1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Delhi College of Engineering, Bawana Road, Delhi-110042 (India).
2Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Terchnology, Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016 (India).
This paper attempts at surveying the available literature on issues related to management of manufacturing flexibilities in the context of flexible manufacturing technology (FMT), comprising chiefly of advanced manufacturing systems (AMSs) such as flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs), computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems, intelligent manufacturing machines etc. In the preamble, the paper discusses various connotations of flexibility in general, manufacturing flexibility, measures of flexibility, opinions and trends in flexibe and agile manufacturing, and the types, suitability, and justifiaction of FMSs.Then the issues directly related to managing manufacturing flexibility - such as the technological, system-integration, organizational, managerial, strategic, interfacing, economic, and social - are discussed. State of the research and limitations of the existing approaches are outlined next and the paper concludes pointing out areas for further research.
connotations, flexibility, issues, management, manufacturing
