The effects of workstation flexibility on the (N × N) job shop problem

To obtain insight into the potential for improving FMS design and operation, workstation flexibility is examined using shop problems of various sizes. Simulation results show a near-linear relationship, with average performance improvement explaining 92% of the variation. The results are based on 58,320 simulations, 30 replications of each of the 1,944 combinations of sharing m workstations from 6 × 6 through 10 × 10 job shops. The strong probabilistic relations suggest that analytical methods of prediction may exist. The results provide practitioners with several guidelines for process plan development and FMS design and operation.