Evaluating flexibility in discrete manufacturing based on performance and efficiency

Recent economic developments indicated that greater flexibility in manufacturing is more important than ever and we consider flexibility as a key objective of many manufacturing systems. The ability to provide a certain degree of flexibility of production systems must be prioritized in future manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to present an applicable approach for the evaluation of flexibility in discrete manufacturing. Therefore, we developed a two-dimensional model to capture the performance and the efficiency of batch production systems. As a result, to evaluate manufacturing flexibility, we calculate a coefficient of variation from the deviations of the production order lead times. In addition, we compute an efficiency coefficient that indicates whether increased flexibility results from the manufacturing performance or from production waste, such as excessive inventory levels and/or excess capacities. The current flexibility model shows how to determine the degree of manufacturing flexibility and how to illustrate different flexibility situations and any improvements in flexibility. Our evaluation approach is based on readily available data and it is applicable to any batch production system with discrete manufacturing processes. Finally, we provide a clearly arranged guideline for practitioners clarifying the evaluation procedure and the computational steps to evaluate the manufacturing flexibility. The practical feasibility and the application of the current approach are demonstrated by an example that shows exactly how to evaluate the manufacturing flexibility and how to measure an improvement of flexibility in business practice.