Evaluating the Implementation of the Component-Based System in the Automotive Sector

Current evaluations of manufacturing automation and systems technology are often focused on cost savings and the impact on resources such as information and human resources are often not given sufficient attention. Furthermore, evaluations are still largely ad-hoc. A structured method for evaluating the implementation of Component-Based manufacturing systems in the automotive sector is outlined in this paper. Although the Component-Based Approach (CBA) has been applied in the software industry for quite some time [1–4], it is still relatively new in the automotive sector in terms of the manufacturing control for machinery. The CBA has been adopted for developing a component based control system, which is targeted for replacing the centralized programmable logic control (PLC) based systems in transfer-line and assembly machine applications [5, 6]. The implementation of such an approach will inevitably brings with it many challenges and changes to the operation of an enterprise. Research conducted to understand the impact of these changes is outlined in this paper. The paper first looks into the CBA in the software industry and draws lessons from its development in that domain. This is followed by a description of the approaches used in this research, namely, knowledge elicitation, process representation, modeling, scenario testing and analysis of results. The information from the knowledge elicitation phase is being documented in the form of process representation and modeling, based on the CIMOSA process modeling approach. This is further supplemented with scenario based testing. A set of matrices, including business and human factors, is established for evaluation, and finally, observations and results from the research will be outlined.