FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM (FMS) Once a Group Technology (GT) for the parts and products is available, a computer can be used to design the production operations, control the parts flow and control the machine tools * Divisional Manager, Ergo Tech Systems, USA, quoted by: Evelyn Brown, ‘Flexible Work Stations Offer Im- proved Cost-effective Alternative For Factory’, Industrial Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 7, July 1985. ** J.A. White, ‘Factory of Future will Need Bridges between its Islands of Automation’, Industrial Engineering, Vol. 14, No. 4, 1982, pp. 61-68. soeProduction and Operations Management ina small batch type of production situation. Such Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM)* is very useful for small-lot production. If the machine tools feature NC or CNC technology, it gives tremendous flexibility to the operations and numerous parts in the ‘family’ can be addressed with no change-overs. For an efficient and flexible manufacturing system (which could address a diverse requirement efficiently) the availability of a suitable material handling system is very important. When the material handling function between machines in such a GT cell is brought under computer control, we have a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS), Thus an FMS generally has the following three components: (@) CNC machine tools; ii) Computer controlled material handling system; and (iii) Supervisory computer control network. The structure of a flexible manufacturing system is shown in Fig. 39.1. FMS systems are generally very useful for production involving an intermediate range of variety and an intermediate amount of volume. ‘Supervisory Demers computer T T ar —— 1 Process Process Process Process Process controller controller controller controller controller CNC MIC NCC cNC WC. ‘or Robot ‘or Robot ‘or Robot Materials Products and parts warehouse ea Flexible Manufacturing System—A Structure Adapted from: RE. Young, ‘Software control strategies for use in implementing Flexible Manufacturing ‘Systems’, Industrial Engineering, Vol. 13, No. 11, Nov. 1981, pp. 88-96, The benefits of such automation include flexibility in producing variety and volume, low : setup times, high output rates and low process-induced variability in the output. In addition to the enhanced flexibility and speed, there is an improvement in the quality of the produce. \ Table 39.1 mentions these advantages. * Asa supplement to CAM there could be CAD (Computer Aided Design). The link between the physical design of the product and the design of the manufacturing process is very essential for increased efficiencies.Where is i fhere is Production and Operations Management Headed? 393 —— Advantages of FMS MACHINE FLEXIBILITY: Ability to produce new product Teal Ability to change sme eager on a part Hence the parts can be feud alerenty when sh Hv teni Garacil notin ene re in be routed differently when required. oe eealoas Centyto meet large scale changes in volume and varity. work by the central computer. High machine utilisation. Low setup times. } High output rates. Inventory reduction and ead time reduction due t + IMPROVED QUALITY: Low process-induced vaiiny ae » AUTOMATION: Can be operated without people. Can be programmed remotely. Therefore, the system can work under adverse environments. Enhanced safety of personnel due to above factors. Better quality of work-life for employees. » ROUTING FLEXIBILITY: However, for such automated systems, the capital costs and the maintenance costs could be high. FMS could be very flexible and effective within the range that itis designed for. But it is limited to the range of tasks and flexibility it is designed/programmed for. Machines, including robots—which are described next—have this inherent inflexibility. Human beings can have flexibility of the other kind; they can be trained for a broader varicty of tasks and they can be deployed at different places as they can be cross-trained, Inflexibility of Flexible Manufacturing Systems In this sense, paradoxically, flexible manufacturing system is ‘Inflexible’. When new machines are to be added, it can be very expensive. Changes in system configuration require time-consuming and expensive alteration to software. Successful FMS systems that have paid back in five years have usually been very small with less than four CNC machines. Large FMS systems (even medium ones) require very complex software in order to provide the machine and routing flexibilities. The complexity of the software needed to provide such short-term flexibility usually becomes a huge stumbling block for long-term flexibility. In today’s business-world, within a short span of five or less years, totally new products may be needed. Reconfiguring the FMS for these changed requirements would be extremely expensive. Complex, Expensive and Inflexible Software In an automatic system like FMS, failures must be anticipated and provision for the same should already be incorporated inthe software. Tool breakage, machine and vehicle failure are guite commen and the ways to get out of these difficulties must be incorporated into the software of the supervisory computer control network. Therefore, the supervisory computer’s Softee ee emore complex, expensive and inflexible for any further changes in the future, In a way, the software may become the ‘hardware’. What is needed is an improved computer software technology that is neither very expensive nor complex, but is able to do multiple complex and changing tasks. Although at the present we do not have such software technology, the future may witness a breakthrough in this technology.