Motor Vehicle Assembly Pre-Integration Strategy

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Solution Overview

Problem

The complexity of assembling motor vehicles with various drive concepts leads to numerous different assembly steps in the main assembly line, increasing inefficiency and costs due to the need for variant-specific components and processes.

Innovation Solution

Pre-assembling the floor module, drive train, and chassis in separate processes outside the main assembly line, then connecting them before attaching to the vehicle body, allowing for a drive-neutral shell that simplifies the assembly line and reduces variant-specific variations, with functional testing and preparation of components before integration.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the main assembly line assembles complete motor vehicles with various drive concepts, then all necessary assembly operations can be performed, but the assembly process becomes highly complex and inefficient due to numerous variant-specific assembly steps

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAbility to assemble different drive conceptsVSAvoidAssembly process complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The assembly process is segmented into separate pre-assembly lines for different drive concepts and a main assembly line for final integration. This divides the complex assembly task into manageable modules, reducing overall process complexity while maintaining versatility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Drive concept-specific components are pre-assembled and prepared in advance on separate pre-assembly lines before entering the main assembly line. This preliminary action eliminates the need to perform variant-specific assembly steps during main line operations, simplifying the overall process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If variant-specific components and processes are used for different drive concepts, then all necessary vehicle configurations can be produced, but assembly time and costs increase

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveDrive concept varietyVSAvoidAssembly efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The production system is segmented into specialized pre-assembly lines for different drive concepts, allowing each line to optimize for its specific variant while the main assembly line handles universal integration tasks, thereby improving overall productivity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Variant-specific components are pre-assembled and configured in advance on dedicated pre-assembly lines, so that when they reach the main assembly line, they are ready for quick integration, significantly reducing assembly time and costs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If all assembly operations are performed in the main assembly line, then complete vehicle assembly is achieved, but errors are detected late in the process

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAssembly qualityVSAvoidError detection time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Quality checks and functional tests are performed in advance on pre-assembled drive concept-specific components before they enter the main assembly line. This preliminary verification ensures errors are detected and corrected early, improving reliability without delaying overall production.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP2655174B1Assembly process of a motor vehicle

Publication Date: 2018.12.26 MERCEDES BENZ GROUP AG

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AI summary

A method for assembling motor vehicles in which a drive train, chassis and floor module are pre-assembled and then connected to a shell of the motor vehicle. The floor module is pre-assembled in a first pre-assembly process and the drive train and the chassis are pre-assembled in a second pre-assembly process. The floor module, the drive train and the chassis are combined and then connected to the shell of the motor vehicle.