Manufacturing flexibility can be generally defined as system ability to counter external and internal changes rapidly and cost-effectively. This concept has become a major issue for survival and development of firms operating in mechanical manufacturing line of business, and also one of the most effective leverages to attain the desired system performances both in terms of product quantities, costs and quality. This paper deals with the practical assessment of flexibility indexes in real manufacturing system; the aim being to investigate which and how commonly available manufacturing data can be used for this purpose, rather then proposing further theoretical measures to a well established framework. A careful literature review and the analysis of common data available have in fact pointed out that flexibility measures can be often determined only as a result of massive, expensive and ad hoc data collection campaigns. On the other hand, general manufacturing and costs available data, such as production mix, bill of materials, manufacturing and assembly cycles, ABC sales, and main costs elements, may anyway be helpful in evaluating some flexibility dimensions [1]. These themes have been empirically tested and experienced through the analysis of a real manufacturing case represented by a firm producing pneumatic equipment for automation. The case, for the issues presented, can be considered representative of how flexibility indexes, particularly machine flexibility one, can be built in modern firms of mechanical line of business. Main outcomes underline how meaningful and useful flexibility parameters can be determined using system common manufacturing data.
Machine flexibility measurement experience
BRAGLIA, MARCELLO;
1999-01-01
Abstract
Manufacturing flexibility can be generally defined as system ability to counter external and internal changes rapidly and cost-effectively. This concept has become a major issue for survival and development of firms operating in mechanical manufacturing line of business, and also one of the most effective leverages to attain the desired system performances both in terms of product quantities, costs and quality. This paper deals with the practical assessment of flexibility indexes in real manufacturing system; the aim being to investigate which and how commonly available manufacturing data can be used for this purpose, rather then proposing further theoretical measures to a well established framework. A careful literature review and the analysis of common data available have in fact pointed out that flexibility measures can be often determined only as a result of massive, expensive and ad hoc data collection campaigns. On the other hand, general manufacturing and costs available data, such as production mix, bill of materials, manufacturing and assembly cycles, ABC sales, and main costs elements, may anyway be helpful in evaluating some flexibility dimensions [1]. These themes have been empirically tested and experienced through the analysis of a real manufacturing case represented by a firm producing pneumatic equipment for automation. The case, for the issues presented, can be considered representative of how flexibility indexes, particularly machine flexibility one, can be built in modern firms of mechanical line of business. Main outcomes underline how meaningful and useful flexibility parameters can be determined using system common manufacturing data.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
