Developing Modular Manufacturing Architectures – An Industrial Case Report

The manufacturing industry needs flexibility and changeability to accommodate the increasing market dynamics and the related need for product change, variety, and customisation. Achieving such manufacturing responsiveness is the focus of Modular Manufacturing Systems (MMS). MMS have become central in research, but yet are short numbered in industry. This paper presents a case report on MMS platform development at a large Danish manufacturing company. The approach taken is based on related theory of modular product development and hence, modular architectures. The platform is developed following a six-step method and the paper provides thorough descriptions and illustrative examples of each step.

[1]  Yoram Koren,et al.  General RMS Characteristics. Comparison with Dedicated and Flexible Systems , 2006 .

[2]  Steffen Nordahl Jørgensen,et al.  Developing Modular Manufacturing System Architectures: The Foundation to Volume Benefits and Manufacturing System Changeability and Responsiveness , 2013 .

[3]  F. Jovane,et al.  Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems , 1999 .

[4]  Ulf Harlou,et al.  Developing product families based on architectures: Contribution to a theory of product families , 2006 .

[5]  M. Onori,et al.  Evolvable Production Systems Context and Implications , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics.

[6]  Ole Madsen,et al.  Designing modular manufacturing systems using mass customisation theories and methods , 2012 .

[7]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Product Design and Development , 1995 .

[8]  A. Galip Ulsoy,et al.  Reconfigurable manufacturing systems: Key to future manufacturing , 2000, J. Intell. Manuf..

[9]  Kaj Asbjørn Jørgensen,et al.  Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems as an Application of Mass Customisation , 2010, International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management.

[10]  Gunnar Erixon,et al.  Controlling Design Variants: Modular Product Platforms , 1999 .

[11]  N. Lagos,et al.  Reconfigurability and reconfigurable manufacturing systems: state-of-the-art review , 2004, 2nd IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics, 2004. INDIN '04. 2004.

[12]  D. V. Steward,et al.  The design structure system: A method for managing the design of complex systems , 1981, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.