Approach for Evaluating Changeable Production Systems in a Battery Module Production Use Case

Abstract

Volatile markets continue to complicate manufacturing companies’ production system design, leading to efficiency losses due to imperfect system setups. In such a market environment, a perfect system setup cannot be achieved. Therefore, changeable production systems that cope with immanent uncertainty gain interest in research and industry. For several decades, changeable production systems have been in the research and development stage. The advantages and disadvantages are well investigated. So far, however, they have gained only limited acceptance in industry. One of the reasons is the difficult evaluation of the benefits. Existing investment calculation methods either neglect many effects of changeability, such as easier adaptation to unpredictable events, or are too complex and therefore too time-consuming to become standard. Thus, a practical evaluation method is needed that considers these changeability aspects. This paper deviates the industry requirements regarding an evaluation method based on an industry survey and develops a practical approach for an evaluation method for a changeable production system considering monetary and non-monetary aspects. The approach is characterized by a calculation that is as accurate as possible considering the existing input factors. The method shows that changeable production systems excel in environments with frequent need for adaptation. The approach is applied to a battery module assembly in the ARENA2036 research campus.