Energy efficiency in assembly systems

In order to provide flexibility in manufacturing many tasks are still executed manually. Tasks like assembly, cleaning, and packaging thus imply the use of workstations. Here we show the development of a method to assess energy consumption at different levels of a factory system. Exemplarily manual workstations are assessed using flexible measurement concepts. Conducting the assessment in the environment of a learning factory, energy saving potentials of up to 65 percent were identified. Besides, the findings were transferred into an interactive learning concept and a prototype workstation used in production processes for products made from CFRP was developed. We anticipate that an energy-efficient design of workstations is an example of how energy transparency in manufacturing can be increased, especially in industries that are characterized by costumer-specific, low-volume production and a high share of manual operations.