Abstract :
The progress made by leading Japanese industries is examined to gauge progress toward fully automated assembly lines. Included in the survey are automated assembly lines at Daikin Industries, Gunma Nippon Electric, and Seiko Epson. Of these lines, only Epson´s printer assembly line has been previously automated; until recently the other lines all employed manual assembly. The developments at one of these companies, Gunma Nippon Electric, are discussed in detail to illustrate what a fully automatic assembly line entails.<>
Keywords :
CAD/CAM; DP industry; assembling; industrial robots; Daikin Industries; Gunma Nippon Electric; Japanese industries; Seiko Epson; fully automated assembly lines; printer assembly line; Application software; Automatic control; Design automation; Electrical products industry; Manufacturing automation; Printers; Product design; Production; Robotic assembly; Robotics and automation;
