HOW TO ACHIEVE A BREAKTHROUGH IN INDUSTRIALISATION OF FLEXIBLE ASSEMBLY AUTOMATION?

Flexible assembly automation is one of the solutions that have been put forward to meet market demands on increased product diversity and smaller lot-sizes, improved product quality, reduced delivery times and shortening product life-cycles. However, despite considerable research effort in the field of flexible assembly automation, the penetration in industry of the concepts and techniques of flexible assembly automation is still relatively low.
The goal of this paper is to initiate discussions in the assembly research community on increasing the application potential of flexible assembly automation. A research structure is proposed, showing three highly interrelated elements that need further research in order to achieve increased industrialisation of flexible assembly automation: the assembly process, rules for product design for automated assembly and equipment suitable for automated assembly.