Structured Analysis of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems Erik Puik, Daniel Telgen, Leo van Moergestel and Darek Ceglarek Abstract The realization of a short product-time-to-market is a key-challenge in the design of modern manufacturing equipment. Compression of lead-times for product design and manufacturing require a concurrent way of engineering. This implies that structural decisions about manufacturing-equipment need to be made when products are still under development. This introduces development risks; changes in the layout of production systems, due to late modifications in the product design, are inefficient for lead-time and cost. It is preferable that the production system can be designed in a ‘first-time-right’ fashion. Therefore, the architectural freeze of a manufacturing system is preferably pushed backwards in time to sustain modifications of the product design as long as possible. Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) have been developed for this purpose. With their modular structure, they can be integrated in a short period of time. Though this leaves more time for product development, it does not exclude the industrialization risks. Since configuration of equipment only works reliably if its process technology is well understood, it is needed that poorly functioning manufacturing processes are detected and addressed in an early stage. Only then, sufficient time is available for corrective actions to be taken. This paper presents a scientific framework to model the development of RMS. The method has the capability to uncover manufacturing risks during early development. In combi- nation with RMS, the freeze of system architecture can indeed be pushed back- wards in time. The method uses the ‘Structured Analysis Design Technique’ (SADT). The process risks, as outcome of the analysis process, are ranked using a Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) to determine the severity of their impact. E. Puik (&) Á D. Telgen Á L. van Moergestel Research Centre for Technology and Innovation, HU University of Applied Science, 3500AD Utrecht, The Netherlands e-mail: erik.puik@hu.nl D. Ceglarek International Digital Laboratory WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK e-mail: d.j.ceglarek@warwick.ac.uk URL: http://digiplm.org A. Azevedo (ed.), Advances in Sustainable and Competitive Manufacturing Systems, Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-00557-7_12, Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013 147