Flexible

manufacturing
system

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is a manufacturing system in which there is some

amount of flexibility that allows the system to react in case of changes, whether predicted
or unpredicted.

This flexibility is generally considered to fall into two categories, which both contain
numerous subcategories.

The first category is called as Routing Flexibility which 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 Machine Flexibility which consists of the ability to use multiple
machines to perform the same operation on a part, as well as the system's ability to absorb
large-scale changes, such as in volume, capacity, or capability.

Most FMS consist of three main systems:

1) The "Work Machines" which are often automated "CNC machines" are connected by
2) By a "Material handling" system to optimize parts flow and

3) The "Central Control Computer" which controls material movements and machine flow.

The main advantages of an FMS is its high flexibility in managing manufacturing resources like
time and effort in order to manufacture a new product.

The best application of an FMS is found in the production of small sets of products like those
from a mass production.

Advantages

Reduced manufacturing cost

Lower cost per unit produced,

Greater labor productivity,

Greater machine efficiency,

Improved quality,

Increased system reliability,

Reduced parts inventories,

Adaptability to CAD/CAM operations.

Shorter lead times

Improved efficiency

Increase production rate

Disadvantages

Initial set-up cost is high,

Substantial pre-planning

Requirement of skilled labor

Complicated system

Maintenance is complicated

Flexibility
 e b ty

Flexibility in manufacturing means the ability to deal with slightly or greatly mixed parts, to
allow variation in parts assembly and variations in process sequence, change the production
volume and change the design of certain product being manufactured.

Industrial FMS Communication

Training FMS with learning robot SCORBOT-ER 4u, workbench CNC Mill and CNC Lathe

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

Machines, Computer 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 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.
CNC machine

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 types of messages used for emergency reporting are quite
short in size and must be transmitted and received with an 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 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 transmission of short and
periodic messages with a low delay compared to the one for long messages.[1]

Further reading

Manufacturing Flexibility: a literature review. By A. de Toni and S. Tonchia. International

Journal of Production Research, 1998, vol. 36, no. 6, 1587-617.

Computer Control of Manufacturing Systems. By Y. Koren. McGraw Hill, Inc. 1983, 287 pp, ISBN 0-
07-035341-7

Manufacturing Systems – Theory and Practice. By G. Chryssolouris. New York, NY: Springer
Verlag, 2005. 2nd edition.

Design of Flexible Production Systems – Methodologies and Tools. By T. Tolio. Berlin: Springer,
2009. ISBN 978-3-540-85413-5

References

1. Hary Gunarto, An Industrial FMS Communication Protocol, UMI (Univ. Microfilms International), Ann
Arbor, Michigan, 160 pp, 1988

External links

FMS video 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkddDUkKxsg)

FMS video 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qc0-yTXBts)

Agile management

Lean manufacturing

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Last edited 5 days ago by Pigment-Ink