Optimal Reconfiguration Path Decision Method for One RMT System

Reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is designed around a specific part family. Reconfigurable machine tools (RMT) is the core facility of RMS. One RMT system is an RMS consisting of only one RMT. So, the RMT of one RMT system is designed for a specific part family, which integrates the characteristics of RMS and RMT. The reconfiguration path problem of one RMT system is an urgent problem to be solved. Therefore, an optimal reconfiguration path decision method for one RMT system is proposed in this paper. The objective is to produce the entire part family at the minimum reconfiguration effort. Reconfiguration time is adopted as the characteristic value of reconfiguration effort in this paper. The Tabu Search algorithm (TS) is used to solve this problem due to its excellent search ability. Process rule is considered during computation to obtained reasonable solution. A case study is given to implement the proposed method. The result shows that the proposed method can produce an optimal reconfiguration path for one RMT system satisfying the process rule.