O equacionamento da flexibilidade de manufatura num ambiente celular

Abstract

It has been widely recognised that manufacturing flexibility is a critical component to achieving a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The ability of manufacturing companies to adapt to their changing environment is frequently a key to long-term success, and under this circumstances we need to include flexibility in the decision making process even when the system is not focused in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS),because this kind of system is not economically justified in most part of companies in our country. So it is clear we need to develop ways to manage flexibility in others manufacturing environment to get its better result in customer service and profitability. Manufacturing flexibility is not as well understood as are cost or quality. Most firms have a reasonable accurate understanding of the cost of producing their products, and the quality of a product is specifically defined when the firm identifies the characteristics that define product quality in the mind of the customer. Firms measure those characteristics and compare with predetermined standards to assess the degree of conformance between the quality characteristics and design specifications. Flexibility on the other hand, is not determined so easily. Researchers in the area of manufacturing flexibility agree on a workable definition of manufacturing flexibility, but we notice significant variation in perspectives when we try to break down manufacturing flexibility in to its elements and measures. The objective of this study is to present a definition of flexibility available in the literature and its measurement. We also present one practical application as an example of manufacturing flexibility analyse in a cellular environment, showing that it is possible to manage flexibility in any manufacturing environment.