Synchronisation of material flow and assembly in hybrid and modular systems

The increasing demand for market‐oriented production leads to shorter product life‐cycles, growing product variety and, therefore, changing lot sizes. These critical lot sizes vary greatly in number. Because of this, the question of whether or not to prioritize fully automated or manual assembly arises. The intention to meet the requirements of a turbulent market leads to hybrid assembly systems in which automated and manual assembly stations operate together flexibly. This hybrid system, supported by modular structures with defined interfaces and process software, allows a fast reaction to any change in products, variants and lot sizes. Owing to the difficulty in accessing materials, traditional assembly systems have a high contingent of non‐value adding procedures. By collecting materials in advance within one main area and distributing them to the work stations simultaneously for the production of a good, a minimized quantity of material is present on the assembly line, thus making the process more efficient.