3D Visual Work Instructions for Multi-Variant Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Managing work instructions in manufacturing environments is cumbersome due to their complexity and the need to handle multiple formats and variants of products, which complicates the assembly process and requires significant time and effort.
Innovation Solution
An enterprise system generates three-dimensional (3D) visual work instructions that simulate the assembly process, allowing for the creation of a superset of visual work instructions that can be reduced to specific subsets based on product variants, using a visual assembly planning system to define bill of materials, allocate components, and route information, thereby streamlining the assembly process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If work instructions are compiled and stored in multiple formats and multiple documents, then comprehensive coverage of all product variants is achieved, but managing work instructions becomes time consuming and cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges work instructions for multiple product variants into a single unified document. The system consolidates instructions that were previously scattered across multiple documents and formats into one comprehensive work instruction set that can be managed and displayed together, eliminating the need to handle multiple separate documents.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified work instruction document is designed to serve multiple product variants simultaneously. A single work instruction set contains conditional logic and variant-specific instructions that can adapt to different product configurations, allowing one document to fulfill the role of multiple specialized documents.
2Adaptability or versatility
If work instructions are subject to changes in design and manufacturing, then product updates are reflected, but managing work instructions becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary organization of work instructions by defining variant conditions and conditional logic in advance. By pre-structuring the work instruction document with conditional branches and variant-specific sections, the system prepares the framework for handling design changes before they occur, making subsequent updates more manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The work instruction system is designed to be dynamic and adaptive to changes. The unified document structure allows conditional instructions to be activated or deactivated based on product variants, enabling the system to adapt to design and manufacturing changes without requiring complete restructuring of the entire work instruction set.
3Ease of operation
If separate work instructions are created for each product configuration or variant, then specific instructions for each variant are provided, but managing work instructions becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple variant-specific work instruction documents into a single unified document. This merging maintains the specificity of instructions for each product configuration while eliminating the complexity of managing multiple separate documents. The unified document uses conditional logic to present the appropriate instructions based on the selected product variant.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a conditional logic framework as an intermediary between the unified work instruction document and the user. This mediator automatically determines which specific instructions to display based on the product variant, providing variant-specific guidance without requiring the user to navigate through multiple separate documents.
4Adaptability or versatility
If visual work instructions are generated for multiple product variants, then comprehensive assembly guidance is provided, but the complexity of configuring instructions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The unified work instruction document is segmented into variant-specific sections and conditional branches. Each product variant has its own designated section or conditional path within the unified document, allowing comprehensive coverage of multiple variants while maintaining organizational structure that reduces configuration complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and system are disclosed that generate configurable visual work instructions. In one aspect, information to assemble multiple variants of a product is compiled, determined by multiple routing operations and allocation of multiple components of the product to the multiple routing operations. A sequence of instructions to assemble the multiple variants of the product to verify an order of the multiple routing operations and the allocation of the components to the multiple operations may be simulated. Upon verification, a superset of visual work instructions corresponding to the sequence of instructions to assemble the multiple variants of the product may be generated. Upon receiving a request to assemble a desired variant of the product, a configuration including attributes associated with the desired variant of the product may be generated. Based on the configuration, the superset of visual work instructions may be reduced to a subset of visual work instructions.