Incorporating design improvement with effective evaluation using the Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (MSDD)

The definition of system metrics is crucial to determine if a manufacturing system design is truly effective because inappropriate metrics can lead to ineffective or improperly-focused system improvements. This research highlights the importance of measuring the system design that contributes to system effectiveness. The authors propose the use of a Manufacturing System Design Evaluation Tool to assess the effectiveness of the design of manufacturing systems as a whole. The tool was developed based on the Manufacturing System Design Decomposition. The Manufacturing System Design Evaluation Tool measures how well a system is designed based on the requirements outlined in the Manufacturing System Design Decomposition. System effectiveness is evaluated based on six physical manufacturing system configurations: the Departmental or Job Shop Layout, Departments Arranged by Product Flow (sometimes called a Flow Shop), Assembly or Transfer Line, Pseudo-Cell (a cell that is called a cell but does not meet all of the requirements of a cell), individual Assembly or Machining Cells (but not yet integrated as a system), and a Linked-Cell Manufacturing System for all aspects of a production value stream. The Linked-Cell Manufacturing System is considered to be the physical configuration that represents the highest level of manufacturing system design requirements achievement. In addition, the siginificance of implementing one physical element relative to achieving the requirements of the overall manufacturing system design may be evaluated. With this feedback, management is able to identify elements of the system design that need improvement and additional resources. The proposed Manufacturing System Design Evaluation Tool may be applied to evaluate most repetitive, discrete-part manufacturing systems.