Case study of a fixture-based reconfigurable assembly system

The conceptual design is a particular fixture-based reconfigurable assembly system is considered. The system is aimed at automating the spot welding of subassemblies of circuit breakers, which are currently assembled manually. The paper considers the reconfigurability of subsystems typically found in automated assembly systems. Spot welded subassemblies for a range of domestic circuit breakers are used for the case study, since they provide different levels of variety within part families. The conscious choice was made for this case study to use non-reconfigurable fixtures to hold the components making up the subassembly during the welding operation. A simulation model for three configurations of the conceptual design provided a means to investigate each layout´s ability to accommodate a typical daily production mix. The concept possesses the flexibility to produce the target product range with minor reconfiguration. Reconfiguration for products beyond this range is allowed by the modular nature of the system and the reconfiguration of key subsystems.