Axiomatic Design of Manufacturing Systems

The authors acknowledge the financial support for this research made available by the Lean Aircraft Initiative at MIT sponsored jointly by the US Air Force and a consortium of aerospace companies. All facts, statements, opinions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not in any way reflect those of the Lean Aircraft Initiative, the US Air Force, the sponsoring companies and organizations (individually or as a group), or MIT. The latter are absolved from any remaining errors or shortcomings for which the authors take full responsibility. © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996 This paper introduces the use of axiomatic design in the design of manufacturing systems. The two primary functional requirements of any manufacturing system are developed. These functional requirements are used to analyze the design of four manufacturing systems in terms of system performance. The purpose of this work is to provide a new foundation for describing, determining and rationalizing the design of any new manufacturing system. The motivation for the application of axiomatic design to describe the design of manufacturing systems is threefold. The first reason is that a revolution has occurred in terms of the design and operation of manufacturing systems. This change is marked b