Design of Advanced Manufacturing Systems: Models for Capacity Planning in Advanced Manufacturing Systems - Tapa dura

Since manufacturing has acquired industrial relevance, the problem of adequately sizing manufacturing plants has always been discussed and has represented a di?cult problem for the enterprises, which prepare strategic plans to competitively operate in the market. Manufact- ing capacity is quite expensive and its exploitation and planning must be carefully designed in order to avoid large wastes, or to preserve the survival of enterprises in the market. Indeed a good choice of ma- facturing capacity can result in improved performance in terms of cost, innovativeness, ?exibility, quality and service delivery. Unfortunately the capacity planning problem is not easy to solve because of the lack of clarity in the decisional process, the large number of variables involved, the high correlation among variables and the high level of uncertainty that inevitably a?ects decisions. The aim of this book is to provide a framework and speci?c methods and tools for the selection and con?guration of capacity of Advanced Manufacturing Systems (AMS). In particular this book de?nes an - chitecture where the multidisciplinary aspects of the designofAMSare properly organized and addressed. The tool will support the decisi- maker in the de?nition of the con?guration of the system which is best suited for the particular competitive context where the ?rm operates or wants tooperate. Thisbookisofinterest for academic researchers in the ?eldofind- trial engineering and particularly indicated in the areas of operations and manufacturing strategy.

This book presents a framework and specific methods and tools for the selection and configuration of the capacity of Advanced Manufacturing Systems (AMS). AMS include Flexible Manufacturing Systems, Dedicated Manufacturing Systems, and Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems. Starting from the characteristic of the competitive environment, the directions given by the company strategy, data regarding the products, and information regarding the different system architectures, the decision support system described here aids the decision maker by means of a formalized methodology that follows the various steps required to define the type and timing of 'capacity' acquisition and to define the detailed configuration of AMS along its life cycle. The decision making framework and tools illustrated in this volume combine decision-making theory, optimization theory, discrete event simulation and queuing networks. It will be of interest to graduate students and researchers involved in manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering and operations research.