ABSTRACT
An FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System) is a computer-controlled system consisting of automated workstations linked by a material handling system and capable of processing different jobs simultaneously. The FMS concept evolved in the early 1970s. During the 1980s, there seemed to be general agreement that the use of FMS would spread widely. The general idea is that FMS enable firms to achieve the efficiency of automated, highvolume mass production while retaining the flexibility of low-volume job-shop production. Despite the potential advantages of FMS, their use is spreading somewhat slowly. This is mainly because flexible manufacturing systems have not been as profitable to users as some other innovations (Mansfield, 1993). Technical, organizational, and environmental (changes in the market place) problems have also had a negative impact on the profitability of FMS (Slomp, 1997). The less-than-expected profitability of FMS has negatively affected the imitation rate in industry. It is, however, expected that the majority of firms in the automobile, electric equipment, machinery and aerospace industries in Japan, the United States and Western Europe will install FMS in the course of time.
