The major thrust of this research is to explore the argument and generic concept of applying concurrent engineering concepts to the design of advanced manufacturing systems. The central theme is threefold: (1) to identify the framework and develop implementation guidelines necessary for robust manufacturing system design by concurrently considering critical issues including maintainability, reliability, decomposability, operation, and management; (2) to substantiate the "design for operation and management" concept through development and extensive experimentations of two realistic operation and planning models for flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), namely, the Part-Selection Model and the Tool Assignment Model; and (3) to lay solid groundwork for further research into the tools and modules to realize design for maintainability, reliability and decomposability. Advanced manufacturing technology, such as flexible manufacturing, is still a very expensive and high risk solution which demands an extremely customized approach to system design and configuration. It is not what an FMS user has purchased but how the FMS user will operate it in an overall and totally integrated way that makes the effective use of the new technology. The PI's industrial experience has provided a vivid testimony for the above statement. The plausible remedy is to revolutionize the typical process of acquiring a manufacturing system where the system designer (FMS supplier) passes down whatever is done to the operation personnel and wishing that the FMS will live up to the performance level as required by the management.
