ABSTRACT
During recent years, the global car market has undergone to radical change, becoming more competitive and unstable due to several factors (legal, financial, environmental, etc.). The most important automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have been obliged to react. The continuous request to produce different new models every few years obliges OEMs to develop more flexible assembly lines and better methods for job planning on the same lines. Safety norms and product quality requirements also demand improvements in working conditions according to international standards. Moreover, the assembly line is seeing increased levels of robotics and hybrid human-automation decision making and this requires new concepts for process design and for production: the human centered approach to improve manual assembly operations, even assisted by automation.
