Events and Trade Shows

August 29, 2024 | Keynote

A Major Step Towards the Factory of the Future?! – How Autonomous Vehicles as Self-driving Assembly Items can Replace Conveyor Technology in Automotive Assembly Systems

Julia Arlinghaus, Fraunhofer IFF

The automotive industry is facing the transition to autonomous vehicles. This can mean novel challenges, but also chances for the redesign of assembly systems. This talk expands the idea of matrix production and explores how to exploit self-driving of autonomous cars already in an early assembly stage. Scrutinizing traditional assembly sequences, opens up potentials of up to 50% reduction of assembly takts requiring conveyor technology. This may result in a reduction of investments into material handling technology of up to 30% and may increase flexibility and changeability beyond the performance of AGV-based systems.

The talk shows minimal technical and procedural requirements to exploit self-driving functions in assembly environments. Encompassing case studies from different green and brownfield assembly systems of one of the world leading OEMs serve as the basis to show the necessary reorganization of assembly sequences and consequences for assembly structures as well as assembly performance.

About the IFAC Symposium

The IFAC Symposium on Information Control Problems in Manufacturing (INCOM 2024) brings together experts from various fields to discuss the latest advances and challenges related to twin transformation under the guiding theme "Sustainable Transformation to Autonomous Manufacturing Systems". The conference will focus in particular on digital twins and simulations from the perspectives of design and operation.