LIFE CYCLE FRAMEWORK FOR MODULAR CONFIGURABLE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS

Despite the technological advancements within the last few decades in computer aided design and manufacturing systems, the existing solutions are still fragmented and typically target only small fragments of the production lifecycle. The engineering support required for the design and lifecycle management of manufacturing systems is not sufficiently developed. In particular there is no established integrated approach to support the lifecycle of manufacturing automation systems.Automotive industry is one of the world's largest manufacturing sector, more effective service based approaches to lifecycle support are now needed as an integral part of manufacturing systems in order to effectively support rapid product or process change in a global business context. This research paper presents a lifecycle support framework for the development of new modular automation systems in order to bring greater agility to the manufacturing system using a collaborative work centre concept and also to investigate the new supplier relationships resulting from using a modular approach.