ABSTRACT
Many tools are available to visualise the assembly process for the purpose of analysing it or of communicating design or improvement ideas. Computer simulations of assembly operations are overkill in most cases, but have found a niche in complicated assembly lines involving many products and the coordination of multiple, independently controlled automatic systems. To design, operate, or improve an assembly process, we need to visualize it on paper, bulletin boards, or computer screens in a variety of ways, keep these documents in sync with shop floor reality, and maintain revision histories. What happens in a single assembly line is a sequence of operations, and to represent a sequence, flowcharts are no improvement over text. Fasteners are frequently ignored in bill-of-materials databases used for purchasing but cannot be ignored in the design of assembly operations. The approach has been used for reasonably small automobile and aerospace parts, and short assembly processes.
