Formulating and Searching Assembly Sequence Design Spaces to Increase the Utilization of Current Assembly Plant Resources

Abstract

Efficient procedures for generation of feasible assembly sequences and effective utilization of available assembly plant resources can greatly reduce the development time and cost for platforms for the new product family members. This paper presents a method application to generate feasible assembly sequences and an approach to select an assembly process that reduces the existing plant modification cost. Assembly sequence design space is combinatorial in nature. Mathematical models to solve the effects of constraints on these spaces and algorithms to efficiently enumerate feasible spaces are presented. An algorithm that selects assembly process that can reduce the modification cost of the existing assembly plant is developed. A software application that implements the method and algorithms is also presented. The program uses the concept of recursive partitioning of set of components to generate assembly sequence space. The assembly processes are then evaluated to determine the process that maximized resource utilization. The application of the proposed approach and software is demonstrated using automotive underbody front structure product family.