Characteristics of Flexible Manufacturing System

An FMS is a process technology that can product a moderate variety of products in modest volumes and can do so quickly and with high quality. Operating costs too can be reduced with an FMS, lower direct labour costs lead to lower manufacturing costs. These benefits, however are not free, FMS requires very large capital investments in equipment, planning and control systems and human resources.

An FMS is generally appropriate when:

1.  All products are variations of a stable basic design.
2.  All products utilize the same family of components
3.  The number of components is only moderate ( 10 to 50)
4.  The volume of each component is moderate ( 1000 to 3000 units annually ) but in lot sizes as small as one unit.

An FMS is most often used in manufacturing components that require several machining operations. A work station consists of a machines or a robot that performs a particular s class of tasks such as drilling holes, bedding metal in various directions and so on. Specialized tools are continuously available for one at a time use, and changed automatically by computers according to the unique requirements for each components as it progress through the system.