Question: A flexible manufacturing system is being planned. It has a ladder layout as pictured in Figure P10.1 and uses a rail guided vehicle system to move parts between stations in the lay-out. All workparts are loaded into the system at station 1, moved to one of three processing stations (2, 3, or 4), and then brought back to station 1 for unloading. Once loaded onto its RGV, each work part stays onboard the vehicle throughout its time in the FMS. Load and un-load times at station 1 are each 1.0 min. Processing times at other stations are: 5.0 min at station 2, 7.0 min at station 3, and 9.0 min at station 4. Hourly production of parts through the system is: 7 parts through station 2,6 parts through station 3, and 5 parts through station 4.

(a) Develop the From-To Chart for trips and distances using the same format as Table 10.2.

(b) Develop the flow diagram for this data similar to Figure 10.14. The From-To Chart developed here is used in Problem 10.4.

Problem: This is a continuation of Problem 10.1. Determine the number of rail guided vehicles that are needed to meet the requirements of the flexible manufacturing system, it vehicle speed = 60 to/min and the anticipated traffic factor = 0.85. Assume availability A = 100% and efficiency E = 1.0.