DESYMA: assessing flexibility for the lifecycle of manufacturing systems

Abstract

The objective of this work is to describe a method of assessing the flexibility of a manufacturing system, in an uncertain market environment, under lifecycle considerations. The flexibility of a manufacturing system is determined by statistical analysis of the discounted cash flow (DCF) estimates of the manufacturing system's lifecycle cost, over a time horizon and for a large variety of market scenarios. The system's lifecycle cost is calculated at a minimum level with the help of a specially developed algorithm. The method is used in a test case for investing in a production system, using real-life data derived from the automotive industry.