Increasing operational flexibility using Industry 4.0 enabling technologies in final assembly

The manufacturing industry is facing major issues with growing competition and increasing demands from customers. This presents new challenges for companies, especially for final assembly operations to cope with these changing scenarios. One way to manage with these changes and respond to increasing demands is by improving operational flexibility. This can be achieved in many different ways, such as enhancing the source of operational flexibility through Industry 4.0 enabling technologies. This paper presents various Industry 4.0 enabling technologies that can be used to increase operational flexibility in final assembly. The technologies presented are based on proven examples of their application in final assembly for increasing flexibility.