IMPLEMENTING NEW MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES - MANAGERIAL LESSONS OVER THE FMS LIFE-CYCLE

Research in manufacturing technology and its implementation is still largely in the developmental stage with the major contributions coming from surveys and case studies. Most of the case studies are cross-sectional and identify the major issues that a majority of manufacturers experience. The case situations described here constitute a vertical section instead, reporting on the managerial lessons learned from operating three flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) at different stages in their life cycles.