Assembly System Planning in Automotive Industry with Use of Discrete Event Simulation

As automotive assembly systems become more complex every year, use of computer aided technology in planning stage is common. Every change in assembly system or assembly line must be validated by software engineering department so the transition in changes are smooth and without unexpected problems. Assembly systems especially in automotive industry must be easy to adjust for new production. Companies in automotive industry, especially manufacturers of final cars have production lines for several versions of one car or even for different car models. This means that production systems are complex and must be balanced for work with different set ups. Time and work flow are essential things in production lines in automotive industry. That is the reason for software solutions like Tecnomatix. Implementation of new assembly parameters are calculated by software. Looking for bottlenecks or errors in assembly processes is easier in well-made virtual models of production lines and it also faster solution. In this article will be mentioned software solutions for this kind of processes. Basic work of software will be demonstrated in example made in Tecnomatix Plant Simulate and Tecnomatix Process Simulate from company SIEMENS. Examples made in these software packages will be aimed on automotive assembly respectively production lines. Also, simulation of production robotic workplaces will be mentioned in example with use of Tecnomatix Process Simulate. As welding robotic stations in automotive production systems are essentials of whole production. Robotic stations are high investment workplaces, so it is only understanding that simulation of such robotic workplaces is needed. Use of discrete simulation software for production simulation purposes is bigger every year and it will continue in future as well. Future of assembly planning will be discussed towards the end of article.