THE DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) have promised many benefits but there is evidence that the implementation of FMS is often fraught with difficulty. One result is that the implementation rate of FMS is much lower than has been expected. The aim of this paper is to review the approaches that can be used to design an FMS. A review is given of the work done to date on the design of FMS in the areas of facilities design, material handling system design, control system design, and scheduling. In each instance, the major research and development issues are given. Through examining the tools and approaches that are used to design these four phases it is apparent that no integrated design methodology exists for FMS. The tools available are not specifically tailored for FMS and their unique integrated form. Because of the lack of integration, an FMS must be designed by examining the four phases independently even though the design decisions from each area affect the efficiency of the other areas.