Concept and Integration of Knowledge Management in Assembly Assistance Systems

The increasing diversity of variants and the high product complexity pose ever-greater challenges for manufacturing companies, especially in assembly. Therefore, assembly assistance systems are increasingly used to manage complexity in terms of guiding workers through assembly processes. Previous research work in this context has mainly focused on the assessment and improvement of typical assistance functions as well as their implementation. The integration of active knowledge management on both shopfloor and planning level illustrates a high potential for the extension and development of new assistance functions. However, the possibility of using informational assistance systems to implement active knowledge management in industrial assembly has not been sufficiently studied yet.