FMS designer: An expert system for flexible manufacturing system design

Implementation of flexible manufacturing technology in the batch manufacturing environment has created major problems for designers and engineers who are responsible for specification and design of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). The FMS desing task appears to be an excellent application for expert systems techniques. This paper describes current results of an ongoing research effort to develop an expert system which analyses the output from an FMS simulation model, determines whether operational and financial objectives are met, identifies design deficiencies or opportunities for improvement, and proposes designs which overcome deficiencies or exploit improvement opportunities. An overview of the FMS design expert system is given and a case study is presented to illustrate how the system operates. Areas for future research are also discussed.