Adaptation of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems for Industrial Assembly – Review of Flexibility Paradigms, Concepts, and Outlook☆

Abstract The introduction of new variants and continuously decreasing lot sizes following the paradigm of individualized production require the frequent reconfiguration of assembly systems. Albeit advances in ‘plug and produce’, current assembly systems remain limited when additional processes, changes in process sequence or processing time are required. This limitation is caused by physical constraints related to the typically employed fixed transfer systems (e.g. roll conveyors) and temporal constraints resulting from line balancing. Based on a review of the state of the art a framework is proposed to assess the adaptability of different flexibilisation approaches to industrial assembly. The matrix-shaped framework covers different levels of production systems from work stations to production networks on one axis and considers three different objects, i.e. technical resources, organization, and control and traceability on the second axis. Different criteria for assessment are assigned to each field of the matrix. Based on requirements derived from literature and discussions with experts from different industries it is concluded that the paradigm of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) is suitable for adaption to small-lot and small to medium series assembly. Key boundary conditions for the application are outlined and further research topics to enable the application in industrial assembly are identified.