Reconfigurable manufacturing system – a new class of manufacturing system

Today’s manufacturing environment is highly uncertain, and it is continuously changing. It is characterized by shorter life cycles of products and technologies, shorter delivery times, an increased level of customization at the price of a standard product, increased product variety, quality as well as demand variability and intense global competition. Academicians, as well as practitioners, agree that uncertainty will continue to grow in the twenty-first century. To deal with the uncertainties in demand variation and production capacity a manufacturing system is required which can be easily reconfigured when there is a need at low cost. A reconfigurable manufacturing system is such a type of system. In the present work, the concept of the reconfigurable manufacturing system has been discussed and reviewed. It has been compared with dedicated systems and flexible manufacturing systems. Part family formation and barriers of reconfiguration also have been discussed. This work is an attempt to contribute to the conceptual systematization of the reconfigurable manufacturing system and reconfigurability by synthesizing the vast literature available after a systematic review.