1.FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM

1.INTRODUCTION

In the middle of the 1960s, market competition became more intense.

During 1960 to 1970 cost was the primary concern. Later quality became a priority. As

the market became more and more complex, speed of delivery became something

customer also needed.

A new strategy was formulated: Customizability. The companies have to adapt to the

environment in which they operate, to be more flexible in their operations and to satisfy

different market segments (customizability).

Thus the innovation of FMS became related to the effort of gaining competitive

advantage.

First of all, FMS is a manufacturing technology.

Secondly, FMS is a philosophy. "System" is the key word. Philosophically, FMS

incorporates a system view of manufacturing. The buzz word for today’s manufacturer is

"agility". An agile manufacturer is one who is the fastest to the market, operates with the

lowest total cost and has the greatest ability to "delight" its customers. FMS is simply one

way that manufacturers are able to achieve this agility.

An MIT study on competitiveness pointed out that American companies spent twice as

much on product innovation as they did on process innovation. Germans and Japanese

did just the opposite.

In studying FMS, we need to keep in mind what Peter Drucker said: "We must become

managers of technology not merely users of technology".

Since FMS is a technology, well adjusted to the environmental needs, we have to manage

it successfully.

1

2.1.TRADITIONAL FMS:

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is an arrangement of machines....

interconnected by a transport system. The transporter carries work to the machines

on pallets or other interface units so that work-machine registration is accurate,

rapid and automatic. A central computer controls both machines and transport

system.

The key idea in FMS is that the co-ordination of the flow of work is carried out by a

central control computer. This computer performs functions such as:

Scheduling jobs onto the machine tools

Downloading part-programs (giving detailed instructions on how to produce a

part) to the machines.

Sending instructions to the automated vehicle system for transportation.

Products to be produced are manually loaded onto pallets at a load station, and the

computer system takes over, moving the product to the various processing stations using

automatic vehicles, which may be rail-guided, guided by wires embedded in the floor or

free-roving. After having visited all necessary stations, usually only two or three, the job

is taken back to the load station, where it is removed from the pallet and passed to the

next process.

2.1.FLEXIBILITY:A modern Flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is essentially an automated

manufacturing cell- a group of interconnected, numerically controlled machines with

automated material-handling capabilities and a shared control system. The automated

material-handling system must be capable of loading and unloading materials on the

Numerically Controlled (NC) machines, as well as transporting parts between them. An

FMS then is capable of making a wide variety of parts, even in small quantities, without

human intervention. Although flexible manufacturing systems are very expensive, they

can frequently be justified in the context of group technology. Without group

technology an FMS is likely to be underutilized and eventually to be removed.2

In a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) there is some amount of flexibility that allows

the system to react in the case of changes, whether predicted or unpredicted. Flexibility is

one of the benefits of small-batch manufacturing. It is the ability of a manufacturing

system to respond at a reasonable cost and at an appropriate speed, to planned and

unanticipated changes in external and internal environments. While a small-batch shop

may produce lower unit output than a shop dedicated to one or two lines, its strength is

that it can make a variety of different products in small volumes. The complexity of

coordinating manual small-batch production had, until the early 1980s, confined

automation of the manufacturing system as a whole to industries producing in large-

batches, with a small, slowly-changing range of products. Small-batch production relied

on stand-alone processing machines, which were coordinated by human operators and

schedulers. The complex nature of producing a wide-range of products brought what

were seen as necessary evils accommodated in the name of flexible manufacturing.

The flexibility is generally considered to fall into two categories, which both contain

numerous Sub-categories. The first category, machine flexibility, covers the system's

ability to be changed to produce new product types, and ability to change the order of

operations executed on a part. The second category is called routing flexibility, which

consists of the ability to use multiple machines to perform

3

2.2.NUMERICALLY CONTROLLED (NC) MACHINES:When the positions or paths of cutter tools are under the control of a digital computer, we

have numerical control .The feedback control paths emanate from the basic positioning

controls of the tools or work tables that determine the position of the

positions or paths of cutter tools are under the control of a digital computer, we have

numerical control .The feedback control paths emanate from the basic positioning

controls of the tools or work tables that determine the position of the cutters relative to

the work. These feedback control loops continually compare the actual position with the

programmed position and apply correction when necessary.

When two dimensions are controlled, we have position control, illustrated by the drilling

holes that must be positioned accurately. The drill tool can be moved in two dimensions

to achieve the desired position, after which the tool does the work to produce the hole.

Such a system can be programmed to drill a series of accurately positioned holes.

When position control is carried one step further, by controlling three dimensions , we

have contour control, controlling the actual path of the cutter. Contour control involves a

much more complex programming problem because curves and surfaces must be

specified. Contour control systems have great flexibility in terms of the part shapes that

can be produced as well as in the change of shapes from job to job. Instead of the part

being processed through a sequence of machines or machine-centers, it is often possible

to perform all the required operations with a single set-up because the cutter can be

programmed to make cuts along any path needed to produce the required configuration.

Very complex parts can be produced with a single set-up.

4

2.3.ADVANTAGES OF NC MACHINES:

One of the great advantages of numerically controlled systems is that the machine tool is

not tied up for long periods during set-up because practically all the preparation time is

in programming, which does not involve the actual machine tool. In addition, repeat

orders require virtually no set-up time. Thus, the field of applicability includes parts that

are produced in low volumes. Therefore, through numerically controlled processes,

automation is having an important impact on process technology for both high- volume,

standardized types of products and low- volume products(even custom designs).

2.4.COMPUTER NUMERICALLY CONTROLLED MACHINES:

The abbreviation CNC stands for computer numerical control, and refers specifically to a

computer "controller" that reads G-code instructions and drives a machine tool, a

powered mechanical device typically used to fabricate components by the selective

removal of material. CNC does numerically directed interpolation of a cutting tool in the

work envelope of a machine. The operating parameters of the CNC can be altered via a

software load program. CNC was preceded by NC (Numerically Controlled) machines,

which were hard wired and their operating parameters could not be changed. NC was

developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s by John T. Parsons in collaboration with the

MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory. The first CNC systems used NC style hardware, and

the computer was used for the tool compensation calculations and sometimes for editing.

3.0 THE INTERNAL WORKING OF FMS.

An Industrial Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) consists of robots, Computer-

controlled Machines, Numerical controlled machines (CNC), instrumentation devices,

computers, sensors, and other stand alone systems such as inspection machines. The use

of robots in the production segment of manufacturing industries promises a variety of

benefits ranging from high utilization to high volume of productivity. Each Robotic cell

or node will be located along a material handling system such as a conveyor or automatic

guided vehicle. The production of each part or work-piece will require a different

combination of manufacturing nodes. The movement of parts from one node to another is 5

done through the material handling system. At the end of part processing, the finished

parts will be routed to an automatic inspection node, and subsequently unloaded from the

Flexible Manufacturing System.

The FMS data traffic consists of large files and short messages, and mostly come from

nodes, devices and instruments. The message size ranges between a few bytes to several

hundreds of bytes. Executive software and other data, for example, are files with a large

size, while messages for machining data, instrument to instrument communications,

status monitoring, and data reporting are transmitted in small size.

There is also some variation on response time. Large program files from a main computer

usually take about 60 seconds to be down loaded into each instrument or node at the

beginning of FMS operation. Messages for instrument data need to be sent in a periodic

time with deterministic time delay. Other type of messages used for emergency reporting

is quite short in size and must be transmitted and received with almost instantaneous

response.

The demands for reliable FMS protocol that support all the FMS data characteristics are

now urgent. The existing IEEE standard protocols do not fully satisfy the real time

communication requirements in this environment. The delay of CSMA/CD is unbounded

as the number of nodes increases due to the message collisions. Token Bus has a

deterministic message delay, but it does not support prioritized access scheme which is

needed in FMS communications. Token Ring provides prioritized access and has a low

message delay; however, its data transmission is unreliable. A single node failure which

may occur quite often in FMS causes transmission errors of passing message in that node.

In addition, the topology of Token Ring results in high wiring installation and cost.

A design of FMS communication protocol that supports a real time communication with

bounded message delay and reacts promptly to any emergency signal is needed. Because

of machine failure and malfunction due to heat, dust, and electromagnetic interference is

common, a prioritized mechanism and immediate transmission of emergency messages

are needed so that a suitable recovery procedure can be applied. A modification of

standard Token Bus to implement a prioritized access scheme was proposed to allow

6

transmission of short and periodic messages with a low delay compared to the one for

long messages.

4.0 ADVANTAGES: Productivity increment due to automation

Preparation time for new products is shorter due to flexibility

Saved labor cost, due to automation

Improved production quality, due to automation

Faster, lower- cost changes from one part to another which will improve capital

utilization

Lower direct labor cost, due to the reduction in number of workers

Reduced inventory, due to the planning and programming precision

Consistent and better quality, due to the automated control

Lower cost/unit of output, due to the greater productivity using the same number

of workers

Savings from the indirect labor, from reduced errors, rework, repairs and rejects

The real strength of these FMS lay in the fact that they brought tremendous benefits in

inventory reduction (often 85%), quality improvement and lead time. In many

installations, the inventory reduction alone was sufficient to justify the investment in

hardware, software and system design effort.

7

5.0 DISADVANTAGES: Limited ability to adapt to changes in product or product mix (ex. machines are of

limited capacity and the tooling necessary for products, even of the same family,

is not always feasible in a given FMS)

Substantial pre-planning activity

Expensive, costing millions of dollars

Technological problems of exact component positioning and precise timing

necessary to process a component

Sophisticated manufacturing systems

5.1.NARROW PROCESS FOCUS:

8

The types of manufacturing processes suitable for integration into traditional FMS remain

limited: turning, milling and sheet metal work dominate FMS processes while many

other, less well automated, processes remain unintegrated. This is mainly because they

are not computerized at the machine level and are hence not yet ready for computer

integration at the system level. Nevertheless, even in metal cutting, with much wider

application of Computer Numerical Control, comparatively little output is due to FMS.

5.2TECHNOLOGICAL UNCERTAINTY:

When FMS were first introduced, the novelty of the integration technology naturally

made many firms "wait-and-see" until the technology had settled. This was particularly

true in the smaller companies. The technology of FMS has, at least in the West, not

become mature and well understood and many companies would still consider FMS All-

or-Nothing

The monolithic all-or-nothing nature of FMS increases the risk of projects, causing

companies to shy away. This is particularly true of those companies whose products are a

little different from those for which FMS has already proven itself --- the scale of the

effort required, in conjunction with their less standard processes is sufficient to dissuade

them from undertaking the project.

6. ROBOTICS TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 9

When it comes to robots, reality still lags science fiction. But, just because robots have

not lived up to their promise in past decades does not mean that they will not arrive

sooner or later. Indeed, the confluence of several advanced technologies is bringing the

age of robotics ever nearer – smaller, cheaper, more practical and cost-effective. Mr.

Norachai Nampring Mr. Sakol Punglae

6.1.BRAWN, BONE & BRAIN

There are 3 aspects of any robot:

Brawn – strength relating to physical payload that a robot can move.

Bone – the physical structure of a robot relative to the work it does; this

determines the size and weight of the robot in relation to its physical payload.

Brain – robotic intelligence; what it can think and do independently; how much

manual interaction is required.

Because of the way robots have been pictured in science fiction, many people expect

robots to be human-like in appearance. But in fact what a robot looks like is more related

to the tasks or functions it performs. A lot of machines that look nothing like humans can

clearly be classified as robots. And similarly, some human-looking robots are not much

beyond mechanical mechanisms, or toys.

Many early robots were big machines, with significant brawn and little else. Old

hydraulically powered robots were relegated to tasks in the 3-D category – dull, dirty and

dangerous. The technological advances since the first industry implementation have

completely revised the capability, performance and strategic benefits of robots. For

example, by the 1980s robots transitioned from being hydraulically powered to become

electrically driven units. Accuracy and performance improved.

6.2.INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS ALREADY AT WORK

The number of robots in the world today is approaching 1,000,000, with almost half that

number in Japan and just 15% in the US. A couple of decades ago, 90% of robots were

10

used in car manufacturing, typically on assembly lines doing a variety of repetitive tasks.

Today only 50% are in automobile plants, with the other half spread out among other

factories, laboratories, warehouses, energy plants, hospitals, and many other industries.

Robots are used for assembling products, handling dangerous materials, spray-painting,

cutting and polishing, inspection of products. The number of robots used in tasks as

diverse as cleaning sewers, detecting bombs and performing intricate surgery is

increasing steadily, and will continue to grow in coming years.

6.3.ROBOT INTELLIGENCE

Even with primitive intelligence, robots have demonstrated ability to generate good

gains in factory productivity, efficiency and quality. Beyond that, some of the "smartest"

robots are not in manufacturing; they are used as space explorers, remotely operated

surgeons and even pets – like Sony's AIBO mechanical dog. In some ways, some of these

other applications show what might be possible on production floors if manufacturers

realize that industrial robots don't have to be bolted to the floor, or constrained by the

limitations of yesterday's machinery concepts.

With the rapidly increasing power of the microprocessor and artificial intelligence

techniques, robots have dramatically increased their potential as flexible automation

tools. The new surge of robotics is in applications demanding advanced intelligence.

Robotic technology is Mr. Norachai Nampring Mr. Sakol Punglae converging with a

wide variety of complementary technologies – machine vision, force sensing (touch),

speech recognition and advanced mechanics. This results in exciting new levels of

functionality for jobs that were never before considered practical for robots.

The introduction of robots with integrated vision and touch dramatically changes the

speed and efficiency of new production and delivery systems. Robots have become so

accurate that they can be applied where manual operations are no longer a viable option.

Semiconductor manufacturing is one example, where a consistent high level of

throughput and quality cannot be achieved with humans and simple mechanization. In

11

addition, significant gains are achieved through enabling rapid product changeover and

evolution that can't be matched with conventional hard tooling.

6.4.BOOSTING COMPETITIVENESS

As mentioned, robotic applications originated in the automotive industry. General

Motors, with some 40-50,000 robots, continues to utilize and develop new approaches.

The ability to bring more intelligence to robots is now providing significant new strategic

options. Automobile prices have actually declined over the last two to three years, so the

only way that manufacturers can continue to generate profits is to cut structural and

production costs.

When plants are converted to new automobile models, hundreds of millions of dollars

are typically put into the facility. The focus of robotic manufacturing technology is to

minimize the capital investment by increasing flexibility. New robot applications are

being found for operations that are already automated with dedicated equipment. Robot

flexibility allows those same automated operations to be performed more consistently,

with inexpensive equipment and with significant cost advantages.

6.5.Robotic Assistance

A key robotics growth arena is Intelligent Assist Devices (IAD) – operators manipulate a

robot as though it were a bionic extension of their own limbs with increased reach and

strength. This is robotics technology – not replacements for humans or robots, but rather

a new class of ergonomic assist products that helps human partners in a wide variety of

ways, including power assist, motion guidance, line tracking and process automation.

IAD’s use robotics technology to help production people to handle parts and payloads –

more, heavier, better, faster, with less strain. Using a human-machine interface, the

operator and IAD work in tandem to optimize lifting, guiding and positioning

movements. Sensors, computer power and control algorithms translate the operator's

hand movements into super human lifting power.

6.6.NEW ROBOT CONFIGURATIONS 12

As the technology and economic implications of Moore's law continue to shift computing

power and price, we should expect more innovations, more cost-effective robot

configurations, more applications beyond the traditional “dumb-waiter” service emphasis.

The biggest change in industrial robots is that they will evolve into a broader variety of

structures and mechanisms. In many cases, configurations that evolve into new

automation systems won't be immediately recognizable as robots. For example, robots

that automate semiconductor manufacturing already look quite different from those used

in automotive plants.

Mr. Norachai Nampring Mr. Sakol Punglae We will see the day when there are more of

these programmable tooling kinds of robots than all of the traditional robots that exist in

the world today. There is an enormous sea change coming; the potential is significant

because soon robots will offer not only improved costeffectiveness, but also advantages

and operations that have never been possible before.

6.7.ENVISIONING VISION

Despite the wishes of robot researchers to emulate human appearance and intelligence,

that simply hasn't happened. Most robots still can't see – versatile and rapid object

recognition is still not quite attainable. And there are very few examples of bipedal,

upright walking robots such as Honda’s P3, mostly used for research or sample

demonstrations.

A relatively small number of industrial robots are integrated with machine vision

systems – which is why it's called machine vision rather than robot vision. The early

machine vision adopters paid very high prices, because of the technical expertise needed

to “tweak” such systems. For example, in the mid-1980s, a flexible manufacturing system

from Cincinnati Milacron included a $900,000 vision guidance system. By 1998 average

prices had fallen to $40,000, and prices continued to decline.

Today, simple pattern matching vision sensors can be purchased for under $2,000 from

Cognex, Omron and others. The price reductions reflect today's reduced computing costs,

13

and the focused development of vision systems for specific jobs such as inspection.

6.8.ROBOTS ALREADY IN USE EVERYWHERE

Sales of industrial robots have risen to record levels and they have huge, untapped

potential for domestic chores like mowing the lawn and vacuuming the carpet. Last year

3,000 underwater robots, 2,300 demolition robots and 1,600 surgical robots were in

operation. A big increase is predicted for domestic robots for vacuum cleaning and lawn

mowing, increasing from 12,500 in 2000 to almost 500,000 by the end of 2004. IBot’s

Roomba floor cleaning robot is now available at under $200.00.

In the wake of recent anthrax scares, robots are increasingly used in postal sorting

applications. Indeed, there is huge potential to mechanize the US postal service. Some

1,000 robots were installed last year to sort parcels and the US postal service has

estimated that it has the potential to use up to 80,000 robots for sorting.

Look around at the “robots” around us today: automated gas pumps, bank ATMs, self-

service checkout lanes – machines that are already replacing many service jobs.

Fast-forward another few decades. It doesn't require a great leap of faith to envision how

advances in image processing, microprocessor speed and human-simulation could lead to

the automation of most boring, low-intelligence, low-paying jobs.

Marshall Brain (yes, that's his name) founder of HowStuffWorks.com has written a

couple of interesting essays about robotics in the future, well worth reading. He feels that

it is quite plausible that over the next 40 years robots will displace most human jobs.

According to Brain's projections, in his essay "Robotic Nation", humanoid robots will be

widely available by 2030. They will replace jobs currently filled by people for work such

as fast-food service, housecleaning and retail sales. Unless ways are found to compensate

for these lost jobs, Brain estimates that more than 50% of Americans could be

unemployed by 2055 – replaced by robots.

14

6.9. PRODUCTIVITY:

In many applications, the productivity of the prospective system --- in terms of its output

with respect to its capital input --- is insufficient. Practical experience has also shown that

the utilization of the systems may be much lower than predicted when they were

designed, further reducing productivity. While productivity may not be the manufacturing

performance criterion most closely associated with the competitive focus of the system,

there are bare minima to be exceed in any industry. Without a reasonable level of

practical productivity (and hence return) from capital, the project will founder, perhaps

rightly, in the capital investment procedures of the firm.

6.10..SHALLOW LEARNING CURVE:

It takes a long time for an organization to learn about FMS technology. Much of the

technology is embodied in software integration, and software engineering is not a skill

which many manufacturing companies acquire quickly.

Second, the highly interdependent and specialized nature of the technology means that

integration is best handled by a very tight nucleus of people . While this might get the

job done at the outset (once these scarce people have been found), it often means that just

a few people hold the key competencies. This concentration of knowledge inhibits

learning in the organization as a whole.

The nature of the skills required means that these skilled people have often been imported

from outside the firm and owe it only fleeting allegiance. When they leave, they take

their skills with them, which further flatten the learning curve of the company.

6.11.LEVEL OF INVESTMENT:

The investment in FMS (as characterized by Ingersoll Engineers is often in the range of

$10 to 15 million). The amount of money needed to finance an FMS is thus a significant

barrier to its introduction, particularly in smaller companies. Smaller firms currently

perform most of the small batch work, so it is here where FMS would be most

15

appropriate. However, for most small firms, an investment in FMS would mean "betting

the farm". Quite reasonably, given the plethora of other difficulties, they choose not to.

6.12 INFLEXIBILITY:

The main disadvantage with FMS technology lies, paradoxically, in its inflexibility. FMS

are flexible in that they can, in the short-term, produce a range of known products.

However, the complexity necessary to automatically achieve short-term flexibility makes

it difficult to introduce new families of products into the system, and certainly much

more difficult than in a manual shop. Similarly, when new machines are to be added (or

old ones updated) it can be very costly. Changes in system configuration require time-

consuming, expensive alteration to software particularly in complex, Western systems.

These six reasons, in concert, marshal against the diffusion of current FMS technology.

This is not to say however, that these are sound reasons why FMS should not be

embraced. Many argue that the difficulties described above are the price one has to pay,

and that technologies such as FMS must be seen as a strategic investment --- the short-

term hurdles must be compared against the long-term strategic and intangible cost of

being ignorant of the technology. If this argument were truly compelling, one might

expect many more of the forward-thinking companies, whose competitiveness is tightly

linked to their small-batch effectiveness to have grasped the nettle, and to have adopted

FMS technology as a stepping-stone towards the future factory and as a strategic

investment in the flexible technology of the 21st-century plant

7.0 MASS CUSTOMIZATION MANUFACTURINGCompetition in the manufacturing industry over the next decade will be focused on the

ability to flexibly and rapidly respond to changing market conditions. With significantly

shortened product life cycles, manufacturers have found that they can no longer capture

market share and gain higher profits by producing large volumes of a standard product

for a mass market. Success in manufacturing requires the adoption of methods in

customer-acquisition and order-fulfillment processes that can manage anticipated change

with precision while providing a fast and flexible response to unanticipated changes

Many companies are confronted with the challenge of changing their strategic

16

orientations to meet demands of the current market place. Mass customization

manufacturing (MCM) is a solution to this challenge.

7.1.THE DESIGN:The design of an MCM system is an extension of the customer-centered concept in

fabrication. The design goal is to achieve a balance between product standardization and

manufacturing flexibility. Success in mass customization manufacturing is achieved by

swiftly reconfiguring operations, processes, and business relationships with respect to

customers’ individual needs and dynamic manufacturing requirements. It is thus critical

to develop a manufacturing system that will achieve this goal. A competitive

manufacturing system is expected to be flexible enough to respond to small batches of

customer demand .Because the construction of any new production line is a large

investment, current production lines must be able to be reconfigured to keep up with

increased frequency of new product designs. In MCM, each unpredictable feature

demanded by customers is considered an opportunity, whereas current system capabilities

may not be able to support new customer requirements. The key to adjusting the

manufacturing capability successfully is to reconfigure the system, developing and

integrating new functions when necessary.

7.2.CHALLENGES:The revolutionary MCM system is characterized by four challenging characteristics:

degrees of flexibility, production capability adjustments, modularization methods, and

dynamic network-control system structure.

7.3. DEGREES OF FLEXIBILITYThe traditional flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is based on numerically controlled

machines in addition to other value-added, automatic, material handling facilities. A

degree of flexibility within FMS serves to satisfy demands for a relatively diverse range

of products with a small to medium batch size production. Compared with FMS, more

part varieties are produced in a mass-customized production environment, and

manufacturing requirements are often dynamically changed. In addition, customer orders

come through more randomly with different delivery dates. Thus, an MCM system must

17

possess sufficient flexibility and rapid response capability to deal with complex

manufacturing situations.

7.4. PRODUCTION CAPABILITY ADJUSTMENTSThe expandability of production capability for traditional FMS is limited by the scope of

product families during design stages. It is usually a difficult task to renovate a FMS to

accommodate new features demanded by market changes. MCM requires rapid

adjustment of production capability based on customer demands. To accommodate ever-

changing manufacturing requirements, an MCM system needs to be equipped with rapid,

production-plan-configuration and resource-allocation capabilities. Since one of the

MCM philosophies is to face a certain level of unknown customized demands, a key

objective for the development of an MCM system is continuous satisfaction of customer

demand.

7.5. MODULARIZATION METHODSModularization methods in traditional manufacturing systems are often product-oriented,

where modules are grouped in teams with intercross functions. It is difficult for such a

system to change structures when products need to be changed and production capability

needs to be adjusted. In addition, the old modularization method is likely to cause inner

frictions when adjustments are performed. In an MCM system, it is more desirable to

categorize modules based on their functionalities: the greater the diversity of module

classifications, the better the system’s potential to satisfy different customized demands.

7.6.DYNAMIC-NETWORK-CONTROL SYSTEM STRUCTUREControl system structures in FMS are often constructed in a hierarchical mode. Modules

assigned at various closely interactive layers result in the limitation of the capability for

system reconfiguration, reliability, and system expandability. Moreover, the complexity

of this type of system structure will increase as the scope of the system increases. Stand-

alone technologies may not be sufficient to satisfy the operation of a highly complex

MCM system. Dynamic network control is needed to maximize the optimal potential

benefit. Because of the complexity in ever-changing manufacturing requirements and

18

flexible process routing, fixed and centralized control is almost impossible in a MCM

system. Dynamic and flexible network utilizations in MCM functional modules can

maximize the strength of each empowered resource, and hence, the overall risk and costs

are reduced.

19

CONCLUSION

FMS is a revolution in the field of manufacturing technology.FMS can be designed to

meet the specific demand of each company.FMS is used for multitask operation..FMS

required substantial investement of time and resources.FMS systems which deliver

directly into warehouse, and do not require labor . The use of robots that have vision, and

tactile sensing to replace human labor · Technology will make 100% inspection feasible.

Thus making faster process adjustment possible. · Computer diagnosis will improve

estimation of machine failure, and guide work crews repairing failures. · International

coordination and control of manufacturing facilities. · Customers have completely

custom orders made immediately, and to exact specifications, and at a lower cost ·

Networks will tend to eliminate the barriers caused by international borders · Standards

will be developed which make installation of a new machine trivial · Networking

between manufacturers and suppliers will streamline the inventory problems · Marketing

will be reduced, as customer desires are met individually, and therefore do not need to be

anticipated by research. · Finished goods inventories will fall as individual consumer

needs are met directly. · Better management software, hardware, and fixturing techniques

will push machine utilization towards 100% · The task of Design and Process Planning

will become highly automated, therefore reducing wasted time on repetitious design, and

discovering careless mistakes. · Simplification of systems overall - MRP, MPCS, etc. ·

More front end simulation · Computing power increases - more sophisticated tools

20

REFERENCES

ASKIN R. G., and STANDRIDGE C. R., 1993 “Modeling and Analysis of

Manufacturing Systems”. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

GROOVER, M. P., 2001. “Automation, Production Systems, and Computer-

Integrated Manufacturing, 2nd Ed”. Pearson education, Singapore.

KIM, Y. D., and YANO, C. A., 1997, Impact of throughput based objectives and

machine grouping decisions on the short-term performance of flexible

manufacturing system, International Journal of Production Research, 35 (2),

3303-3322.

Flexible manufacturing systems, European Journal of operational Research,

24(3), 369-378.

Hugh Jack 1993-2001, Automated Manufacturing Engineering on disk [Online],

Available: http://claymore.engineer.gvsu.edu

Jim Pinto, Fully automated factories approach reality [Online], Available:

AutomationWorld.com

Brian Huse, Finishing Cell Automation Considerations [Online], Available:

www.automationonline.com

Industrial robot management [Online], Available: www.9engineer.com

21