It is apparent that traditional capital budgeting methods are not adequate for the economic justification of Flexible Manufacturing Systems(FMS). In order to justify FMS, it is required to evaluate all the relavent, economic criteria of introducing FM...
It is apparent that traditional capital budgeting methods are not adequate for the economic justification of Flexible Manufacturing Systems(FMS). In order to justify FMS, it is required to evaluate all the relavent, economic criteria of introducing FMS, there some of the factors are difficult to quantify.
Two hierarchical models are proposed. The one is a preliminary model to study the strategic effect of introducing FMS. The other is a tactical model to evaluate the economics of alternatives of FMS with specific layout produced by a system simulation model. Both models are developed by the Analytic Hierarchy Process.
Case studies for the models are presented and an interactive computer package has bee developed for decision makers who want to justify investments in FMS.