A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology,1993

In this study, a flexible approach to the part selection problem of the Flexible Manufacturing Systems is presented. Minimizing the work load imbalance on the machines in the system is the objective. Constraints are considered for the avaialable fixture types and total number of pallets in the system. Part mix and their production ratios are obtained as the result. A hierarchical due date check is presented for red lining jobs which have an early due date. The mathematical model does not consider secondary system characteristics like inter machine travel times or WIP dispatching rules, sequence of machine visits is also not considered. Hence, the model is in a sense aggregate. For modelling the secondary system characteristics and evaluating the performance of the flexible approach a simulation model is developed and a hypothetical FMS operating as a Flexible Flow System is considered. The simulation experiments are conducted to find the sensitivity of the system utilization to the secondary factors.