglecting reconfiguration times and lot sequencing. In [9] a stochastic programming approach has been proposed for designing a modular production system in the automotive industry. The production modules are selected by considering demand scenarios.…”

Production quality improvement during manufacturing systems ramp-up

“…In other words, the incomplete knowledge of the system behavior exploited during the system design phase may cause the system to behave differently once the reconfiguration is implemented, leading to the need of acquiring more knowledge to bridge this knowledge gap and implement countermeasures. This mismatch is generated by disturbances [9] that are defined as unexpected events affecting the dynamics of the system during the ramp-up phase, making it different from the known dynamics of the system, considered during the system design phase [20]. Such causes can be then classified in two categories, namely internal and external causes.…”

Bibliometric study about hotel competitiveness in Scopus and Web of Science

“…In this area, competitiveness among companies is growing at a frenetic pace, which demands constant update strategies focused on their growth. Therefore, the profitable management of the co-evolution of products, processes and systems is crucial for the competitiveness of the company (Colledani et al, 2016). According to Coronado (2017) competitiveness has to do directly with the way of approaching and executing any business initiative, which causes an evolution in the business model.…”