Matching Demand and System Structure in Reconfigurable Assembly Systems

In the paper, a simulation-based technique is focused on that defines the boundaries and components of a reconfigurable assembly system according to historical order-streams. Fluctuating production volumes and “end-of-life-cycle” products require frequent revisions of the production structure applied, in order to gain production space and to level between capacity and throughput of the system. The proposed method separates the lowand high volume products and product families dynamically, by assigning to them the appropriate reconfigurable or dedicated production lines, respectively. A comprehensive industrial case-study and a new indicator on system’s operational behavior are presented as well. © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Professor D. Mourtzis and Professor G. Chryssolouris.