Workplace Design and Resource Planning

Despite the steadily rising degree of automation in assembly, many of the tasks still need to be performed manually. This is because highly-complex assembly and handling tasks are still very difficult to automate. Furthermore, the types and volumes of products and product variants to be assembled stretch the economic viability of the degree of automation to its limits.

Fraunhofer IPA helps customers design suitable work systems that are tailored to individual company circumstances. We find the right balance between ergonomically-designed manual workplaces and fully-automated assembly systems. Depending on requirements, we start by analyzing the work task, design the assembly workplace together with the necessary equipment and resources and also assist with implementation and initial support. We base our work on the latest knowledge gained from ongoing research projects concerned with such topics as ergonomics, employee assistance with cyber-physical systems or challenges associated with the demographic change. We investigate automation potentials in a systematic way and implement them as simply and cost-effectively as possible according to the principles of smart lean automation.