Production degrees of freedom as manufacturing system reconfiguration potential measures

A. M. Farid, D. C. Mcfarlane

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    40 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    In recent years, many design approaches have been developed for automated manufacturing systems in the fields of reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs), holonic manufacturing systems (HMSs), and multi-agent systems (MASs). One of the principle reasons for these developments has been to enhance the reconfigurability of a manufacturing system, allowing it to adapt readily to changes over time. However, to date, reconfigurability assessment has been limited. Hence, the efficacy of these design approaches remains inconclusive. This paper is the first of two in this issue to address reconfigurability measurement. Specifically, it seeks to address ‘reconfiguration potential’ by analogy. Mechanical degrees of freedom have been used in the field of mechanics as a means of determining the independent directions of motion of a mechanical system. By analogy, manufacturing degrees of freedom can be used to determine independent ways of production. Furthermore, manufacturing degrees of freedom can be classified into their production and product varieties. This paper specifically focuses on the former to measure the product-independent aspects of manufacturing system ‘reconfiguration potential’. This approach will be added to complementary work on the measurement of ‘reconfiguration ease’ so as to form an integrated reconfigurability measurement process described elsewhere [1—5].

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1301-1314
    Number of pages14
    JournalProceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture
    Volume222
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 1 Oct 2008

    Keywords

    • holonic manufacturing systems
    • manufacturing degrees of freedom
    • multi-agent systems
    • production degrees of freedom
    • reconfigurability
    • reconfigurable manufacturing systems

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Production degrees of freedom as manufacturing system reconfiguration potential measures'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this