Modular change impact analysis in factory systems

Shorter product innovation cycles, high variant products, and demand fluctuation, as well as equipment life cycles and technology life cycles force manufacturing companies to regularly change their manufacturing system. In order to address this challenge, an efficient and structured change management is required. As change causes and factory elements are connected via a complex network of relations and flows, an essential step in change management is the evaluation of considered adjustments with regard to their effects on the current production system. Depending on the context of the application, change impact analysis must process specific inputs and deliver different results. Current approaches, however, each focus only on selected aspects of the versatility of change effects. To address this challenge, this paper presents a modular approach for the individual design of change impact analysis.