Title: Evaluating the effect of machine and routing flexibility on flexible manufacturing system performance

Authors: Ajay Singholi; Mohammed Ali; Chitra Sharma

Addresses: Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Kashmere Gate, Delhi 110006, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, 202002, India ' Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Kashmere Gate, Delhi 110006, India

Abstract: The present market conditions require manufacturing systems to expand their actions under the dynamic and uncertain production environment. To deal with such conditions, new technologies support increased manufacturing flexibility and automation. Machine and routing flexibility are the most common flexibility types employed in manufacturing systems. This paper presents a framework based on Taguchi experimental design for evaluating the effects of varying levels of machine and routing flexibility on the performance of an FMS. The system performance measures considered are makespan, average waiting time (AWT), and average utilisation (AUR). Other factors that will affect the system performance are also investigated, such as number of parts and control rules. Results of simulation study indicate that number of parts and routing flexibility are the two most important factors influencing the FMS performance; however, there are some optimal combinations of factors that represent the best system performance under the given set of operating conditions.

Keywords: machine flexibility; routing flexibility; flexible manufacturing systems; FMS performance; Taguchi methods; sequencing rules; simulation; performance evaluation; experimental design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2013.056144

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2013 Vol.16 No.2, pp.240 - 261

Published online: 02 Jul 2014 *

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