Process flexibility under bill of material constraints: part II - structural properties and improving principles

作者：Hua Zhongsheng^*; He Ping

来源：International Journal of Production Research, 2010, 48(4): 1125-1142.

DOI：10.1080/00207540802534749

• manufacturing system
• process flexibility
• bill of material
• structural properties
• flexibility improvement

For the manufacturing system that consists of multiple assembly lines, this paper investigates the method of improving its process flexibility under bill of material (BOM) constraints. Based on the flexibility measurement developed in part I, generic characteristics of the capability configuration of assembly lines that ensure it more flexible are first investigated on two hierarchical and highly interrelated levels: the assembly line level and the system level. These characteristics are termed 'structural properties' of process flexibility under BOM constraints, which are valuable because they provide an effective way of improving flexibility of the manufacturing system through investing in limited operational flexibility of machines in the assembly lines. According to the obtained structural properties, guidelines for improving process flexibility on the two levels are then developed. The proposed guidelines can help the manager of a manufacturing system to make effective decisions on flexibility improvement without much computation effort. Results of simulation experiments illustrate that the proposed structural properties and guidelines are effective and widely applicable to real manufacturing systems.

• 出版日期2010
• 单位中国科学技术大学