An agile manufacturing workcell design.(Special Issue of Design & Manufacturing on Agile Manufacturing): An article from: IIE Transactions

This digital document is an article from IIE Transactions, published by Institute of Industrial Engineers, Inc. (IIE) on October 1, 1997. The length of the article is 5256 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: This paper introduces a design for agile manufacturing workcells intended for light mechanical assembly of products made from similar components (i.e., parts families). We define agile manufacturing as the ability to accomplish rapid changeover from the assembly of one product to the assembly of a different product. Rapid hardware changeover is made possible through the use of robots, flexible part feeders, modular grippers, and modular assembly hardware. The division of assembly, feeding, and unloading tasks between multiple robots is examined with prioritization based upon assembly time. Rapid software changeover will be facilitated by the use of a real-time, object-oriented software environment utilizing graphical simulations for off-line software development. An innovative dual VMEbus controller architecture permits an open software environment while accommodating the closed nature of most commercial robot controllers. These agile features permit new products to be introduced with minimal downtime and system reconfiguration.

Citation Details
Title: An agile manufacturing workcell design.(Special Issue of Design & Manufacturing on Agile Manufacturing)
Author: Roger D. Quiinn
Publication:IIE Transactions (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 1997
Publisher: Institute of Industrial Engineers, Inc. (IIE)
Volume: v29 Issue: n10 Page: p901(9)

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