Adaptive indexing can help manufacturers increase the uptime of high-speed, continuous motion assembly systems.
Large, in-line continuous motion systems are often used for high-speed automated assembly. These systems can produce a large volume of products economically. However, one weakness of in-line systems is uptime. If one element of the system stops, the entire process stops, because it is often impractical to provide more than a short period of accumulation within the system.
High-speed machines use multiple workstations to perform intermittent operations. For example, four workstations may perform a task on parts that are stopped in front of them. A typical approach would have the parts indexed by four, or moved forward four times the spacing of the parts. Each workstation performs its task during a set dwell time before the next index cycle begins. If one of the workstations stops operating, then either the entire machine must be stopped to fix the problem, or 25 percent of the assemblies will be bad.