Considering Reconfigurability Characteristics in Production System Design

Abstract

Production systems must be easy to change in different configurations in order to meet the demands of e.g. changing product volumes and product types. In order to meet the demands efficient support for design of reconfigurable production systems that is easy to apply in an industrial setting is needed. The problem is to get an understanding of how the production system design process can capture and support the design of reconfigurable production systems with technology, organization, and personnel under consideration. The objective of this paper is to describe and define reconfigurability and discuss how reconfigurability characteristics better can be considered in the production system design process. A literature review is made in order to describe the RMS design research and what is characterizing reconfigurability. A case study has also been carried out in order to analyze how the reconfigurability characteristics were considered in a production system design process. The case study motivate a structured and systematic way to consider reconfigurability in the production system design process. A tentative structure of a support to concider reconfigurability in the production system design process is presented.