A framework for the design of a Reconfigurable and Mobile Manufacturing System

Abstract

Today production systems, plants and supply chains are optimized for a one-site (one implantation) configuration and for mass production. For some products, the shipping costs from the manufacturing site to the end user site can have a significant impact on the total cost of the product. In such a case, the ability to manufacture close to the end user is a valuable alternative. The framework we propose was tested on a real industrial case in the solar energy field. The company producing the solar fields wanted to face the twofold objectives of a reconfigurable manufacturing system able to handle a huge variety of changes: that different geographical sites, a high variability in demand, etc. and a robust mobile system that can move from one manufacturing location to another one without performance loss.