Design methodology for hybrid production processes

Abstract Current developments of hybrid production processes or production systems exceed the performance in manufacturing. Most of these developments have in common that they have mainly been found intuitively. Up to now the development of new hybrid production systems leads to high amounts of operative planning. The challenge is to develop a systematic and scientific approach for aggregating, describing, explaining and combining single processes. This paper introduces a systematic approach of the design methodology for developing hybrid production processes. In terms of identifying hybrid process solutions as part of an innovation process, the applicability of different TRIZ tools is shown concerning the specific requirements of manufacturing processes development.