Discrete Manufacturing
The world of assembly and machining: automotive, electronics, machine tools, capital goods. Here reign robotics, throughput, flexibility and machinery safety. It is also the historical playground of Industry 4.0 — digital twins, OPC UA, MES.
The main families
OEMs & suppliers
Stamping, welding, paint, assembly lines. Massive robotics, part traceability, IATF 16949 quality. Convergence toward ISO 26262 on the vehicle side.
Assembly & semiconductors
PCB (SMT), test, cleanrooms for microelectronics. Very high precision, throughput and unit-level traceability.
Machine tools, intralogistics
CNC machining, collaborative robots, AGV/AMR. Machine building with CE marking and a safety file.
Key challenges
- Robotics & cobotics — robots everywhere; human-robot collaboration requires ISO 10218 and ISO/TS 15066 (power and force limiting).
- Machinery safety — every machine carries CE marking, a risk assessment and safety functions to ISO 13849 (PL) or IEC 62061 (SIL).
- Flexibility & Industry 4.0 — short runs, mass customization, digital twins, OPC UA, MES. Fast line reconfiguration.
- Traceability & quality — unit-level part traceability, zero defect, IATF 16949 quality in automotive.
Key technologies
Standards & references
Add the robotics standards ISO 10218 and ISO/TS 15066, automotive quality IATF 16949, and OPC UA for machine-to-machine interoperability.
Major players
Robotics
FANUC, ABB, KUKA, Yaskawa, Universal Robots, Stäubli.
Machine tools
DMG Mori, Mazak, Trumpf, Okuma, GF Machining.
Automation
Siemens, Rockwell, Beckhoff, B&R, Mitsubishi, Omron.
Automakers
Toyota, Volkswagen, Stellantis, BMW, Tesla, Hyundai.
Landmark facts
Robot safety was built, as elsewhere, after accidents — the founders of today's universal standards.
| Event | Year | Location | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Williams | 1979 | USA (Ford) | First worker killed by an industrial robot. Origin of robot safety standards and the protected work-zone concept. |
| Kenji Urada | 1981 | Japan (Kawasaki) | Emblematic robot accident in Japan. Accelerated the standards (now ISO 10218) on guarding and safe stop. |