New aspects of energy consumption analysis in assembly processes and equipment

Multi-material use and large scale functionality of products as well as cost targets in many cases lead to part design principles that use "assembled components". Advanced lightweight design often requires the combination of different substructures and the synthesis of different manufacturing technologies, including a wide range of known, as well as new assembly approaches. As other manufacturing processes too, assembly operations normally include value creating, primary process sequences but in addition also secondary, just supporting and/or auxiliary operational steps - with the target to maximize value creation. Looking from the point of energy or resource efficiency related to those applied technological process chains, analysis and decision making recently is mostly still hindered by the lack of data or even a methodology of consolidated benchmarks. The paper deals with new approaches to analyse and to optimize energy consumption in processes that include assembly operations. As part of this, results of a case study defining preferential working spaces for assembly systems are presented.