abstract
- The growing demand for smart, connected and electrified products across diverse industries is requiring increased production volumes in the wire harness manufacturing industry, significantly increasing the workload on wire harness assembly workers and raising concerns about their occupational health due to the well-known highly manual and non-ergonomic nature of their job tasks. This study addresses the research question on the technical feasibility and financial viability of semi-automating a manual wire harness assembly process for improved productivity and enhanced ergonomics using a collaborative robot (cobot) equipped with a computer vision system for flexibility as part of a wire harness collaborative assembly solution. The integration of cobots to support wire harness assembly process tasks aims to partially automate manual tasks, increase productivity and enhance occupational health for wire harness assembly workers. Process simulation software was used for the technical feasibility analysis of this study to answer the research question defined by performing ergonomic assessments and task optimisations in different types of wire harnesses serving various industries. Furthermore, the financial viability of this semi-automation approach was evaluated based on its potential return on investment.