A systems approach to flexibility and manufacturing systems analysis and design
Abstract
In today's dynamic, uncertain manufacturing environment, flexibility is one of the most sought-after properties for manufacturing systems. Despite this interest, and the fact that the last twenty years have witnessed the publication of a large amount of literature on the topic, flexibility remains poorly understood in theory and utilized in practice. This research is concerned with studying flexibility in manufacturing using a systems approach. An architectural framework for identifying the various types of flexibilities in manufacturing is first developed. The framework classifies flexibility types based upon three attributes: level of requirements specification, level of abstraction, and primitive flexibility type. Based upon this framework, twenty-nine different flexibility types are identified at four modeling levels, and suitable measures developed. To investigate the relationships between these flexibility types, a set of experiments are then performed. Various manufacturing system/product set combinations are generated, where all system designs are subject to the same capital constraint, and two levels of alternate routings are used for products. The flexibility measures at each modeling level are then generated for each system/product set combination. The results of the experimental analysis indicate a high level of correlation between the flexibility types and the design factors, and establish the nature of the trade-offs which may occur between the various flexibility types. In particular, it was found that capability-capacity trade-offs are not unavoidable in manufacturing system design, and that increased product routing flexibility has both positive and negative effects on the various system flexibility measures.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Moodie, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Industrial engineering|Systems design
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