Abstract
This paper focuses on a simulation-based experimental study of the interaction among routing flexibility, sequencing flexibility and part sequencing rules in a typical flexible manufacturing system (FMS). Two scenarios are considered for experimentation. Three routing flexibility levels, five sequencing flexibility levels and four scheduling rules for part sequencing decision are considered for detailed investigation. The performance of the FMS is evaluated using various measures related to flow time and tardiness of parts. The simulation results are subjected to statistical analysis. The analysis of results reveals that deterioration in system performance can be minimized substantially by incorporating either routing flexibility or sequencing flexibility or both. However, the benefits of either of these flexibilities diminish at higher flexibility levels. Part sequencing rules such as earliest due date and earliest operation due date provide better performance for all the measures at higher flexibility levels.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
MacCarthy BL, Liu J (1993) A new classification scheme for flexible manufacturing systems. Int J Prod Res 31(2):299–309
Stecke KE (1985) Design, planning, scheduling and control problems in flexible manufacturing systems. Ann Oper Res 3(1):3–12
Browne J, Dubois D, Rathmill K, Sethi SP, Stecke KE (1984) Classification of flexible manufacturing systems. FMS Mag 2(2):114–117
Gupta YP, Goyal S (1989) Flexibility of manufacturing systems: concepts and measurements. Eur J Oper Res 43(2):119–135
Sethi AK, Sethi SP (1990) Flexibility in manufacturing: a survey. Int J Flex Manuf Syst 2(4):289–328
Vokurka RJ, O’Leary-Kelly SW (2000) A review of empirical research on manufacturing flexibility. J Oper Manag 18(4):485–501
ElMaraghy HA (2006) Flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing systems paradigms. Int J Flex Manuf Syst 17(4):261–276
Youssef AMA, ElMaraghy HA (2007) Optimal configuration selection for reconfigurable manufacturing systems. Int J Flex Manuf Syst 19(2):67–106
Katz R (2007) Design principles of reconfigurable machines. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 34(5–6):430–439
Pattanaik LN, Jain PK, Mehta NK (2007) Cell formation in the presence of reconfigurable machines. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 43(3–4):335–345
Deif AM, ElMaraghy W (2007) Investigating optimal capacity scalability scheduling in a reconfigurable manufacturing system. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 32(5–6):557–562
Bi ZM, Sherman YTL, Verner M, Orban P (2008) Development of reconfigurable machines. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 39(11–12):1227–1251
Kumar R, Kumar S, Tiwari MK (2005) An expert enhanced coloured fuzzy Petri net approach to reconfigurable manufacturing systems involving information delays. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 26(7–8):922–933
Li J, Dai X, Meng Z (2008) Improved net rewriting system-based approach to model reconfiguration of reconfigurable manufacturing system. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 37(11–12):1168–1189
Kannan M, Saha J (2009) A feature-based generic setup planning for configuration synthesis of reconfigurable machine tools. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 43(9–10):994–1009
Rahimifard A, Weston RH (2009) A resource-based modeling approaches to support responsive manufacturing system. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 45(11–12):1197–1214
Abbasi M, Houshmand M (2010) Production planning and performance optimization of reconfigurable manufacturing systems using genetic algorithm. Int J Adv Manuf Technol. doi:10.1007/s00170-010-2914-x
Renna P (2010) Capacity reconfiguration management in reconfigurable manufacturing systems. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 46(1–4):395–404
Chan FTS (2004) Impact of operation flexibility and dispatching rules on the performance of a flexible manufacturing system. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 24(5–6):447–459
Saygin C, Chen FF, Singh J (2001) Real-time manipulation of alternative routings in flexible manufacturing systems: a simulation study. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 18(10):755–763
Rachamadugu R, Nandkeolyar U, Schriber TJ (1993) Scheduling with sequencing flexibility. Decis Sci 24(2):315–341
Lin GY, Solberg JJ (1991) Effectiveness of flexible routing control. Int J Flex Manuf Syst 3(3–4):189–211
Barad M (1992) Impact of some flexibility factors in FMSs—a performance evaluation approach. Int J Prod Res 30(11):2587–2602
Lun M, Chen FF (2000) Holonic concept based methodology for part routing on flexible manufacturing systems. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 16:483–490
Garavelli AC (2001) Performance analysis of a batch production system with limited flexibility. Int J Prod Econ 69:39–48
Mohamed ZM, Youssef MA, Huq F (2001) The impact of machine flexibility on the performance of flexible manufacturing systems. Int J Oper Prod Manage 21(5–6):707–727
Shukla CS, Chen FF (2001) An intelligent decision support system for part launching in a flexible manufacturing system. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 18:422–433
Chan FTS, Chan HK, Lau HCW (2002) The state of the art in simulation study on FMS scheduling: a comprehensive survey. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 19(11):830–849
Haq NA, Karthikeyan T, Dinesh M (2003) Scheduling decisions in FMS using a heuristic approach. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 22(5–6):374–379
ElMekkawy TY, EIMaraghy HA (2003) Real-time scheduling with deadlock avoidance in flexible manufacturing systems. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 22:259–270
Chan FTS (2003) Effects of dispatching and routing decisions on the performance of a flexible manufacturing system. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 21(5):328–338
Kumar V (1987) Entropic measurement of manufacturing flexibility. Int J Prod Res 25(7):957–966
Wu NQ (2005) Flexibility to manufacturing process reengineering for mass customization. Int J Intell Control Syst 10(2):152–161
Chan FTS, Bhagwat R, Wadhwa S (2007) Flexibility performance: Taguchi’s method study of physical system and operating control parameters of FMS. Robot Comput-Integr Manuf 23(1):25–37
Turgay S (2009) Agent based FMS control. Robot Comput-Integr Manuf 25(2):470–480
Chan FTS, Chaub A, Mohan V, Arora V, Tiwari MK (2010) Operation allocation in automated manufacturing system using GA-based approach with multifidelity models. Robot Comput-Integr Manuf 26(5):526–534
Hutchinson GK, Pflughoeft KA (1994) Flexible process plans: their value in flexible automation systems. Int J Prod Res 32(3):707–719
Saygın C, Kılıç SE (1999) Integrating flexible process plans with scheduling in flexible manufacturing systems. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 15(4):268–280
Law AM, Kelton WD (2000) Simulation modeling and analysis, 3rd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York
O’Keefe RM, Kasirajan T (1992) Interaction between dispatching and next station selection rules in a dedicated flexible manufacturing system. Int J Prod Res 30(8):1733–1772
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Joseph, O.A., Sridharan, R. Effects of routing flexibility, sequencing flexibility and scheduling decision rules on the performance of a flexible manufacturing system. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 56, 291–306 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-011-3158-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-011-3158-0