Final Assembly Workflow

Final assembly workflow involves managing the exchanges between process planner, central planner, and line balancer.

The capabilities available for creating the required manufacturing assembly and system structures include:

• Process planner has the possibility to create an item node called Manufacturing Installation. The Manufacturing Installation has an input that allows the user to specify on which body the items are installed.
• Central planner can create a Work plan system to manage the final assembly workflow.
  • A Work plan system can have scopes to items but not scopes to systems.
  • A Work plan system can have another Work plan system as a child. Other system types are not allowed as children.
  • All types of operations can be created under a Work plan system.
• Scope can be created between a Work plan system and a Manufacturing Installation.
• Scope can be created between a system and a Work plan system.
  • All the system types except for a Work plan system can create a scope with a target Work plan system.
  • If a system scope is created inside a root system, all the systems belonging to the root system cannot create an item scope.
  • A root system containing a system that has a scope to a Work plan system is considered as a root system that belongs to a line balancer.
• Implement links between operations from central planner and operations from line balancer.

The central planner defines a standard work plan that must be followed by local planners, who are known as line balancer. Line balancers can later enrich the central planner's work plan.

The central planner is responsible for operations planning and works on the definition of the work plan that will realize the items. This planner creates a system and operations linked to each item, and possibly defines the time analyses, work instructions, and assembly tracks.

The line balancers work on balancing operations across systems to respect cycle times and adapt the central work plan to their own needs. These planners use a system structure corresponding to their resources and dispatch the operations created by the central planner.

The general procedure is as follows:

• The central planner defines which operations are required to implement the items. These operations are specifications that the line balancers must follow. Line balancers can use the operations defined by the central planner and add specific operations.
• The central planner can define an estimated time or compute accurate time analyses on these operations, which are then reflected on the work plan of the line balancers.

Here is an example of a typical scenario for Final Assembly Workflow.

The central planner defines the Work plan system structure for the manufacturing assembly structure, which was defined by the process planner. The central planner also creates scope links from the Work plan systems to the corresponding Manufacturing Installations.

The line balancer (for example, located in Tokyo) creates a local system structure with a new line "Station 10."

The line balancer creates a system-system scope between the local root system "Line Balancer Tokyo" and the "Work plan Root."

The line balancer performs Implement Link Analysis and checks Operation Assignment Status for "Line Balancer Tokyo".

The line balancer implements the operations from the Work plan by a drag of the operations. These operations are Ope P1, Ope P2, and Ope P3 from the Work plan to Station 10.

The line balancer performs Implement Link Analysis again.

Sometimes the line balancer selects Ope P1 from "Line Balancer Tokyo." In this case, the corresponding operation from the Work plan, the associated item, and associated product are highlighted thanks to cross highlighting.

Time constraints for "Line Balancer Tokyo" cannot be deleted since they are engendered by the Workplan.

The process planner creates a new revision of item P1.

Central planner checks for conflicts with the Work plan by using System Update Status and detects a problem on the Work plan operation Ope P1.

The central planner needs to reroute the new revision of item P1 to operation Ope P1.

The central planner reroutes the new revision of P1 to operation Ope P1 using Manage Inconsistent Links .

Line balancer checks that there are no conflicts with the Work plan.

Next, the line balancer decides to replace operation Ope P3 by two other operations. The line balancer:

• Deletes Ope P3.
• Creates two new operations, Ope P3 ReplaceA and Ope P3 ReplaceB.

The line balancer uses dragging or the Assignment Assistant to replace Ope P3.

Drag Ope P3 from Work plan to Ope P3 ReplaceA and Ope P3 ReplaceB.

Perform Implement Link Analysis for operation Ope P3.