Review of the Status of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) Application in South Africa Mining Machinery Industries

Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) has been used extensively in different industries and companies to produce modularized, customized, flexible and scalable products. Due to the variations in the mining equipment users demand, dynamic nature and complexities in the mining manufacturing environment in terms of space available, kind of mining operations and the risks involved, RMS have been extensively used to produce different mining equipment product varieties of high adaptability, low repair cost and minimum maintenance cost in order to meet customers satisfaction. Further on, this paper explores on various literature review in relation to reconfigurable manufacturing system concepts, architectural design characteristics, control capabilities and its role in mining machinery industries, and the potential future of this RMS in South Africa mining machinery industries. Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems has been used in mining machinery industries to manufacture Load Haul Dump (LHD) trucks, multiple drilling bits such as the tricone bits, screen mesh of different aperture sizes which has contributed immensely to the 15.3% GDP achieved by the manufacturing sector in South Africa. Global high mineral demand is a positive indicator for great future in this industry if RMS is fully harnessed, utilized and applied in this sector. Furthermore, a newly designed flexible, cheap, versatile and reconfigurable vibrating screen by Industrial Engineering Department, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria will also serve as a catalyst to catapult the mineral processing industries to its peak.