CATS 2008 Coordinate Controlled Fixturing for Affordable Reconfigurable Tooling M. Jonsson 1 , H. Kihlman 1 , G.Ossbahr 1 Abstract: The design and manufacturing of fixtures and other dedicated tooling for positioning of workpieces are among the major cost drivers in product industrialization. The high cost is paired with the need to shorten lead time too allow rapid response to market changes and customer demands. This paper presents Coordinate Controlled Fixturing in relation to other fixturing methods, and to the earlier presented ART (Affordable Reconfigurable Tooling) concept. Coordinate Controlled Fixturing relies on a metrology system to control the positioning of either a fixture or the workpiece itself during fixture build-up. The ART-technology enables solutions for Coordinate Controlled Fixturing by means of flexible supports, so called Flexapods, attached in an easily reconfigurable frame - called BoxJoint. It can be adapted to both large and small changes of the workpiece. The advantage of this approach is that only the device in direct contact with the product needs to be configured accurately and that it can be done so online and onsite at low cost. Developed in collaboration with the aircraft industry (Saab AB and Airbus UK), the ART-concept is now applied and tried on other sectors, such as automotive and commercial vehicle together with other forms of Coordinate Controlled Fixturing. Keywords: Flexible fixtures, Reconfigurable fixtures, Modular fixtures, Fixtures, Tooling, Flexible manufacturing systems 1 Background The increase in global competition and more rapid changes in customer demands results in a trend of higher product variety and innovation, shorter product 1 Division of Production Engineering, Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping. SE-585 81, Sweden.