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- Aboufazeli, N., et al.
(author)
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Ease of Reconfigurability Index : For Evaluation of the Reconfigurable Machine Tools
- 2012
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- One of the latest developments in manufacturing systems is reconfigurable manufacturing systems in which reconfigurable machine tools are the heart of such systems. The aim of application of this type of machine tool is having rapid cost-effective responsiveness to changes in new product variants or volume in manufacturing companies because of different interests, needs and desires of customers in global competitive market. The important tools to implement this kind of systems are systematic methodologies and enablers like open architecture controllers, Interface standard and comprehensive and integrated software to make the couple of limited optimized configurations of the machine tool. To choose the best configuration among proposed configuration by the software we need some evaluation methods based on smart chosen criteria to choose the best modular machine tool structure. One of the important points to choose the best configuration is ease of reconfigurability. The aim of this paper is to introduce a flexible and practical index for different products in reconfigurable manufacturing systems. This Index is defined based on two important factors: number of the changeable modules and the complexity of the interfaces including mechanical, informational and power (hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical).Generally the more number of the modules and the more complex interfaces means the more difficult to reconfigure the machine tool structure.
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