Effects of routing flexibility, sequencing flexibility and scheduling decision rules on the performance of a flexible manufacturing system

This paper focuses on a simulation-based experimental study of the interaction among routing flexibility, sequencing flexibility and part sequencing rules in a typical flexible manufacturing system (FMS). Two scenarios are considered for experimentation. Three routing flexibility levels, five sequencing flexibility levels and four scheduling rules for part sequencing decision are considered for detailed investigation. The performance of the FMS is evaluated using various measures related to flow time and tardiness of parts. The simulation results are subjected to statistical analysis. The analysis of results reveals that deterioration in system performance can be minimized substantially by incorporating either routing flexibility or sequencing flexibility or both. However, the benefits of either of these flexibilities diminish at higher flexibility levels. Part sequencing rules such as earliest due date and earliest operation due date provide better performance for all the measures at higher flexibility levels.