Combined Manufacturing Lines feature a new Strategy in Flexible Manufacturing Systems

Abstract

In manufacturing and assembly the buffers are used on the one hand for the decoupling of process steps, on the other hand to avoid the negative effects of failures. The aim is always to reach an efficient work of the equipment with high throughput by good economy. Factories with identical manufacturing lines producing equal products or workpieces offer the possibility of applying the principle of the buffer network. The configuration of the new model is focussed on the combination of two common identical manufacturing lines which are combined by joint buffers. Initially, this combination entails a reduction of required buffer size which finally results in a reduction of original buffer capacities by half, reduction of space required, reduced effects of failures, economically practicable increase in throughput and thus a reduction in capital expenditure.