Measuring and analysing Levels of Automation in assembly systems - For future proactive systems
Licentiate thesis, 2009

Production companies frequently have to meet demands and requirements, both internal and external, which trigger a plan for change in different production areas. Smaller batches and shorter time limits for set-ups between products are some of the demands on the assembly systems caused by an increasing number of product variants e.g. mass customisation. As a result, companies have to find more flexible methods for assembling their products and become more proactive in the assembly system itself. Indentifying new strategies to reduce time parameters in a system e.g. cycle-time, set-up time, throughput time etc becomes vital and can be achieved by designing the assembly system in a structured way, with the most advantageous cognitive and mechanical Level of Automation (LoA). When companies adopt automated solutions, they need to determine the correct amount of automation. There is a tendency among industry to consider automation investments as a ”black or white” decision. This may be suboptimal, as it is not always necessary to choose between humans or machines. Most manufacturing tasks usually involve a mix of manual, mechanised and computerised tasks; the companies have to consider all of these areas when automating their system. When it comes to level of automation it is a challenge to find the best solutions. It is also necessary to identify the optimal parts of the value-flow to be automated which requires a high level of knowledge about the current system. In these decisions it is essential to also consider human resources, their competence and the information flow to and from the assembly system. The aim of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of how companies reason when meeting their external or internal demands as well as to further develop the DYNAMO methodology with focus on the analysis steps. This is done to enable companies to design an assembly system in a structured way with the most advantageous cognitive and physical Level of Automation to cope with future changes. In order to handle these changes aimed at increasing flexibility and proactive behaviour, it is vital that companies take time parameters into account when designing assembly systems. This can be achieved by using LoA as a dynamic variable tool and the DYNAMO ++ methodology as a structured way to do it.

LoA

proactive

assembly system

Level of automation

Konferenslokalen, 3 vån, Eklandagatan 86
Opponent: Universitetslektor Carin Andersson, Lunds Tekniska Högskola

Author

Åsa Fasth

Chalmers, Product and Production Development, Production Systems

RELATIONS BETWEEN PARAMETERS/PERFORMERS AND LEVELS OF AUTOMATION

IFAC workshop on manufacturing modeling, management and control, 14-16 November , Budapest, Hungary,; (2007)p. 6-

Paper in proceeding

Characteristic of a Proactive Assembly System

The 41st CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems,; (2008)

Paper in proceeding

Measuring and analysing Levels of Automation in an assembly system

The 41st CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems, Tokyo japan,; (2008)

Paper in proceeding

Does Levels of Automation need to be changed in an assembly system? - A case study

The 2nd Swedish Production Symposium (SPS), Stockholm, Sweden,; (2008)

Paper in proceeding

Subject Categories

Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics

Research series from Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Product and Production Development: report

Konferenslokalen, 3 vån, Eklandagatan 86

Opponent: Universitetslektor Carin Andersson, Lunds Tekniska Högskola

More information

Latest update

11/5/2018