Methods and Models to Evaluate the Investment of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems: Literature Review and Research Directions

Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) have been proposed as a means to accommodate today’s dynamic requirements in a rapid and cost-efficient way. However, the industrial transition towards RMS is limited as it is perceived to be uneconomic due to an increased initial investment, yet desirable for the ability to respond to uncertainty and co-evolve with life-time requirements. This ability makes economic evaluation of RMS concepts inherently complex, which is not supported by traditional approaches. Nevertheless, concept evaluation remains critical during development as the majority of the life-time cost is determined by initial design decisions. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to review state-of-the-art literature to provide an overview of methods and models to evaluate the investment of RMS. Papers were retrieved from a structured subject search and screening, then classified according to seven characteristics, and mapped in a decision tree to aid practitioners in the selection of suitable evaluation approaches. Based on the review, there is a lack of quantitative models for comparative investment evaluation which is validated in industry and consider network implications, uncertainty and life-time requirements. To mitigate this gap, aforementioned is proposed as viable directions for further research.