Towards an integrated assembly process decomposition and modular equipment configuration - a knowledge enhanced iterative approach

In todays increasingly volatile and dynamic global markets it is increasingly important to react to changing market demands and reduce the time-to-market. The design and re-design of assembly systems has a significant impact on the product development time. This paper reports on the effort that has been put into developing an assembly process decomposition and modular assembly equipment configuration methodology that takes advantage of the current trend towards modular equipment solutions and is expected to reduce design time and improve the design process integration. A general framework for the proposed methodology has been outlined and an ontology for the design of modular assembly systems is being discussed.