Axiomatic Design of Manufacturing Systems

Abstract This paper introduces the use of axiomatic design in the design of manufacturing systems. The twoprimary functional requirements of any manufacturing system are developed. These functional requirementsare used to analyze the design of four manufacturing systems in terms of system performance. The purposeof this work is to provide a new foundation for describing, determining and rationalizing the design of anynew manufacturing system. Introduction The motivation for the application of axiomatic design to describe the design ofmanufacturing systems is threefold. The first reason is that a revolution has occurred interms of the design and operation of manufacturing systems. This change is marked bymany of the methods spawned by the Toyota Production System and subsequently, thecharacterizations of lean and agile manufacturing. Academia and industry have notdefined the fundamental design principles that characterize the changes that haveoccurred. Industrial and business publications have largely enumerated characteristics ofsystems. These characterizations are often portrayed by buzz or catch words. To be ableto advance manufacturing system design and new manufacturing paradigms, the designprinciples must be understood.The second reason is that a methodology must be used to systematically relate the desireddesign outcomes (known as functional requirements in axiomatic design terminology) tothe design principles and design parameters that are used to achieve the desired result.Since systems embody a complex arrangement of physical elements characterized bymeasurable parameters with corresponding inputs and outputs [Black, 1990] and sincelarge systems must meet the time-variant nature of changing functional requirements, thecorresponding design parameters of a system must be adaptable over time [Suh,1995].The message is the need to be able to systematically propagate the functionalrequirements of system to the various facets of a system’s design. Specifically, withinmanufacturing systems we define the interactions that occur within the following facets orlevels within a system: production system level, manufacturing system, sub-system or