Technology & Engineering
Flexibility
Flexibility refers to the ability of a system or process to adapt to changing circumstances or requirements without requiring significant modifications. In technology and engineering, flexibility is often achieved through the use of modular designs, scalable architectures, and adaptable software frameworks. This allows for greater agility and responsiveness in the face of evolving user needs or market conditions.
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3 Key excerpts on "Flexibility"
- A. Raouf, M. Ben-Daya(Authors)
- 1995(Publication Date)
- Elsevier Science(Publisher)
Zelenovic(1982) gives a similar definition to what he calls as the application Flexibility. 2.22 Expansion Flexibility Browne et a1.(1984) [3] define this as the ability to easily add capability and capacity. Sethi and Sethi(1990) define Expansion Flexibility a~s the extent of overall effort needed to increase the capacity and capability of a manufacturing system when needed. This actually gives a measure of the time and cost required for the launch of a new l)rodllct or for adding extra capacity in case of existing 1)roducts. Azzone and Bertele(1987) define exl)ansion Flexibility ms the number of product mixes that the system can 1)roduce by adding new ~nachines. Gustavsson(1984)[22] gives it a different name as the lnachine Flexibility. This though as defined by Browne et al. is different in the sense that in the present case we are not concentrating upon the actual operations themselves. This has also I)een called as the long-t('rlll Flexibility l)y Warlle('ke and Steinhill)er(1982) [23]. 2.23 Design change Flexibility According to Bernardo and Zubair(1992)[14] Design change Flexibility is concerned with the fast implementation of engineering design changes for a particular part. For a system to possess design change Flexibility the product design, process plan- ning and manufacturing functions are to be integrated. Thus this 1)ermits the rapid and inexpensive implementation of engineering design changes for a particular part. A somewhat related measure is the produce Flexibility given in Azzonc and Bertch'(1987). They define it as the ability of the system to l)ro(luce new products with minimal cost. 2.24 Configuration Flexibility Configuration has been defined by Browne et al (1984) [3]as the ease of modification of the transportation system as new centres are added to the FMS or ms new products are added requiring new station to station movement.
eBook - ePubFlexible Manufacturing Systems
Planning Issues and Solutions
- Zubair M. Mohamed(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
Cox (1989), in a study of manufacturing strategies, reports that firms rank Flexibility behind productivity, delivery, and quality in importance for competitiveness. However, Flexibility was ranked first in the size of the strategic gap. That is, the difference between current capability and future Flexibility needs is perceived to be the largest area for improvement. Although productivity, delivery, quality, and Flexibility are critical measures of total manufacturing performance, Flexibility is not considered a primary objective. Cox attributes this discrepancy to two factors: (1) productivity, delivery, and quality are well understood and can be translated into comprehensible units such as dollar amounts, and (2) the concept of Flexibility is new, with no acceptable measurement, and consequently is treated on an abstract basis rather than on a concrete basis. This latter point becomes evident in the following discussions.A comprehensive review of the literature on Flexibility was first given by Mandelbaum (1978). He describes Flexibility as the ability to respond effectively to changing circumstances. Carter (1986) defines Flexibility as “Flexibility is a collection of properties of a manufacturing system that support changes in production activities or capabilities.”Flexibility has been defined in different ways by different academics. One consensus is that the Flexibility is multi-dimensional. To get a good perception of Flexibility, it was broken down into various types. The diversity and conflict that exist in the definitions of various types of flexibilities are evident in the works of Browne et al. (1984), Gupta and Goyal (1989), Carter (1986), Kumar (1986), Sethi and Sethi (1990), Swamidass (1988), Bernardo and Mohamed (1992), Suarez et al. (1991), Slack (1988), and Gerwin (1993) to name a few. Sethi and Sethi (1990), and Gupta and Goyal (1989) provide excellent reviews on various Flexibility types that exist in the current studies.Different types of FlexibilityThe concept of Flexibility is generally used loosely, but several studies have attempted to describe different types of flexibilities. Besides, current definitions are not precise and the same concept is given different names in different studies. These observations become readily apparent in the following discussions. Several studies are discussed; but first, eight types of flexibilities of Browne et al. (1984) are given.Machine Flexibility:
eBook - PDF- Bobbie Turniansky, A Paul Hare(Authors)
- 1998(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
If there is a problem, the employees seek to solve it themselves or in col laboration with other staff. If the work is going wel l, employees may walk around to find someone who needs help. The combination of self-supervision and func-tional flexib il ity has benefits for both management and employees. For management, it is functional in terms of smooth production flows. For employees, it led to increased job satisfaction and interest. This is not to say that there is no critic ism. As usual, a minority abused the system leading to low morale. Clark's article ends on a more pessimist ic note about the success of the plant. In 1 990, the market was hit hard by the recession and, in 1 992, several redundancies were announced. Technologica l Flexibility The demands on organizations to be more flexib le and the capabilities of the new production and information technologies to meet this demand are leading to more and more technological change in organizations. The main capabilities of micro-electronics based computing technologies are the capture, storage, manipulation and distribution of information. It is these capabilities that account for their use in admin istrat ive, service and manufacturing environments. These technologies have the advantage (and attendant dif ficulties) of being more than discrete improvements in existing technology. The FLEXIB IL ITY 73 electric typewriter was an incremental improvement on the manual one. The electronic typewriter, with its memory capabilities, started crossing the line from being a substitute innovation to being a radical innovation, although it was simple to ignore its new capabilities. The next step was the dedicated word processor, but the leap to computers with integrated capabilities to not only type and store documents but also to integrate data from different programs was a move from 'doing the task a little better' to 'doing the task in a radically different way' and to 'doing radically different tasks'.
Index pages curate the most relevant extracts from our library of academic textbooks. They’ve been created using an in-house natural language model (NLM), each adding context and meaning to key research topics.
