How to Design Assembly Instructions

Employees in mixed-model assembly perform much informational work by constantly making decisions about the part to be assembled, the tool to be used or the working method to be applied. The proportion of informational work in manual assembly is likely to increase, since more and more products are configured according to customer demands and additional functions are integrated. Whereas assembly has so far been understood primarily as energetic work, the informational aspects of assembly work will have to be considered to a greater extent in the future. Assembly system design is thus more and more a domain of cognitive ergonomics, whereas in the past the focus was on biomechanical aspects. Taking this into consideration, the design of assembly instructions in line with individual requirements is becoming increasingly important. This article therefore discusses important design principles of such instructions.