PRECEDENCE RELATIONSHIP GENERATION IS A CLASS OF PROBLEM WHICH IS CRUCIAL IN THE GENERATION OF MANUFACTURING OPERATION PLAN. THIS PAPER PRESENTS AN ALGORITHM TO DETERMINE THE PRECEDENCE RELATIONSHIPS IN TIME IN A MULTI- ITEM ASSEMBLY. GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS IN TERMS OF SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE PARTS WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER DETERMINE THIS PRECEDENCE IN RELATIONSHIPS. SINGLE ROBOT WORKCELLS ARE ASSUMED AT PRESENT FOR THE ALGORITHM AND IT IS ALSO ASSUMED THAT THE ASSEMBLY OPERATIONS CAN BE PERFORMED BY THIS ROBOT. ALL SUBASSEMBLIES ARE CONSIDERED DESIGNED TO BE STABLE AND MAINTAIN THEIR SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS AT ANY POINT IN TIME. A GRAPH-BASED APPROACH IS EMPLOYED TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM OF ASSEMBLY PLAN GENERATION. THE COMPONENT PARTS OF THE ASSEMBLY ARE STORED AS NODES IN THE COMPONENT CONNECTIVITY GRAPH AND THE PRECEDENCE RELATIONS BETWEEN THESE PARTS ARE STORED AS A DIRECTED ASS
