Towards a generic design method for reconfigurable manufacturing systems: Analysis and synthesis of current design methods and evaluation of supportive tools
There is a lack of a design method for reconfigurable manufacturing and limited support for deciding which design approach and tools to apply. Publications on design of reconfigurable manufacturing are reviewed and a comparative analysis is conducted. A generic design method for reconfigurable manufacturing is synthesized based on the reviewed publications. Supportive design tools and approaches for each step in the generic design method are discussed. Practical implications in designing reconfigurable manufacturing and available supportive procedures and tools are discussed.