Development of new concepts and software tools for the optimization of manual assembly systems

Due to growing numbers of differing products and variants, assembly systems with optimized manual workstations have become an efficient alternative to highly automated but less flexible production systems. Especially in the final stage of the product assembly, the flexibility of human employees enables them to meet the requirements for assembling various products and changing volumes. In order to create highly efficient production systems based on human work, it is necessary to develop innovative concepts for the design and organization of manual assembly structures. Another major issue is the development of software tools allowing the facility planner to simulate and optimize the complete design of the assembly structure such as the material flow or manual workstations, e.g. with respect to ergonomics, before construction. These requirements have led to a comprehensive research framework for manual assembly systems.