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Global competition and rapidly changing customer requirements are demanding increasing changes in manufacturing environments. Enterprises are required to constantly redesign their products and continuously reconfigure their manufacturing systems. Traditional approaches to manufacturing systems do not fully satisfy this new situation. Many authors have proposed that artificial intelligence (AI) will bring the flexibility and efficiency needed by manufacturing systems. This paper is a review of AI techniques used in manufacturing systems. The paper first defines the components of a simplified intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS), the different AI techniques to be considered and then shows how these AI techniques are used for the components of IMS.

This theoretical paper presents, extends and integrates a number of systems and evolutionary concepts, to demonstrate their relevance to manufacturing strategy formulation. Specifically it concentrates on fitness landscape theory as an approach for visually mapping the strategic options a manufacturing firm could pursue. It examines how this theory relates to manufacturing competitiveness and strategy and proposes a definition and model of manufacturing fitness. In accordance with fitness landscape theory, a complex systems perspective is adopted to view manufacturing firms. It is argued that manufacturing firms are a specific type of complex system – a complex adaptive system – and that by developing and applying fitness landscape theory it is possible to create models to better understand and visualise how to search and select various combinations of capabilities.

Traditional procedures alone are not appropriate for justifying advanced manufacturing systems. It is necessary to consider the benefits of new technology in manufacturing systems since financial return is dependent on many factors outside manufacturing. An in‐depth examination is the foundation of the comprehensive comparative analysis presented here. The mechanism used to combine and synthesise tangible and intangible benefits of advanced technology is the analytic hierarchy process. A cost/ benefit analysis incorporates cashflows and benefits to determine the best manufacturing system choice. A detailed example is given to illustrate the procedure, and to compare the results with that of the traditional return on investment method.

Investigates KnowledgeBase manufacturing, a complete system solution that integrates MRPII with knowledgeBase systems design to meet the requirements of individual manufacturers and their customers. Compares KnowledgeBase with conventional manufacturing systems, outlining its flexibility and user‐friendly operation. Describes how a system was designed for a mixed‐mode manufacturing organisation, from the initial design task through to its implementation and integration with existing systems such as electronic data interchange and computer‐aided design. Concludes with some of the advantages that KnowledgeBase manufacturing system can bring to companies, including increased productivity, shorter business cycles and improved communications within the company.

In this paper manufacturing responsiveness is related to the ability of manufacturing systems to utilise its existing resources to make a rapid and balanced response to the predictable and unpredictable changes. Better understanding of the inherent (hidden) flexibility that exists within a manufacturing system can therefore lead to significant improvement in system performance and responsiveness. In the reported research a conceptual framework for representing the capabilities of machine tools and machining facilities using generic capabilities units termed “resource elements” is presented as well as a mathematical basis of calculating the manufacturing system flexibility using the resource elements. Simulations are used to examine manufacturing system performance and compare resource element‐based scheduling with conventional machine‐based approaches. The results show that significant improvements in system performance and the system’s ability to cope with disturbances can be achieved if manufacturing facilities are represented and scheduled based on the resource elements concept.

Every company or manufacturing system is vulnerable to breakdowns. This research aims to analyze the role of Multi-Agent Technology (MAT) in minimizing breakdown probabilities in Manufacturing Industries.

This study formulated a framework of six factors and twenty-eight variables (explored in the literature). A hybrid approach of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Technique (MCDM) was employed in the framework to prioritize, rank and establish interrelationships between factors and variables grouped under them.

The research findings reveal that the “Manufacturing Process” is the most essential factor, while “Integration Manufacturing with Maintenance” is highly impactful on the other factors to eliminate the flaws that may cause system breakdown. The findings of this study also provide a ranking order for variables to increase the performance of factors that will assist manufacturers in reducing maintenance efforts and enhancing process efficiency.

The ranking order developed in this study may assist manufacturers in reducing maintenance efforts and enhancing process efficiency. From the manufacturer’s perspective, this research presented MAT as a key aspect in dealing with the complexity of manufacturing operations in manufacturing organizations. This research may assist industrial management with insights into how they can lower the probability of breakdown, which will decrease expenditures, boost productivity and enhance overall efficiency.

This study is an original contribution to advancing MAT’s theory and empirical applications in manufacturing organizations to decrease breakdown probability.

Presents a framework to determine manufacturing planning and control system requirements that reflect differences in manufacturing strategy and process technology in a business. Manufacturing planning and control systems represent a critical part of the manufacturing infrastructure and support functions, and their design needs to be closely linked to decisions regarding a firm′s manufacturing strategy and choice of processes. Discusses examples of companies which have developed a good fit between their manufacturing planning and control systems and their manufacturing strategy in terms of the framework presented.

Rapid changes in the global environment and the effects of existing economic issues triggered by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine have posed several challenges for manufacturing firms. A hybrid strategy integrating lean and agile (leagile) systems is viable for firms to enhance their capabilities in such dynamic contexts. This paper examines the critical drivers of leagile manufacturing system adoption in an emerging economy from the technological, organizational and environmental (TOE) perspective.

A cross-sectional survey is carried out to obtain data from 438 managers working in 219 manufacturing firms. Multiple regression analysis is applied to test the effect of technological, organizational and environmental drivers on the adoption of leagile systems.

The results show that organization capacity, environmental uncertainty and relative advantage demonstrate the most significant positive relationships with the leagile systems adoption wherein complexity and resistance to change appear to exhibit significant negative associations. Unexpectedly, firm size unveils no significant effect on the adoption of leagile systems.

To deal effectively with critical challenges triggered by ever-changing environment, firms have sought to adopt innovative systems for achieving products' availability in the markets at the right quality and price. A hybrid strategy integrating lean and agile (leagile) systems is viable to enhance a firm's capabilities in such dynamic contexts. The findings of our study help top management and policymakers identify and assess the critical drivers that may facilitate or hinder the successful adoption of leagile systems.

A major trend of studies in the field of manufacturing systems has focused on the critical success factors of adopting either lean or agile systems. Furthermore, research work concerning leagile as a hybrid system focuses primarily on the conceptual development rather than empirical grounds of leagile systems. Given the lack of empirical research in this field, this study offers an early attempt to predict leagile system adoption in an emerging economy. It also contributes to the manufacturing systems research by extending the extant knowledge about the role of firm-level drivers in leagile system adoption from the TOE perspective.

This paper aims to propose a new concept of product manufacturing mode which takes physical manufacturing theory as the basic starting point. In this work, the authors intend to systematically define the basic connotation and extension of physical manufacturing, and sort out the typical characteristics of physical manufacturing, in order to propose the general concept of physical manufacturing.

How to study the combination of physics, mathematics, mechanics and other disciplines with the manufacturing disciplines, and how to elevate modern manufacturing science to a new height, has always been a problem for scientists in the field of manufacturing and engineering construction people to deeply think about. Therefore, on the basis of tracing the development of physics and combining the attributes and functions of manufacturing, the authors propose the basic concept of physical manufacturing. On this basis, the authors further clarify the connotation and extension, theoretical basis and technical system of physical manufacturing, reveal the basic problem domain of research and construct the theoretical foundation of physical manufacturing research, which are of great theoretical value and practical significance to adjust and optimize the manufacturing industry structure, improve the quality of manufacturing industry development and promote the green development of manufacturing industry.

The research on the basic theory and technical system of physical manufacturing will therefore broaden the way of thinking and make a better understanding of manufacturing science and technology, which will promote the development of manufacturing industry to some extent.

On the basis of continuous improvement of the basic theory and conceptual system of physical manufacturing, the physical manufacturing technology will become more and more perfect; physical manufacturing system and intelligent manufacturing system will become the mainstream of next-generation manufacturing system.

The purpose of this study was to explore the dimensions of apparel manufacturing strategy (i.e. cost, quality, flexibility, delivery time) and their relationship to style and sewing systems. U.S. apparel producers are seeking strategies that will make their production competitive to production in low wage countries. Two style types were defined: new styles and standardized styles. Results indicated that the production of new styles of apparel is related to the manufacturing dimensions of quality and delivery. The standardized style is related to the dimension of cost. Significant associations were also found between the multiple‐sewing systems used by plants and dimensions of manufacturing strategy (cost, delivery, and flexibility).