© 2010, Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management Model giftjourn@l Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management 2010, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp 21-38 Introduction Today’s business is set in a global environment which demands improved manufacturing and services. The competition in the global market is forcing the companies to develop strategies for manufacturing varieties of the parts to meet the ever-growing and ever-changing demands of the customer. Technological advancement and emerging markets have opened up new ways of recognizing, adapting and optimizing the flow of materials, information and resources. To achieve these requirements manufacturing companies not only need to be flexible and responsive to the changes, but also be able to produce a variety of products in a short span of time and with minimum cost. The development in technology, material and customer preferences has resulted in products with shorter life span. New products and designs require changes in production facilities. Moreover changing customer preferences and intense competition have resulted in uncertainty in the demand patterns. Recent breakthroughs in technology and management technologies have made manufacturing sector cope up with the changing environment. There is an ever Effect of Scheduling and Manufacturing Flexibility on the Performance of FMS Syed Imran Shafiq Mech. Engineering Section, University Polytechnic, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P. - 202002, India Mohd. Faheem Mech. Engineering Section, University Polytechnic, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P. - 202002, India Mohammed Ali Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P. - 202002, India E-mail: mohdali234@rediffmail.com Abstract A framework for studying the effect of scheduling and manufacturing flexibility on the performance of flexible manufacturing system has been presented in this paper. Scheduling and manufacturing flexibility are among the many manufacturing strategies considered by the researchers to improve the system performance. In this paper in addition to scheduling and manufacturing flexibility other manufacturing strategies being considered are system configuration, buffer capacity, routing flexibility (manufacturing flexibility), number of pallets, volume of parts, dispatching and sequencing rules (scheduling). Performance of systems is evaluated on make-span time, cost, machine utilization and queue waiting time. The key issues which are addressed in this paper are the impact of different levels of routing flexibility, dispatching and sequencing rules and the increase in number of pallets on the system performance. Simulation results indicate that, with increase in routing flexibility, make-span time decreases. However the maximum benefit is obtained when routing flexibility increased from level 1 to 2. Combinations of sequencing and dispatching rules are identified, which can yield best results for make-span, cost of production, queue waiting time and machine utilization. It is suggested that the proposed methodology can be used in practice for not only setting priorities on specific manufacturing factors but also for highlighting likely factor level combinations that could yield improved shop performance. Keywords: flexibility, make-span, manufacturing flexibility, scheduling, simulation increasing pressure from suppliers, existing competitors, and new competitors. The need of the hour for manufacturing enterprise is to change from hard automation to flexible automation. Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) helps to fulfil this requirement of the manufacturing enterprise. Browne et al. (1984) has defined FMS as an integrated, computer-controlled complex system of automated material handling devices and numerically controlled tools that can simultaneously process medium-size volumes of medium variety parts. They have also proposed two basic manufacturing flexibility types: machine flexibility and routing flexibility. Based on these basic flexibility types other types of flexibility like product flexibility, process flexibility, operation flexibility, volume flexibility, expansion flexibility and production flexibility can be derived. Chen and Chung (1991) have proposed three alternative sequencing models aimed a minimizing the operation assignments and demonstrated the importance of utilizing an alternate routing policy in FMS environment. Caprihan and Wadhwa (1997) investigated the impact of routing flexibility on an FMS with makespan as the performance measure. They concluded that oversupply of The developments in technology, material and customer preferences have resulted in products with shorter life span.