Investigation of the Importance of Machine Sequence Flexibility on A Flexible Manufacturing System Performance

Abstract

Machine sequence flexibility is defined as the combination of operation and routing flexibilities in this study. Its importance in the performance level of a flexible manufacturing cell (FMC) is investigated in this study. Studies related to the effects of various flexibility types, such as routing flexibility, are available in the literature. For example, studies related to routing flexibility try to measure the effects of routing flexibility on the performance levels in the operation of manufacturing systems under their own manufacturing environments. Similarly, this study also aims to present a performance measurement model based on Taguchi methods to evaluate the effects of machine sequence flexibility factors on the FMC performance and obtain an optimum and robust performance level. Two crucial responses, such as manufacturing lead time (MLT) and surface roughness (SR) are analysed to optimize the FMC performance. Robot speed, cutting tool type, and work-part material type are taken as the three other input factors to show the importance of machine sequence flexibility with respect to the other inputs. The study presented in this paper points out that machine sequence flexibility is the most effective input factor among the four input factors in the performance of the FMC.