An automaticity indicator computation and a factory automation procedure

자동화 지표 계산 및 공장자동화 순서 결정을 위한 방법

The paper provides a methodology to obtain the automaticity indicator of a factory and the sequence of enabling technologies of factory automation. The automaticity indicator is the measure of the current automation status of a factory and can be used as a crucial criteria for the future automation schedule and investment. Although most industries have their own computation methods which usually consider the number of workers in the shop floor, this research covers five evaluation items of automation, such as, production facility, material transfer system, inspection and test system, information system, and flexibility. The detailed evaluation models are developed for each item. Automation sequencing prioritizes the enabling technologies of factory automation on the basis of several criteria which consist of two phases. The first phase includes the automation indicator and the second phase includes six sub-criteria such as production rate, quality, number of workers, capital investment, development duration, development difficulty. For this evaluation, AHP(Analytical Hierarchy Process) is introduced to prevent the decision maker's subject intention. As results of the automaticity indicator and automation sequence, the manager can save time and cost in building constructive and transparent automation plans.