How is Quality of Assembly Assured?

Abstract

This article is a survey of the literature on how quality is assured in manual assembly in discrete-part manufacturing The literature is organized into systems that help assure assembly quality, and methods and practices that are used within these systems. A major finding in the literature review was that four management systems (production, quality, maintenance, and human resources) are important for assembly quality assurance, not just the quality system. The authors also provide a review of eight methods that were identified as supporting assembly quality, such as design for assembly, statistical and worst-case tolerance analysis, and various inspections and audits.

• assembly process
• manual assembly
• quality assurance

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robert G. Batson

Robert Batson is a professor of industrial engineering at the University of Alabama, where he teaches and performs research in statistical quality control, quality engineering, risk assessment, and reliability. In his 18 years at Alabama, he has held research contracts and grants worth more than $2 million with organizations such as BellSouth, Mercedes-Benz, NASA, and the FAA. In particular, Batson spent the 1999–2000 academic year on sabbatical at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International where he researched quality of assembly and quality in the manufacturing supply chain. Batson served as head of industrial engineering, 1994–1999, and is currently director of the Industrial Engineering Design Clinic at Alabama. Prior to joining the University of Alabama, he worked for five years as a systems engineer with Lockheed Corporation. He received a master's degree in mathematics from Florida State, and a doctorate in mathematics and a master's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Alabama. Batson is a registered professional engineer in California, and an ASQ Fellow. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].

Quan Wan

Quan Wan is a graduate research assistant in industrial engineering at the University of Alabama, where he received a master's degree in industrial engineering in 2000. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Fuzhou University in China in 1994, and was employed for four years as an engineer with Nanjing Electric Power Company in China.