The Effective Implementation and Operation of Flexible Manufacturing Systems

Abstract

Industries worldwide are being confronted with a number of intertwined changes in their environments. Markets are making more stringent demands and competition is increasing. In effect, companies are required to meet demands for efficiency, quality and flexibility simultaneously. At the same time, an ever-growing number of new computer-aided technologies are becoming available, which are supposed to provide adopters with the opportunity to respond adequately to present competition and market pressures. However, many companies seem to have difficulties with organising the adoption and implementation of new technology effectively. In the paper, a model is described, which has been shown to be a practicable tool for the effective organisation of manufacturing innovation, using case studies of the adoption and implementation of Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) [1].KeywordsInnovation ProcessFlexible Manufacture SystemProcess PlannerOrganisational ArrangementSlack ResourceThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.