DEVELOPMENT OF FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM.

The Japanese economy has entered an era of less growth and lower increase in annual sales. To survive in this difficult environment, manufacturers are competing with each other by developing new products. Naturally, this has resulted in new requirements placed on production facilities when compared to those in periods of high economic growth. Production equipment must be flexible to quickly meet the rapidly changing diversified needs and demands of customers. To achieve high productivity, such equipment must be as highly automated and reliable as possible. In response to these requirements, many Japanese companies for the past several years have been installing and operating Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS). These systems consist basically of various NC machine tools and appropriate material handling equipment totally controlled by a computer. Refs.