Development of laser welding system with digital manufacturing technology

Recently, companies are forced to work highly productive in order to survive on the global market. At the same time, an increasing customization of products resulting in shortened product life cycle and an increasing number of new variants need a manufacturing system to react appropriately and rapidly. A suitable approach to address the above mentioned requirements is the application of new technique such as laser welding instead of spot welding for building car body and the planning method for designing manufacturing system. So, automobile enterprises are looking for a technology facilitating effective development and agile production of products. This paper describes an implementation of laser welding system for automobile side panels with digital manufacturing. At first, the physical and logical schema and behavior of assembly system for welding side panels are analyzed using IDEFO and UML diagram. Based on the results of this analysis, a strategic plan for designing and implementing laser welding system is developed. Using this strategy, the alternative systems are generated. Finally, the optimal one is selected by using TOPSIS method.