Flexible manufacturing system selection using a combinatorial mathematics-based decision-making method

R. Venkata Raoa* & Manukid Parnichkunb a Department of Mechanical Engineering , S.V. National Institute of Technology , Surat, India b Industrial Systems Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology , Bangkok, Thailand * E-mail: ravipudirao@rediffmail.com A methodology based on a combinatorial mathematics-based decision-making method is proposed for evaluation of alternative flexible manufacturing systems. The methodology is developed to judge the relative merits of different flexible manufacturing systems for the industrial application considered. The proposed ‘FMS selection index’ evaluates and ranks flexible manufacturing systems for a given FMS selection problem. Two examples are included to illustrate the approach.