Title: Methodology for the design and control of flexible manufacturing cells

Authors: C. Luis, J. Blanco, M. Sebastian

Addresses: Manufacturing Engineering Section, Universidad Publica de Navarra, Campus de Arrosadía, 31006 Pamplona, Spain. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de La Rioja, C/Luis de Ulloa, 20 Logrono, Spain. ' Department of Manufacturing Engineering, UNED, Madrid, Spain

Abstract: The design of a flexible manufacturing system involves a complex process in which it is necessary to take into account many factors, and hence a more simple configuration has been developed as a first step in the global control of a manufacturing system. The configuration is based on cellular concept. Therefore, manufacturing cells are the bases for developing flexible manufacturing systems. In this paper, a methodology for developing flexible manufacturing cells is proposed, which integrates a series of methods and activities that characterise the implementation of manufacturing cells in typical operation systems. Also a deterministic model for batch manufacturing and part selection is proposed.

Keywords: flexible manufacturing systems; FMS design; flexible manufacturing cells; FMC control; automated manufacturing; manufacturing control; batch manufacturing; part selection; machine loading.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2005.007208

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2005 Vol.24 No.2, pp.68 - 74

Published online: 23 Jun 2005 *

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