Analysis of tool sharing in an FMS: A simulation study

This research concentrates on the impact of tool request selection and tool dispatching rules in a tool sharing environment. Request selection rules are invoked when more than one request for a tool are pending. Tool selection rules, on the other hand, come into play when there are more than one copy of tools in the system. A “look ahead” method has been used to determine the requirement of tools. Various rules for tool sharing have been studied with makespan and tool transporter utilization as performance measures. Simulation was used for modeling the system. The impact of factors such as product mix and duplication of tools have also been addressed. Design of experiments techniques were used to analyze simulation outputs. The analysis of results indicated that the tool selection rules significantly affect the performance of the tool transporter while the request selection rules do not affect the system. Request selection rules affect the makespan of the system when the number of tool copies is one. Factors such as product mix and duplication of tools also affect the system.