Flexible manufacturing systems: a review of analytical models

This paper reviews recent work on the development of analytical models of Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMSs). The contributions of each of the groups concerned with model development are summarized and an assessment is made of the strengths and weaknesses of its modelling approach. A number of directions in which models require extension are outlined, in particular the representation of such aspects of FMS operation as the tool delivery systems, the blocking phenomenon, the transient behavior and the differences between flexible machining systems and flexible assembly systems. Further work is also required on the structure of FMS control and the integration with plant production planning and control.

[1]  D. T. N. Williamson,et al.  The Pattern of Batch Manufacture and Its Influence on Machine Tool Design , 1967 .

[2]  M. J. M. Posner,et al.  Closed Finite Queuing Networks with Time Lags , 1968, Oper. Res..

[3]  J. A. Buzacott.  The production capacity of job shops with limited storage space , 1976 .

[4]  Paul J. Schweitzer,et al.  Maximum Throughput in Finite-Capacity Open Queueing Networks with Product-Form Solutions , 1977 .

[5]  K. Mani Chandy,et al.  Approximate Methods for Analyzing Queueing Network Models of Computing Systems , 1978, CSUR.

[6]  Stephen C. Graves,et al.  A methodology for studying the dynamics of extended logistic systems , 1979 .

[7]  K. L. Hitz.  Scheduling of flexible flowshops , 1979 .

[8]  George K. Hutchinson.  Flexible manufacturing systems in the United States , 1979 .

[9]  M. Reiser,et al.  A Queueing Network Analysis of Computer Communication Networks with Window Flow Control , 1979, IEEE Trans. Commun..

[10]  J. Keilson.  Markov Chain Models--Rarity And Exponentiality , 1979 .

[11]  Frank Kelly,et al.  Reversibility and Stochastic Networks , 1979 .

[12]  Raymond A. Marie.  An Approximate Analytical Method for General Queueing Networks , 1979, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.

[13]  Yu-Chi Ho,et al.  A gradient technique for general buffer storage design in a production line , 1979 .

[14]  Gianfranco Balbo,et al.  Computational algorithms for closed queueing networks , 1980 .

[15]  John D. Spragins.  Analytical Queueing Models , 1980, Computer.

[16]  Kathryn E. Stecke,et al.  The optimal planning of computerized manufacturing systems , 1980 .

[17]  B. Parlett.  The Symmetric Eigenvalue Problem , 1981 .

[18]  J. Buzacott.  "Optimal" operating rules for automated manufacturing systems , 1980 .

[19]  Stephen S. Lavenberg,et al.  Mean-Value Analysis of Closed Multichain Queuing Networks , 1980, JACM.

[20]  J. A. Buzacott,et al.  Models for Understanding Flexible Manufacturing Systems , 1980 .

[21]  J. A. Buzacott,et al.  On the approximations to the single server queue , 1980 .

[22]  J. A. Buzacott,et al.  Open queueing network models of dynamic job shops , 1981 .

[23]  Ellen Louise Hahne.  Dynamic routing in an unreliable manufacturing network with limited storage , 1981 .

[24]  Isi Mitrani,et al.  The Distribution of Queuing Network States at Input and Output Instants , 1979, JACM.

[25]  E. Koenigsberg,et al.  The analysis of production systems , 1982 .

[26]  Thomas G. Gunn.  The Mechanization of Design and Manufacturing. , 1982 .

[27]  Didier Dubois,et al.  Heuristic methods based on mean-value analysis for flexible manufacturing systems performance evaluation , 1982, 1982 21st IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[28]  Ernest Koenigsberg,et al.  Twenty Five Years of Cyclic Queues and Closed Queue Networks: A Review , 1982 .

[29]  J. G. Shanthikumar,et al.  Application of level crossing analysis to discrete state processes in queueing systems , 1982 .

[30]  John A White.  The Factory of the Future , 1982 .

[31]  Ward Whitt,et al.  Approximating a Point Process by a Renewal Process, I: Two Basic Methods , 1982, Oper. Res..

[32]  J. George Shanthikumar,et al.  A Unifying View of Hybrid Simulation/Analytic Models and Modeling , 1983, Oper. Res..

[33]  W. Whitt,et al.  The Queueing Network Analyzer , 1983, The Bell System Technical Journal.

[34]  J. G. Shanthikumar,et al.  Heuristic analysis of closed queueing networks , 1983 .

[35]  Xi-Ren Cao,et al.  Perturbation analysis and optimization of queueing networks , 1983 .

[36]  R. Suri.  Implementation of sensitivity calculations on a monte carlo experiment , 1983 .

[37]  Didier Dubois,et al.  Using Petri nets to represent production processes , 1983, The 22nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[38]  Yves Dallery,et al.  A new approach based on operational analysis for flexible manufacturing systems performance evaluation , 1983, The 22nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[39]  Didier Dubois,et al.  A linear-system-theoretic view of discrete-event processes , 1983 .

[40]  Xi-Ren Cao,et al.  The phantom customer and marked customer methods for optimization of closed queueing networks with blocking and general service times , 1983, SIGMETRICS '83.

[41]  William L. Maxwell,et al.  A Modeling Framework for Planning and Control of Production in Discrete Parts Manufacturing and Assembly Systems , 1983 .

[42]  Gene H. Golub,et al.  Matrix computations , 1983 .

[43]  Stanley B. Gershwin,et al.  An algorithm for the computer control of a flexible manufacturing system , 1983 .

[44]  Kathryn E. Stecke,et al.  Heuristic loading algorithms for flexible manufacturing systems , 1983 .

[45]  Kathryn E. Stecke,et al.  Formulation and Solution of Nonlinear Integer Production Planning Problems for Flexible Manufacturing Systems , 1983 .

[46]  Y. C. Ho,et al.  A New Approach to Determine Parameter Sensitivities of Transfer Lines , 1983 .

[47]  P. Schweitzer,et al.  Part selection policy for a flexible manufacturing cell feeding several production lines , 1984 .

[48]  Stanley B. Gershwin,et al.  Performance of hierarchical production scheduling policy , 1984 .

[49]  Yu-Chi Ho,et al.  Optimization of large multiclass (non-product. form queueing networks using perturbation analysis , 1984 .

[50]  Stanley B. Gershwin,et al.  Short term production scheduling of an automated manufacturing facility , 1984, The 23rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[51]  Cynthia K. Whitney,et al.  Decision support requirements in flexible manufacturing , 1984 .

[52]  Stanley Gershwin,et al.  A control theorist's perspective on recent trends in manufacturing systems , 1984, The 23rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[53]  Rajan Suri,et al.  Modelling flexible manufacturing systems using mean-value analysis , 1984 .

[54]  C. K. Whitney,et al.  Sequential decision procedures for batching and balancing in FMSs , 1985 .

[55]  Stanley B. Gershwin,et al.  Flow optimization in flexible manufacturing systems , 1985 .

[56]  J. A. Buzacott,et al.  On Approximate Queueing Models of Dynamic Job Shops , 1985 .

[57]  J. A. Buzacott,et al.  Queueing models for a flexible machining station Part II: The method of Coxian phases , 1985 .

[58]  David D. Yao,et al.  Modeling a class of state-dependent routing in flexible manufacturing systems , 1985 .

[59]  J. A. Buzacott,et al.  Models of flexible manufacturing systems with limited local buffers , 1986 .

[60]  Kathryn E. Stecke,et al.  A Branch and Bound Approach for Machine Load Balancing in Flexible Manufacturing Systems , 1986 .

[61]  R. P. Davis,et al.  Flexible manufacturing systems: Characteristics and assessment , 1987 .