A process-oriented product design based on an assembly module platform

Increasing global competition, decreasing product lifecycles and a growing trend of outsourcing put new demands on the product design and the time to realise the assembly system. These demands calls for high flexible assembly systems, containing of standardised, process-oriented assembly modules, offering a robust process and high reuse ability of the equipment. To generate such a system a new concept for cross-functional development of products and the assembly system is being developed. The concept belief is that extreme and long-lasting flexibility cannot be achieved without a distinct connection between product design and the assembly system, i.e. assembly process knowledge must be structured. To achieve this, the assembly module platform (AMP) is being developed, containing all possible modules to assemble the products. The AMP is generating the module process description (MPD), which totally defines the process executed by the specific module. The design of the product can now be guided by the MPD, creating a process-oriented product design. Furthermore, the AMP-database is under construction, linking functions as economical evaluation tools, to compare possible configurations assembly costs and investments.