Regulation of Photovoltaic Voltage

Manufacturing systems changed towards higher degrees of automation in the 1980s. Today's manufacturing systems again face a fundamental change. One of the key matters of this change is going to be the modularity of tomorrow's manufacturing systems. This article analyzes the industrial and technological background of this change from the perspective of a large manufacturing company in the automotive, consumer goods and automation industry. A seminal definition of modularity for manufacturing systems is given. A new categorization of manufacturing systems based on the granularity of their modules is presented. Within this categorization manufacturing systems are divided into standard-machine-based production systems, cell-based production systems, workstation-based production systems, and unit-based production systems. Advantages and disadvantages of the different concepts are discussed with respect to future requirements. Finally, challenges and trends of the future manufacturing technology are outlined.