Towards improving the performance of flexible manufacturing system: a case study
Abstract: Increasing global
competition has evolved a manufacturing environment which gleans vast product
variety, reduced manufacturing lead times, increased quality standards and
competitive costs. Simultaneously, with a rising trend toward globalization,
these manufacturing environments must be designed to cater new challenges to survive
and grow in the marketplace. To deal with such multifaceted problems, new
technologies support increased flexibility and automation. These objectives
intended for the improvement of the manufacturing environment have been the key
rationales for the introduction of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs). In
this paper a case study of a firm is presented with a contribution to suggest
some methods of performance improvement for a flexible system of manufacturing.
The study is based on the mathematical models illustrated in literature to
estimate possible performance parameters like maximum production rate, make
span time and overall utilization. Through this study, an effort is also made
to present the improved design for existing flexible manufacturing system
employed in the company. Various design and performance parameters are then
evaluated and compared for the existing and improved FMS.
Author: Ajay Singholi, Deepti
Chhabra, Mohammad Ali
Journal Code: jptindustrigg100018