Comparative analysis of the manual and robotic upholstery frame assembly processes. Study based on many years of research

Abstract

A robotization of assembly is the real implementation of Industry 4.0 in the furniture industry. The robotization objective is to obtain favorable values of production process parameters (performance, productivity, quality) and to improve human wellbeing at work. Our aim was to present and compare the quality parameters of a selected furniture production process, performed in a very long series, containing more than 30 thousand products. The analysis included the results of the long-term measurements of the quality level of upholstery frames produced by the modified and improved, on the basis of operational conclusions, robotized line for the serial production of upholstery frames and by the simultaneously used nonrobotic line for assembly of frames of the same construction. The results obtained show that robotized assembly leads to a much lower percentage of defective products than in the case of the nonrobotic technology, the causes and types of defects in the products are also different, and it is easier to prevent these defects and remove them. The cognitive findings identified problems and challenges, not found in traditional technologies, caused by the using of manufacturing robots in furniture production.