Bridging the gap: Reutilizing functional structures in 3D assembly instructions

抄録

Companies in the single and small-batch business with a high variety in the model range are under rapidly increasing cost pressure, not at least due to the increasing globalization. A proven concept to deal with this challenge is considered to be the digitalization of production processes as well as the assembly planning. One way to achieve this digitalization can be the implementation of worker information systems and the use of 3D assembly instructions in production.

To avoid new additional efforts and thus new costs, it’s a reasonable approach to use the 3D data of R&D (Research and Development department) for this purpose. With regard to the increasing cost pressure, it must be taken into account that especially in the early phases of the product development process (PDP) the possibilities of influencing costs are highest and thus there is a valid reason for a function-oriented view of the product with the objective of a functional cost calculation. This claim is directly opposed to a direct use of R&Ds 3D CAD models in the field of production.

Based on a detailed literature research it is examined whether the automation of the assembly planning itself is possible and reasonable on the basis of existing 3D CAD models and whether an automatic creation of the assembly instructions could be a possible solution. To solve this question a concept and a data model are presented, which has the objective to carry out an automated generation of 3D assembly instructions on the basis of the existing and functionally structured 3D CAD models.