A flexible manufacturing system simulator

Graduation date: 1987Most flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) presently in use have\ud generated only modest productivity increases in proportion to capital in\ud vested in the process, or they have not been favorably reviewed when compared to the investment costs of other improved manufacturing systems.\ud This thesis presents a simulator program which will assist manufacturers using flexible manufacturing systems to discover productivity\ud problems. The simulator, written in the FORTRAN language, is easy to\ud use. It will not require that users write FORTRAN code to operate the\ud system, but may be operated by users with no knowledge of either simulation or computer programming.\ud The simulator uses a question and response technique to encompass\ud the production parameters of the manufacturing systems it is intended to\ud simulate. It will be of particular utility in evaluating the use of alternative work stations and different types of material handling systems