An integrated framework for combined designing dematerialised machine tools and production systems enabling flexibility-oriented business models

The investigated manufacturing system is a multi-product, automated, assembly production line composed of unreliable machines decoupled by finite buffers. Each product is an assembly of two components that are produced in sub-assembly lines before being assembled at an assembly machine. The performance of this system needs to be evaluated for different configurations that arise mainly due to the integration of a remote laser welding technology. This new technology promises, among other advantages, a much faster assembly than existing technologies. This makes it feasible to share assembly among many products with different possible production policies. The processing machines including the assembly machine are liable to fail randomly in operation thereby necessitating an evaluation method capable of accounting for stochastic behavior.