Planning of Robot Work Cell - Comparison of Alternative Scenarios

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to research the possibilities of adding automation on the product finalization stage of the production of plastic products in Finncont Oy. At the beginning of this thesis work practically all of the finalization work was conducted manually with mostly hand held tools. On the same time, the company was starting to feel pressure to automate some of the production processes; partly due to financial concerns and partly due to company image concerns. Some customers had even expressed their wishes for more automation in Finncont’s production system. During the project, product and production system analysis was conducted on the products of Finncont Oy. The analysis included reviewing product data such as drawings and work instructions and production data, mainly production volumes. A time study was performed for 10 most potential products. Concurrently to the product analysis a literature review was conducted on production systems, layouts and production processes. Based on the results of the product analysis and the literature review, two product groups were formed and three work cell designs were made. Two for group 1 and one for group 2.