Design of Robust, Reconfigurable Racking (R3) System for Vehicle Assembly

Abstract

Part specific racks are a major source of transportation and storage costs, and are responsible for nearly 10% of all part defects during automobile production. Racks are used to transport parts from metal-stamping locations and distribute them throughout manufacturing facilities. Current racks are designed for a specific part from a specific model, and do not accommodate for similar parts from other models. This requires each rack to be reconfigured annually for every new or updated model. Our goal is to design a Robust, Reconfigurable Racking (R3) System that can be used for one specific part family for vehicles of all different models and years.