What is the difference between flexible manufacturing system and lean production?

It can be said that both flexible manufacturing and lean production can be called a mode of production.

Let's talk about flexible manufacturing system first.

Flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is an automatic mechanical manufacturing system, which is composed of a unified information control system, a material storage and transportation system and a group of numerical control processing equipment, and can adapt to the change of processing objects.

At present, the development of science and technology has driven the high requirements of human society for product function and quality. The product iteration is getting faster and faster, and the complexity of the product is getting higher and higher. The traditional mass production mode has been challenged. Because, under the mass production mode, flexibility and productivity are contradictory. As we all know, only a single variety, large quantities, special equipment, stable technology and high efficiency can constitute economies of scale; On the other hand, the equipment specificity of multi-variety and small batch production is low, and under the condition of similar processing forms, the process is difficult to be stable frequently, and the production efficiency is bound to be affected. In order to improve the flexibility and production efficiency of manufacturing industry at the same time, shorten the production cycle and reduce the cost of products under the premise of ensuring product quality, and finally make small and medium-sized batch production compete with large-scale production, flexible automation system came into being.

It is a system with complex technology and high degree of automation, which organically combines microelectronics, computer and system engineering, and satisfactorily solves the contradiction between high automation and high flexibility in mechanical manufacturing. It has the advantages of high equipment utilization rate, relatively stable production capacity, high product quality, flexible operation and great product adaptability.

Let's talk about lean production.

Lean production, simply put, is to manufacture in time, eliminate faults, eliminate all waste, and March towards zero defects and zero inventory.

It was put forward by MIT in a research project called "International Automobile Plan". After doing a lot of investigation and comparison, they think that the production mode of Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan is the most suitable production organization and management mode for modern manufacturing enterprises, which is called lean production to solve the problem that a large number of production modes in the United States are too bloated.

The core of lean production lies in: pursuing zero inventory; Pursuing quick response, that is, making quick response to market changes; Harmony and unity of internal and external environment of enterprises; People-oriented (fully respect employees, attach importance to training and cooperate with each other); Inventory is the "curse".

The New Trend of Lean Production: Flexible Manufacturing

Today, enterprises are facing the challenge of the ever-changing business environment. The globalization of market competition, the diversification and uncertainty of customers and market demand, the shortening of product life and the intensification of price competition all put forward new and higher requirements for the existing production methods of enterprises. In order to survive and develop in the cruel competition, enterprises must study some low-cost and fast-response manufacturing methods, and flexible manufacturing (or flexible production) is the general name of these methods. Therefore, flexible manufacturing is not so much a mode of production as a brand-new manufacturing concept.

The general trend of flexible manufacturing is: the production line is shorter and simpler, and the equipment investment is less and less; The intermediate inventory is getting less and less, and the utilization rate of the site is getting higher and higher; The production cycle is shorter and shorter, and the delivery speed is faster and faster; There are fewer and fewer losses and higher efficiency. It can be seen that flexible manufacturing can greatly reduce production costs and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises.