A conceptual framework for analyzing adaptable and reconfigurable manufacturing systems

Nowadays, market dynamics and the intense competition require manufacturing enterprises to cope with so-called `high velocity' markets. As a consequence, numerous studies aiming at quick and continuous adaptation of manufacturing systems have been carried out in order to render them more agile. This agility can be achieved through reconfigurable, adaptable and evolvable manufacturing systems, which have been studied by researchers according to various objectives and hypotheses. Despite the widespread literature on this field, we are not aware of a conceptual framework that could assist in analyzing, specifying, distinguishing and understanding these systems. Such a framework would also facilitate the classification of published works in this area. In this respect, we propose a formal framework to describe adaptable systems, which contributes to a structured definition of their underlying concepts. Concrete examples of existing solutions to adaptability, extracted from the manufacturing systems literature, are presented in accordance with the formalism suggested. The framework is generic enough to characterize a wide range of systems that can change their characteristics depending on the evolution of their production environment.