Possibilities of a Microfactory in the Assembly of Small Parts and Products - First Results of the M4-project

The research in mini, micro and desktop factories originates from early 90's and has continued since then by developing the technological basis and different technological building bricks and applications in the field of high-precision manufacture and assembly of future miniaturized and micro products. This has paved the way to mini, micro and desktop factories which are seen as one potential solution for that kind of production by improving space, energy and material resource utilization and answering to the needs of design for postponement and customer-close customization and personalization. The research efforts done during these years are now increasingly leading also to commercialization and real industrial applications. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of the international microfactory research and to introduce in more detail the modular microfactory concept developed in the M4-project.