Ch.

#1
Introduction to Flexible
Manufacturing Systems (FMS)

March, 2020
Outline:

√ History of FMS
√ The Principle objectives of FMS
√ Basic Components of FMS
√ Flexibility in Manufacturing
√ Types of FMS
√ Types of FMS layouts
√ Adv. and Disadv. of FMS and,
√ Application areas of FMS
1.1. History of Flexible Manufacturing
System

In the beginning, there was not much competition and

so FM systems were not needed.

After WWII, market focused on consumer (not

manufacturer).

The first FM system was patent in 1965 by Theo

Williamson who made numerically controlled

machines.
 Cont’d…

Change in Manufacturing over time:

60’s - Efficiency in manufacturing
70’s - Efficiency and quality

80’s- Efficiency, quality and flexibility.

Thus, companies are forced to adapt itself
to:
Increased international competition
The need to reduce manufacturing cycle
time
Pressure to cut production costs
 Cont’d…

A new strategy was formulated

(Customizability). The companies have to
adapt to the environment in which they
operate, to be more flexible in their operations
and to satisfy different market segments.
Thus the innovation of FMS became related to
the effort of gaining competitive advantage.
 Cont’d…

FMS is considered as a natural evolution of the

technology of CAD/CAM which by itself evolved
by the integration of CAD and CAM.
MIT - USA is credited with pioneering the
development in both CAD and CAM.
The need to meet the design and
manufacturing requirements of aerospace
industries after the WWII necessitated the
development these technologies.
 Cont’d…

The first major innovation in machine control is the

Numerical Control (NC), demonstrated at MIT in
1952.
Early NC Systems were all basically hardwired
systems, since these were built with discrete
systems. Every NC machine was fitted with a tape
reader to read paper tape and transfer the program
to the memory of the machine tool block by
block.
Mainframe computers were used to control a
group of NC machines by mid 60's. This
 Cont’d…

By late 60's mini computers were being commonly

used to control NC machines. At this stage NC
became truly soft wired with the facilities of mass
program storage, offline editing and software
logic control and processing. This development is
called Computer Numerical Control (CNC).

A further development to this technology is the

distributed numerical control (DNC) in which
processing of NC program is carried out in different
computers operating at different hierarchical levels -
 Cont’d…

Robots were introduced to automate several

tasks like machine loading, materials handling,
welding, painting and assembly.
All these developments led to the evolution of
flexible manufacturing cells and flexible
manufacturing systems in late 70's.

A manufacturing cell in its broadest sense implies

the logical arrangements of standalone
manual or NC equipment into groups or clusters
of machines to process parts by part family,
 Cont’d…

Processing parts in the manufacturing cell

includes completing as much as the work piece
processing as possible within the cell before moving
it to the next sequential processing stock
inspection or assembly station.
Today the term “manufacturing cell is much
broader and further implies some level of
automated part loading, unloading, delaying or
exchange to the clustered machines.
Thus, these advancements in manufacturing led to
 1.2. FMS – Defn.
A FMS is multiple machines that are integrated by
an automated material handling system whose
operation is managed by a computerized control
system.

FMS consists of a group of processing work stations

interconnected by means of an automated material
handling and storage system and controlled by
integrated computer control system.

# FMS is called flexible due to the reason that it is

 Cont’d…

An Industrial FMS consists of robots, Computer-

controlled Machines, computers, sensors, and
other stand-alone systems such as inspection
machines as shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1 Illustrations of FMS

 Cont’d…

The FMS is most suited for the mid-variety & mid-

volume production.

Fig 3. Application Characteristics of FMS

What are the features of FMS?

 An FMS is distinguished from an automated

production line by its ability to process more
than one product style simultaneously.
 At any moment, each machine in the system
may be processing a different part type.
 FMS can let us make changes in production
schedule in order to meet the demands on
different products.
14
 Differences between
FMS and FMC
FMC FMS

 Has two or three  Has four or more

machines
machines
 Lack central
computer for control,  Larger and more

rather controlled by sophisticated computer

cell controller
control system
 Higher effect of
 Minimized effect of
machines failurity
machine breakdowns
15
 1.3. Objectives of FMS
The principle objectives of FMS are

1. To improve operational control through:

Reduction in the number of uncontrollable variables
Providing tools to recognize and react quickly to
deviations in the manufacturing plan
Reducing the dependence of human communication.

2. To reduce direct labor:

Removing operators from the machining site

Eliminating dependence on highly skilled machines

Providing a catalyst to introduce and support

unattended or lightly attended machining operation.

 Cont’d…

3. To improve short run responsiveness

consisting of:
Engineering changes

Processing changes
Machining downtime

Cutting tool failure

Late material delivery

4. To improve long-run accommodations

through quicker and easier assimilation of:
Changing product volumes
New product additions and introductions
Increase machine utilization
1.4. Basic Components of FMS

• The basic components of FMS are:

1) Workstations
2) Automated Material Handling
and Storage system
3) Computer Control System.
i. Workstations
In present day application, these workstations are
typically computer numerical control (CNC)
machine tools that perform machining
operation on families of parts.
The various workstations are:
i. Machining centers
ii. Load and unload stations
iii. Assembly work stations
iv. Inspection stations
v. Forging stations
vi. Sheet metal processing, etc.
 ii. Automated Material Handling and
Storage System
The various automated material handling systems are used to
transport work parts and subassembly parts between the
processing stations.

It consists of power vehicles, robots, conveyers,

automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and other systems to

carry parts between workstations.

The various functions of automated material handling and

storage system are:

Random and independent movement of work parts

between workstations

Handling of a variety of work part configurations

iii. Computer Control System (CCS)
It is used to control the activities of the processing
stations and the material handling system in the FMS.

The various functions of CCS are:

√ Control of each machine tools

√ Production control

√ Workpiece and tool control

√ Traffic control

√ Work handling system and monitoring

√ System performance monitoring and reporting

1.5. Flexibility in Manufacturing

Flexibility in manufacturing means the ability to deal

with slightly or greatly mixed parts, to allow variation
in parts assembly and variations in process
sequence and change the production volume.
There are three levels of manufacturing
flexibility.
1) Basic flexibilities
2) System flexibilities and,
3) Aggregate flexibilities
(a) Basic flexibilities

Machine flexibility: The ease with which a machine

can process various operations.
Material handling flexibility: A measure of the
ease with which different part types can be
transported and properly positioned at the various
machine tools in a system.
Operation flexibility: A measure of the ease with
which alternative operation sequences can be
used for processing a part type.
(b) System flexibilities
Volume flexibility :A measure of a system’s capability to be

operated profitably at different volumes of the existing

part types.

Expansion flexibility: The ability to build a system to

expand it incrementally.

Routing flexibility: It can define as capacity to produce

parts on alternative workstation in case of equipment

breakdowns, tool failure, and other interruptions at any

particular station.

Process flexibility: A measure of the volume of the set of

part types that a system can produce without incurring

(c) Aggregate flexibilities
Program flexibility: The ability of a system to run
for reasonably long periods without external
intervention.

Production flexibility: The volume of the set of

part types that a system can produce without
major investment in capital equipment.
Market flexibility: The ability of a system to
efficiently adapt to changing market conditions.
 1.6. Flexibility test

 Flexibility has three primary capabilities in the FMS; it must

have the capability: to identify and distinguish among the
different incoming part or product styles processed by the
system; of performing a quick changeover of operating
instructions; and of performing a quick changeover of physical
set-up.
 These capabilities are expressed in various ways in the FMS, which
can best be seen from an example such as is provided in Figure next.
 This figure depicts an automated manufacturing cell with two
machine tools and robot. The question arising from this figure is:
is it a flexible cell?
 To be considered flexible there are four reasonable tests that can
be applied to the system to determine its level of flexibility.
 Cont’d…

Flexibility test:
1) Part variety test— can the system process different part styles?
2) Schedule change test— can the system readily accept changes in
the production schedule, either in the product mix or the expected
production volume?
3) Error recovery test— can the system recover gracefully from
equipment malfunctions and breakdowns, so that production is not
completely disrupted?
 Cont’d…
 The system is flexible if we can answer “yes” to all of these questions, with

the most important criteria for flexibility being numbers 1 and 2. Numbers 3
and 4 are softer criteria that may be implemented at various levels.
 In Figure, the automated manufacturing cell with two machine tools and

robot shall be considered flexible if it:

1) can machine different part mixes taken from the carousel by the
robot;

2) allows for changes in the production schedule, without affecting the

operation of the robotic arm and the two machine tools;

3) is able to carry-on operating even if one machine tool breaks down;

and

4) can accommodate new part designs if the numerical control

programme to do so is written off-line and then downloaded by the
system for execution.
 1.7. Types of FMS
 FMS can be distinguished by how they perform, as
either processing operations or assembly operations.
 FMS are custom-built so that we may expect to find a
wide range of types have been implemented to suit
differing projects.
 Each FMS is customized and unique; however, we can
still define a types for FMS depending on:

1) the number of machines it contains; or

2) Level of flexibility (whether it is a dedicated or

random-order FMS, in terms of the parts it
processes.).
 i. Based on the Number of Machines:
1. Single machine cell:
√ It contains one machine (often
a CNC machining centre)
connected to a parts storage
system, which can load and
unload parts to and from the
storage system .
√ When it operates in flexible
mode, the system satisfies
three of the four tests for
flexibility—the exception
being error recovery, since, if
the CNC machine centre breaks
down, the system stops.
2. Flexible manufacturing cell: contains two or three
processing workstations (often CNC machining or turning
centres), plus a parts handling system. This set-up can operate
in flexible mode and batch mode, as necessary, and can readily
adapt to evolving production schedule and increased
production volumes. Since there is more than one machine,
error recovery is possible by re-routing the failed machine’s
intended parts for processing to the other two machines in the
system; and new part designs can be introduced with relative
ease into the set-up. The flexible manufacturing cell satisfies
all four flexibility tests.
3. Flexible manufacturing system (FMS)

> consists of four or more processing stations connected

mechanically by a common parts handling system and
electronically by a distributed computer system.

> FMS is larger than the flexible manufacturing cell, not

only in the number of workstations it may contain, but
also in the number of supporting stations in the system,
such as part/pallet washing stations, co-ordinate
measuring machines, storage stations and so on.

> Computer control is also more sophisticated; it includes

functions not found in the FMC such as diagnostics and tool
monitoring. The FMS satisfies all four flexibility tests.
 Cont’d…

Fig. Plan view of a seven-station flexible

manufacturing system
 Cont’d…

 A comparison of the three FMS types is illustrated

in Figure, where the number of machines is plotted
against metrics of investment, production rate
and annual volume.

Features of the three categories of flexible cells and systems

 ii. Types of FMS based on level of flexibility:

1) Sequential FMS: It manufactures one-piece part batch type

and then planning and preparation is carried out for the next

piece part batch type to be manufactured. It operates like a

small batch flexible transfer line.

2) Random FMS: It manufactures any random mix of piece

part types at any one time.

3) Dedicated FMS: It continually manufactures, for extended

periods, the same but limited mix of piece part batch types.

4) Engineered FMS: It manufactures the same mix of part

types throughout its lifetime.

5) Modular FMS: A modular FMS, with a sophisticated FMS,

1.8. Types of FMS layouts

I. Progressive or Line Type

II. Loop Type
III. Ladder Type
IV. Open field type and
V. Robot centered type
 i. Progressive or
Line type
The machines and handling system are arranged in a
line as shown in the Fig..
It is most appropriate for a system in which the part
progress from one workstation to the next in a well
defined sequence with no back flow.

The operation of this type of system is very similar to

transfer line type. Work always flows in unidirectional
path.
ii. Loop Type
The basic loop configuration is as shown in Fig..

The parts usually move in one direction around the

loop, with the capability to stop and be transferred
to any station.
The loading and unloading station are typically
located at one end of the loop.
iii. Ladder Type

The configuration is as
shown in Fig..

The loading and

unloading station is
typically located at the
same end.
The sequence to the
operation/transfer of
parts from one machine
tool to another is in the
 iv. Open Field Type
The configuration of the open field is as shown in Fig. The loading and

unloading station is typically located at the same end. The parts will

go through all the substations, such as CNC machines, CMMs and

wash station by the help of AGV’s from one substation to another.

v. Robot Centered Type
Robot centered type is a relatively new form of flexible
system in which one or more robots are used as the
material handling systems as shown in Fig.. Industrial
robots can be equipped with grippers that make them well
suited for handling of rotational parts.
 1.9. Adv. and Disadv. of FMS
implementation
Advantages:

Faster and lower-cost changes from one part to another

which will improve machine utilization.

Lower direct labor cost due to the reduction in number

of workers.

Fewer machines required—because existing machines

are highly flexible, and because of higher machine
utilization

Reduced inventory due to the planning and

programming precision.

Consistent and better quality due to the automated

control.
 Cont’d…
Disadvantages:
Limited ability to adapt to changes in
product or product mix

Substantial pre-planning activity

Expensive, costing millions of dollars
Technological problems of exact
component positioning and precise
timing necessary to process a
component
Sophisticated manufacturing systems.
 1.10. Application areas of FMS
The ff chart shows various applications areas in an
industry.
Summary

Flexibility in manufacturing system is one of the most

important issues of present scenario, to fulfill the desired

customer’s requirement & getting low cost and high quality

of product that enforced to adopting the FMS for various modern

manufacturing enterprises.

The basic of FMS is to convert & increases positivity

throughout the manufacturing process for achieving higher

productivity and best quality of product.

FMS consists of an integrated system of computerized

numerically controlled (CNC) machine tool , automated

material handling system operating under the controlled

computer , workstation, storage etc.

Self-Assessment Questions
1) What is meant by a flexible manufacturing
system?

2) What are the four tests for flexibility in FMS

research?

3) How are different types of FMS specified?

4) What are the basic components of FMS?

5) List the five categories of FMS layout.

6) What are the benefits of a successful FMS

implementation?

7) Cite the main application areas of FMS.

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