Implementation of Flexible Manufacturing Plants in Metal Working Industry

This paper discusses the role of the Flexible Manufacturing Plants (FMP) in the automation of manufacturing activities in the metal working industry with emphasis on the basic constituents of the FMP, i.e. Flexible Transfer Line (FTL), Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) and Flexible Manufacturing Cell (FMC). The paper investigates also, the FMP essential elements such as: computer integrated manufacturing, intelligent operation systems, robot systems, assembly systems, simulation systems, etc…, and the FMP's application in the medium size industries of medium varieties.

The paper also gives typical examples of designs and discusses the efficiency and economy of different flexible automated concepts.