Abstract:
Reconfigurability is an engineering technology that deals with the design and manufacturing
system to make required modifications to respond cost effectively to market changes. The idea of
“Reconfigurable Manufacturing system (RMS)” was evolved as a new paradigm in
manufacturing industry. The concept of RMS was introduced to sustain in global market by rapid
adjustment and modification of production capacity and system functionality in reaction to
abrupt market demands.
Manufacturing system has been evolved over the years to accommodate major design variations.
To respond to these high frequency variations and to stay competitive, there is a need of having
such type of manufacturing system that could cope with market trends and design changes
efficiently. Product’s design and its manufacturing capabilities are closely related, thus the
manufacturing system should be customized to cater all the design changes with suitable
manufacturing capabilities. Reconfigurable Manufacturing system has been recommended for
the turbulent market conditions because of its flexible and changeable nature. Literature reveals
that scalability and reconfigurability of RMS can be achieved at a maximum level through macro
process planning level. Co-evolution theories also illustrate that product, process and
manufacturing systems are inter-connected.
This research work is based on the co-evolution model in which optimal machine capabilities are
generated through the application of optimization technique. Based on these capabilities, system
is tested for reconfiguration in case of production changeovers. Considering the relevant change
drivers the degree of reconfigurablity in any case of application can be achieved. In this research
work two major objectives have been covered. First one is to anlyze the need of reconfigurablity
and second is to exemplify that how this reconfigurability can be carried out by generating
minimum machining capabilities. An algorithm has been developed using MATLAB and
verified on different manufacturing parts belonging to same part family. As a result of the
proposed methodology, an optimized reconfigurable framework can be achieved
