İSTANBUL KÜLTÜR UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
Department of Industrial Engineering
IE551 Production System Design – Chapter 6
(Solved Problems)
1) A flexible manufacturing system is being planned. It has a ladder layout as pictured in
Figure 1 and uses a rail guided vehicle system to move parts between stations in the layout.
All workparts are loaded into the system at station 1, moved to one of three processing
stations (2, 3, or 4), and then brought back to station 1 for unloading. Once loaded onto its
RGV, each workpart stays onboard the vehicle throughout its time in the FMS. Load and
unload times at station 1 are each 1.0 min. Processing times at other stations are: 5.0 min at
station 2, 7.0 min at station 3, and 9.0 min at station 4. Hourly production of parts through
the system is: 7 parts through station 2, 6 parts through station 3, and 5 parts through station
4.
35
10 10 10
10
15
1 2 3 4
Figure 1. Layout of the system
a. Develop the from-to Chart for trips and distances
b. Develop the network diagram for this data
c. Determine the number of rail guided vehicles that are needed to meet the requirements
of the flexible manufacturing system, if vehicle speed = 60 m/min and the anticipated
traffic factor = 0.85. Assume reliability = 100%.
Solution: (a) First develop the distances from the FMS layout.
Distance from 1 to 2: 10 + 10 + 10 = 30 m
Distance from 2 to 1: 5 + 10 + 5 = 20 m
Distance from 1 to 3: 10 + 20 + 10 = 40 m
Distance from 3 to 1: 5 + 20 + 5 = 30 m
Distance from 1 to 4: 10 + 30 + 10 = 50 m
Distance from 4 to 1: 5 + 30 + 5 = 40 m
From-To chart:
To: 1 2 3 4
From: 0/0 7/30 6/40 5/50
1
2 7/20 0/0 - -
3 6/30 - 0/0 -
4 5/40 - - 0/0
1/3
(b) Network diagram:
5/50 7/30
4
5/40 1 2
7/20
6/30 6/40
7( 30 + 20) + 6( 40 + 30) + 5(50 + 40) 1220
(c) Ld = = = 67.7 m Le = 0
7 + 6+ 5 18
7(5.0) + 6( 7.0) + 5( 9.0)
Average handling and processing time = 1.0 + + 1.0 = 8.78 min
7 + 6+ 5
67.7 0
Tc = 8.78 + + = 9.91 min
60 60
60( 0.85) 7+ 6+ 5
Rdv = = 5.15 pc/hr per vehicle nc = = 18/5.15 = 3.5 → 4 vehicles
9.91 515
.
2) An AGVS will be used to satisfy material flows indicated in the from-to Chart in the table
below, which shows deliveries per hour between stations (above the slash) and distances in
meters between stations (below the slash). Moves indicated by "L" are trips in which the
vehicle is loaded, while "E" indicates moves in which the vehicle is empty. It is assumed
that availability = 0.90, traffic factor = 0.85, and efficiency = 1.0. Speed of an AGV = 0.9
m/s. If load handling time per delivery cycle = 1.0 min, determine the number of vehicles
needed to satisfy the indicated deliveries per hour? Assume that availability = 0.90.
To: 1 2 3 4
From: 1 0/0 9L/90 7L/120 5L/75
2 5E/90 0/0 0/NA 4L/80
3 7E/120 0/NA 0/0 0/NA
4 9E/75 0/NA 0/NA 0/0
Solution: vc = 0.9 m/s(60 s/min) = 54 m/min
Route 1 → 2 → 1: Tc = 1.0 + (90 + 90)/54 = 4.33 min, 5 deliveries.
Route 1 → 3 → 1: Tc = 1.0 + (120 + 120)/54 = 5.44 min, 7 deliveries.
Route 1 → 4 → 1: Tc = 1.0 + (75 + 75)/54 = 3.78 min, 5 deliveries.
Route 2 → 4 → 1*: Tc = 1.0 + (80 + 75)/54 = 3.87 min, 4 deliveries.
Route 1 → 2*: Tc = 1.0 + 90/54 = 2.67 min, 4 deliveries.
* Assumes vehicles on route 1 → 2 are used to make deliveries on route 2 → 4 → 1.
5( 4.33) + 7(5.44) + 5( 3.78) + 4( 387
. ) + 4( 2.67)
Average Tc = = 4.192 min/delivery cycle
25
60( 0.85)
Rdv = = 12.166 deliveries/hr per vehicle
4.192
Including effect of availability factor, Rdv = 12.166(0.90) = 10.95 deliveries/hr per vehicle
nc = 25/10.95 = 2.28 → 3 vehicles
2/3
Alternative solution: Total time (workload, WL) to make all deliveries, neglecting traffic
factor:
WL = (25)4.192 = 104.8 min
Time available per vehicle per hour, AT = 60(.90)(.85)(1.0) = 45.9 min
nc = 104.8/45.9 = 2.28 → 3 vehicles
3) An automated guided vehicle system is being proposed to deliver parts between 40
workstations in a factory. Loads must be moved from each station about once every hour;
thus, the delivery rate = 40 loads per hour. Average travel distance loaded is estimated to be
250 ft and travel distance empty is estimated to be 300 ft. Vehicles move at a speed = 200
ft/min. Total handling time per delivery = 1.5 min (load = 0.75 min and unload = 0.75 min).
Traffic factor Ft becomes increasingly significant as the number of vehicles nc increases;
this can be modeled as:
Ft = 1.0 - 0.05(nc-1) for nc = Integer > 0
Determine the minimum number of vehicles needed in the factory to meet the flow rate
requirement. Assume that availability = 1.0 and worker efficiency = 1.0.
250 + 300
Solution: Tc = 1.5 + = 4.25 min/cycle
200
60(1.0 − 0.05(nc − 1)) 60(1.05 − 0.05nc )
Rdv = = = 14.824 - 0.706 nc deliveries/hr per vehicle
4.25 4.25
40
nc =
14.824 − 0.706nc
nc (14.824 - 0.706 nc) = 40
14.824 nc - 0.706 nc2 = 40
0.706 nc2 - 14.824 nc + 40 = 0
Use quadratic equation to find roots:
− ( −14.824) ± 14.8242 − 4( 0.706)( 40)
nc = = 17.82 or 3.18 → Use nc = 4 vehicles
2( 0.706)
Check: Ft = 1.0 - 0.05(4 - 1) = 1.0 - 0.15 = 0.85
60( 0.85)
Rdv = = 12 deliveries/hr per vehicle, nc = 40/12 = 3.33 → Use n = 4
4.25
vehicles
3/3
