COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING A MANUAL ASSEMBLY SEQUENCE

• US 20090198365A1
• Filed: 02/04/2008
• Published: 08/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boss, Greg J., Finn, Peter G., Hamilton, Rick A., Seaman, James W.
• Granted Patent: US 8,417,364 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/108
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41805 characterised by assembly
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31027 Computer assisted manual assembly CAA, display operation, tool, result
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31034 Component identifier and location indicator corresponding to component
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A computer program product, apparatus and system are disclosed for managing a manual assembly sequence by electronically referencing unique identifiers associated with physical components to be assembled in the sequence. Certain embodiments facilitate management of an assembly of a consumer product. In one embodiment, RFID tags are used as unique identifiers. Such embodiments may use RFID tags to determine the presence of the components before each assembly step in the assembly sequence and to determine that the components are being assembled in sequence. Other embodiments determine whether the components are properly assembled after being assembled, that the distance between the components falls within a predetermined range, and/or that the components for an assembly steps is properly orientation with respect to other components.

Claims

1. A computer program product having computer usable program code executable to perform operations for managing a manual assembly sequence, the computer program product comprising:

instructing a human assembler to assemble a set of components for an assembly step of an assembly sequence, each component having at least one unique identifier;

confirming that the set of components is properly assembled according to the assembly step based on a reading that corresponding unique identifiers of two components of the set of components are positioned relative to each other in order to proceed to a subsequent assembly step of the assembly sequence;

instructing the human assembler to assemble a set of subsequent components for the subsequent assembly step according to the subsequent assembly step; and

confirming that the set of subsequent components is properly assembled according to the subsequent assembly step based on a subsequent reading that corresponding unique identifiers of two components of the set of subsequent components are properly positioned relative to each other.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising verifying presence of a set of components for an assembly step of the assembly sequence by referencing the unique identifiers associated with each component.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising detecting an incorrect component and instructing the human assembler to replace the incorrect component with a missing component that is a member of a component set for a current assembly step.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising prompting the human assembler to collect a set of subsequent components for the subsequent assembly step, in response to confirmation that the set of components is properly assembled.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein instructing the human assembler comprises exclusively presenting a single assembly step.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein instructions for a single assembly step comprise one or more of optional instructions and one or more required instructions.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising detecting that a set of components is not properly assembled and instructing the human assembler to correct an assembly of the set of components to satisfy the assembly step.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising receiving an override command of an instruction to correct an assembly step from the human assembler.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein instructing a human assembler further comprises presenting a set of instructions by way of an interface in communication with a computing device executing the computer program product, the set of instructions presented in a human language preselected by the human assembler.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the set of instructions comprise at least one instruction selected from the group consisting of audio instructions, video instructions, and text instructions.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising collecting assembly data for each assembly step in the assembly sequence.

12. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the assembly data to an external data collector.

13. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the unique identifiers comprise radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) tags.

14. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein manual assembly of components according the assembly sequence produces a consumer product.

15. An apparatus configured to manage a manual assembly sequence, the apparatus comprising:

an interface module configured to instruct a human assembler to assemble components of each assembly step of an assembly sequence;

a verification module configured to generate a verification that an assembly sequence can progress to a subsequent assembly step; and

a control module configured to sequentially present the assembly steps of the assembly sequence in response to the verification from the verification module.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a scanner configured to detect the unique identifiers of each component.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the scanner is configured to detect one of a position of each component, and an orientation of each component having at least one unique identifier.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the verification comprises at least one of presence of one or more components for an assembly step, and confirmation that the components for the assembly step are properly assembled.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a feedback module configured to transmit assembly data to an external data collector.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a measurement module configured to measure assembly data, the assembly data comprising at least one of assembly error rate, presence of incorrect component for an assembly step, the distance between components, and assembly step duration.

21. A system to manage a manual assembly sequence, the system comprising:

an assembly sequence comprising a set of assembly steps ordered in sequence such that assembly according to a manual assembly sequence produces a consumer product;

two or more components configured for assembly by a human assembler in completion of the assembly steps for the manual assembly sequence; and

an electronic assembly manager to manage the manual assembly sequence, comprising;

a processor;

a transceiver configured to wirelessly reference one or more radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) tags associated with the components;

a memory in communication with the processor, the memory comprising,

an interface module configured to instruct the human assembler to assemble components of each assembly step of the assembly sequence;

a verification module configured to generate a verification that an assembly sequence can progress to a subsequent assembly step; and

a control module in communication with the interface module configured to sequentially present the assembly steps of the assembly sequence in response to the verification from the verification module; and

a display in communication with the memory, the display configured to display one or more instructions to the human assembler.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the transceiver is configured to detect one of a position of each component, and an orientation of each component having at least one unique identifier.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising a feedback module for providing assembly data to an external data collector.

24. The system of claim 22, further comprising a measurement module configured to measure assembly data, the assembly data comprising at least one of assembly error rate, presence of incorrect component for an assembly step, the distance between components, and assembly step duration.