Methods and Application of FMS System

The concept of flexible automation is applicable to a variety of manufacturing operations. In this section, some of practical applications of flexible manufacturing systems are presented & their layouts are provided:

System with Linear Track

Systems with linear tracks usually have only one vehicle. Most frequently utilized vehicle in such systems is rail-guided vehicle; though an AGV might also be utilized. The physical layout of a simple FMS along linear track, employed at Anreson Strathclyde plc 12, in Motherwell, near Glasgow in Scotland, is specified in Figure. There are five machines, each with a tool magazine of 100 tools capacity. Four of them are the same, while fifth one has facing head, needed for certain operations. Each of machine has two pallet stands providing on-queue & off-queue buffers. The load/unload area constitute two pallet stands & some work stands, where the part is put into the fixture, before putting it on the pallet at one of the pallet stands.

There are 13 identical pallets, and an AGV that might handle one pallet at a time and travel through a track along no branches. The main problem with this specific kind of system is that, there are no places for storing the pallets along part-machined components except pallet stands at the machine centres & load/unload area.