A method for planning industrial robot networks for automotive welding and assembly lines

Automotive robot network planning needs sound methods, new management style, and practices that are based on co‐operation, respect and trust. This is fundamental because networking means sharing and exchanging quality information at all levels of the enterprise. Robots working in welding and assembly lines need to communicate with each other, with their cell/line control computer, with the factory production control systems, with quality control systems, assuring that quality is checked at process level in order to gain valuable feedback from the shop floor. In this paper, we introduce some of the most important network planning and engineering/technology management principles and rules that robot networkers should keep in mind. In the follow‐up paper we illustrate actual simulation case studies and results, based on our established methods.