Increasing customers ́ requirements together with the current trend of digitization in the spirit of Industry 4.0 puts pressure on manufacturing companies to increase both the flexibility and the performance of their manufacturing and logistic processes. This work presents the challenges in the introduction of AGV (Automatically Guided Vehicles) technology in production lines through two case studies from two different countries, Portugal and the Czech Republic. Both companies are from the automotive industry. Case study research aims to explore and understand complex phenomena. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the limitations and necessary conditions that must be considered when implementing AGV technology for automating selected logistic processes. Based on the data collected through multiple observations, a three-phase methodology considering technological, organizational and safety aspects is proposed as the main output. The basic scheme also includes the proposal of some critical success factors and key performance indicators that should be monitored in order to evaluate the efficiency of implementing this technology in future projects.

中文翻译：

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在生产线中引入 AGVS 的挑战：汽车行业的案例研究

不断增长的客户要求以及当前本着工业 4.0 精神的数字化趋势，给制造公司带来了压力，需要提高其制造和物流流程的灵活性和性能。这项工作通过来自葡萄牙和捷克共和国这两个不同国家的两个案例研究，提出了将 AGV（自动导引车）技术引入生产线的挑战。两家公司都来自汽车行业。案例研究旨在探索和理解复杂的现象。本研究的主要目的是调查在实施 AGV 技术以实现所选物流流程自动化时必须考虑的限制和必要条件。根据通过多次观察收集的数据，建议将考虑技术、组织和安全方面的三阶段方法作为主要产出。基本方案还包括一些关键成功因素和关键性能指标的建议，应监控这些关键性能指标，以评估在未来项目中实施该技术的效率。