An automatic assembly system, a key tool for mass production, is generally composed of a number of workstations and a transport system. While the workstations perform some preplanned operations, the transport system moves the assemblies from one station to another. Usually an assembly is moved on a specially design carrier called a pallet. The device that fixes the position of an assembly on the pallet is called a fixture. If too many pallets are installed, the entire assembly systems can be forced down whenever a station is jammed. On the other hand, if too few pallets are installed, stations may be starved frequently. Therefore, one of the major challenge to a design engineer is to optimize the number of pallets installed. A typical example of automatic assemby systems is a disk washer assembly system which consists of more than forty stations. In this paper, we use first use simulation to study the performance characteristics of closed-loop assembly systems. Then, die statistical analysis of each decision factor will be presented. Finally, guidelines for optimization of pallets installation are presented.
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