Short – term Planning for Part Supply in Assembly Lines Using Mobile Robots

The autonomous robot technology can be used for part supply in assembly lines since it provides efficient handling and transport. This paper proposes a decision making method for plan generation of part supply operations undertaken by Mobile Assistant Units (MAUs). Time and inventory levels are used as decision making criteria. The method was tested on an automotive assembly case study. The results indicate that the method can provide high quality solutions, in terms of production volume and minimization of the line stoppages.