Analysis of the Effects of Flexibilities on Scheduling a Flexible Manufacturing System Using Discrete-Event Simulation

This paper focuses on a simulation-based experimental study of the effects of routing flexibility, sequencing flexibility and part sequencing rules on the performance of a typical Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS). Three Routing Flexibility Levels (RFLs), five Sequencing Flexibility Levels (SFLs) and four Part Sequencing Rules (PSRs) are considered for detailed investigation. A discrete-event simulation model is developed to describe the operation of the FMS. The performance of the FMS is evaluated using measures related to flow time and tardiness of parts. The statistical analysis of the simulation results reveals that there is a significant interaction among RFL, SFL and PSR for all the performance measures.