FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

DEFINITION
A FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM (FMS) IS A SET OF NUMERICALLY CONTROLLED MACHINE TOOLS AND SUPPORTING WORKSTATIONS CONNECTED BY AN AUTOMATED MATERIAL HANDLING SYSTEM AND CONTROLLED BY A CENTRAL COMPUTER

ELEMENTS OF FMS
AUTOMATICALLY REPROGRAMMABLE MACHINES. AUTOMATED TOOL DELIVERY AND CHANGING AUTOMATED MATERIAL HANDLING COORDINATED CONTROL

FMS FEATURES
MANY PART TYPES CAN BE LOADED PARTS CAN ARRIVE AT MACHINES IN ANY SEQUENCE PARTS IDENTIFIED BY CODES MANY MACHINES CAN BE INCLUDED SMALL FMS LEAD TO FLEXIBLE CELLS

FMS FEATURES
EXPENSIVE TO IMPLEMENT BUT SAVINGS CAN BE SIGNIFICANT FLOOR SPACE REDUCIBLE BY 1/3 EQUIPMENT UTILIZATION UP TO 85% OR MORE DETAILED PRODUCTION SEQUENCE NOT NEEDED WELL IN ADVANCE

FMS FEATURES
REDUCED VARIABLE COSTS AND THROUGHPUT TIME LEAD TO ENHANCED MANUFACTURING COMPETITIVENESS ELIMINATION OF STARTUP CYCLES LEAD TO STANDARIZED PERFORMANCE MODULAR DESIGN

FMS FEATURES
REDUCED DIRECT LABOR COSTS THREE SHIFTS READILY FEASIBLE IDEAL FOR JIT CAN EASILY BE TURNED OVER TO NEW SET OF PRODUCTS IF THE NEED ARISES

MANUFACTURING FLEXIBILITY
BASIC
MACHINE (VARIETY OF OPERATIONS) MATERIAL HANDLING (PART MOBILITY AND PLACEMENT) OPERATION (VARIETY OF OPERATIONS PRODUCING SAME PART FEATURES)

MANUFACTURING FLEXIBILITY
SYSTEM
PROCESS (VARIETY OF PARTS PRODUCIBLE WITH SAME SETUP) ROUTING (ABILITY TO USE DIFFERENT MACHINES UNDER SAME SETUP) PRODUCT (CHANGEOVER) VOLUME (PRODUCTION LEVEL) EXPANSION (ADDED CAPACITY)

MANUFACTURING FLEXIBILITY
AGGREGATED
PROGRAM (UNATTENDED RUNNING) PRODUCTION (RANGES OF PARTS, PRODUCTS, PROCESSES, VOLUME, EXPANSION) MARKET (COMBINATION OF PRODUCT, PROCESS, VOLUME AND EXPANSION)

COMMENTS
DOES FLEXIBILITY REMOVE VARIABILITY FROM THE SYSTEM? NO, BUT IT ENABLES IT TO PERFORM EFFECTIVELY

COMMENTS
KEY ISSUE CAN A SYSTEM BE DESIGNED WHICH IS USEFUL OVER A SUFFICIENT TIME HORIZON, PART MIX AND SMALL CHANGEOVER TIMES SO AS TO OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE TO SIMULTANEOUS PRODUCTION OF MEDIUM VOLUME PART TYPES?

COMMENTS
THE PART TYPES ASSIGNED TO THE FMS SHOULD HAVE SUFFICIENT PRODUCTION VOLUMES TO MAKE AUTOMATION ATTRACTIVE BUT INSUFFICIENT TO JUSTIFY DEDICATED PRODUCTION LINES

ORIGINS OF FMS

LINK LINES (1960S) NC MACHINES AND CONVEYORS BATCH PROCESSING

ACRONYMS
FMS NC DNC CNC AGV JIT

FMS PRIORITIES
MEETING DUE DATES MAXIMIZING MACHINE UTILIZATION MINIMIZE THROUGHPUT TIMES MINIMIZE WIP LEVELS

FMS COMPONENTS
MACHINES PART MOVEMENT SYSTEMS SUPPORTING WORKSTATIONS SYSTEM CONTROLLER

MACHINES
PRISMATIC VS ROTATIONAL PARTS HORIZONTAL MACHINING CENTERS (HMC) AND HEAD INDEXERS (HI) TOOL MAGAZINES AND AUTOMATIC TOOL CHANGERS

PART MOVEMENT

CONVEYORS TOW CARTS RAIL CARTS AGVS

SUPPORTING WORKSTATIONS
LOAD/UNLOAD STATIONS AUTOMATIC PART WASHERS COORDINATE MEASURING MACHINES

CONTROLLER
COMPUTER WORKER (ATTENDANT) TRACKING SYSTEM FOR
PARTS MACHINES

PLANNING AND CONTROL HIERARCHY

DECISION MAKING PROCESS
WHICH INFORMATION SHOULD BE COMMUNICATED? HOW DO SYSTEM COMPONENTS COMMUNICATE?

COMPONENTS OF THE MANUFACTURING FACILITY

FACILITY SHOP CELL WORKSTATION EQUIPMENT

MULTILEVEL CONTROL HIERARCHY

TREE STRUCTURE OF THE HIERARCHY INFORMATION FLOWS ONLY BETWEEN ADJACENT LAYERS EACH LEVEL HAS ITS OWN PLANNING HORIZON AND DECISION TYPES Fig. 5.5 and Table 5.1 , p. 133

GENERIC CONTROL MODEL

GENERIC CONTROL STRUCTURE USED TO ACCOMPLISH PLANNING, EXECUTION AND FEEDBACK COMMANDS ARE RECEIVED FROM THE NEXT HIGHER LEVEL AND TASKS ARE BROKEN INTO SUBTASKS SUBTASKS ARE ASSIGNED TO COMPONENTS AT NEXT LOWER LEVEL

GENERIC CONTROL MODEL

SUBTASK MONITORING PERFORMED THROUGH RECEIPT OF STATUS FEEDBACK FROM LOWER LEVEL TASK STATUS INFORMATION RELAYED TO NEXT HIGHER LEVEL EACH CONTROLLER HAS A PRODUCTION MANAGER RECEIVING COMMANDS AND SCHEDULING TASKS

GENERIC CONTROL MODEL

QUEUE MANAGER MAINTAINED FOR EACH LOWER LEVEL COMPONENTS TO MANAGE ASSIGNED SUBTASKS DISPATCH MANAGER RECEIVES DISPATCH ORDERS AND MANAGES SUBTASK EXECUTION FOR EACH QUEUE MANAGER Fig. 5.6, p. 134

BASIC STEPS IN DECISION HIERARCHY

LONG TERM PLANNING OR SYSTEM DESIGN (PART TYPES & EQUIPMENT SELECTION) MEDIUM RANGE PLANNING OR SETUP (DAILY DECISIONS ABOUT PARTS & TOOLING) SHORT TERM OPERATION (SCHEDULING & CONTROL)

SYSTEM DESIGN
PROBLEM: SELECTING SYSTEM SIZE, HARDWARE, SOFTWARE AND PARTS FOR THE FMS SIZE & SCOPE ARE SELECTED ACCORDING TO CORPORATE STRATEGY HARDWARE & SOFTWARE SELECTED TO FIT SCOPE

SYSTEM DESIGN
PART SELECTION IS DONE ACCORDING TO AN ECONOMIC CRITERION & STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS KNAPSACK PROBLEM: LOAD THE FMS TO MAXIMIZE SAVINGS SUBJECT TO FMS CAPACITY

KNAPSACK PROBLEM
P = PRODUCTIVE TIME PER PERIOD
AVAILABLE ON BOTTLENECK FMS RESOURCE

pi = TIME PER PERIOD REQUIRED FOR

PART i

si = SAVINGS PER PERIOD IF PART

TYPE i

KNAPSACK PROBLEM

maximize i
subject to

si Xi

pi < P

SOLVING THE KNAPSACK PROBLEM

GREEDY HEURISTIC Example 5.1, p. 136 OPTIMIZATION Example 5.2, p. 138

SYSTEM SETUP
ASSIGNMENT OF OPERATIONS AND ACCOMPANYING TOOLING TO MACHINES PART SELECTION PROBLEM: BATCH FORMATION LOADING PROBLEM: SEQUENCING AND ROUTING OF PARTS

PART SELECTION
GOAL: PLACE REQUIRED PARTS INTO COMPATIBLE BATCHES SUCH THAT EACH BATCH USES ALL MACHINES REQUIRE A LIMITED NUMBER OF TOOLS ON EACH MACHINE HAVE SIMILAR DUE DATES FOR PARTS IN THE BACTH

PART SELECTION
GREEDY HEURISTIC: FORM BATCHES BY ARRANGING PART ORDERS BY DUE DATES PART ORDERS ARE SEQUENTIALLY ADDED TO CURRENT BATCH WITHOUT VIOLATING CONSTRAINTS BATCH IS THEN READY FOR LOADING Example 5.3, p. 140

Part Selection as a Mixed-Integer Program

Time phased set of part orders Dit for part i in time t Time available in machine j , Pj Time required by product i in machine j pij Number of parts of type i made in time t xit Number of tool slots in machine j , Kj

Part Selection as a Mixed-Integer Program

Number of tool slots required by tool l in machine j , klj Set of tools l required on machine j to produce part i , l j(i) Holding cost per period for part i hi Formulation: p. 142

Part Selection as a Mixed-Integer Program

Goal: Minimize inventory cost while meeting due dates Example 5.4 , p. 142

Incremental Part Selection

Several part types in process at any time System operates almost continuously Goal: Minimize makespan to complete all available part orders Procedure: Minimize idle time by balancing work loads subject to part demand and tool magazine capacity Formulation: p. 144

LOADING PROBLEM
BATCH TO BE PROCESSED IS KNOWN OBJECTIVES REQUIRED LOADING SOLUTION MUST BE ROBUST AND FLEXIBLE SOLUTION METHODOLOGIES
MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING (p.145) HEURISTIC APPROACHES (p. 148)

LOADING PROBLEM: HEURISTIC APPROACH

PHASE I : ASSIGN OPERATIONS TO MACHINE TYPES PHASE II:
OPERATIONS COMBINED INTO CLUSTERS TO REDUCE TRANSFERS MACHINE GROUPS FORMED OPERATIONS AND TOOLS ASSIGNED TO GROUPS

SCHEDULING AND CONTROL

BASIC PROBLEM AREAS
SEQUENCING AND TIMING OF PART RELEASES TO THE SYSTEM SETTING OF INTERNAL PRIORITIES IN THE SYSTEM ABILITY OF SYSTEM TO TAKE CORRECTIVE ACTION WHEN COMPONENTS FAIL

Flexible Assembly Systems

For the combination of raw materials and components into products with functional characteristics. Automated vs manned systems Example: Vibratory bowl feeders and vision systems Role of Design for Assembly