A new approach towards systems integration within the mechatronic engineering design process of manufacturing systems

A collaborative research study between automotive manufacturer AUDI, Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences (Germany), De Montfort University and Falmouth University is reported. The research, commissioned by AUDI, investigates improved methods to design, implement, and commission complex flexible manufacturing lines for body production, which can readily accommodate changes to production configuration to match future product changes., The study resulted in a new approach to systems integration within manufacturing systems design, which utilises an innovation data modelling strategy, ‘middle-in data modelling’. This data modelling strategy can be realised using any implementation technology and provides a structured approach to systems integration by classifying all data into ‘core’ and ‘detailed/specific’. Independence from implementation technologies enables the efficient functioning of simple mechanisms such as shared network devices, spreadsheets and email. These mechanisms are well known by the engineers who, thus, can easily realise effective integration solutions. Engineers can tailor the solution to the requirements of rapid/flexible processes. When the boundaries of simple implementation technologies are reached, the process precisely documents requirements of the engineering process for more sophisticated implementations to be undertaken by systems integrators., The research informed best practice in machine systems design related to body shop production within AUDI and added to the knowledge base of manufacturing systems integration. The approach is applied to all body shop production in AUDI covering manufacturing plants in Ingolstadt (Germany), Györ (Hungary), and Brussels (Belgium). The study has resulted in significant internal investment within AUDI in this rollout and in associated staff development. Furthermore, the modelling strategy is applied for the management of field bus devices including IP-Address and Firmware status and related research into enhanced tablet-based visualisation of production information has been similarly initiated