The number one advantage of this type of manufacturing is that automated pallet delivery keeps the spindle cutting parts. Improved resource utilization is another key benefit. Flexible manufacturing reduces part travel, which in turn improves operator utilization by up to 50 percent. Fixture are used and shared across multiple machines providing lower fixture costs. Reduced labor cost are also possible with flexible manufacturing.
Operator can control multiple machines and can be used in other value added tasks.
Flexible machining operations continue the cutting process through breaks and lunch and can also operate unattended during off shifts. Flexible manufacturing cell can also optimize information retrieval through relational databases. Remote access through various interface options allows supervisors to call up status display, generate reports, tool data, workloads and routes, and exchange messages with operators from any computers. Flexible manufacturing can certainly cut the cost of capital equipment and increase the flexibility of manufacturing cells, but careful considerations should be taken not to trade quality for flexibility. A few key points to keep in mind showing what not to do.