Performance metrics for product flow configuration in a reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS)

Abstract

We propose a systematic approach for product flowconfiguration selection for reconfigurable manufacturing system(RMS) that considers ten industrially relevant most importantfactors. The paper first defines performance metrics for theidentified factors. A composite performance metric (CPM) hasbeen proposed, which accounts for all ten-performance metricsto assess the performance of RMS with the help of a combinedscore. The methodology of developing CPM applies analyticalhierarchy process (AHP) approach where weightage to each ofthe performance metric is also considered. To showcase theusefulness and feasibility of the CPM, it has been applied in anindustrial environment with the help of an industrial case study.Both the CPM and other metric scores were found to be quiteuseful to identify a suitable configuration out of the availablealternatives.