Abstract
In order to measure complexity and stay competitive, manufacturing companies need to be able to quantify production complexity. For this reason, two methods were developed within the context of two concurrent research projects are compared: the Belgian Complexity Calculator, CXC, measures objective complexity and the Swedish Complexity Index, CXI, focuses on subjective complexity, as experienced by operators in the stations. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the two methods by comparing them to seven relevant existing quantitative methods and by examining results from case studies. It is observed that the two methods can be used as a compliment to one another, where CXC can be used for scanning data automatically CXI can be used for in-depth analysis. In addition, the comparison of existing methods provides insight on how to measure complexity depending on need and scope.
Keywords
References
- 1. (2007). ‘Current status of reconfigurable assembly systems’. International Journal of Manufacturing Research. 2, 3, 303-328 Abstract, Google Scholar
- 2. (2004). The New Lean Toolbox: Towards Fast, Flexible Flow. Buckingham:Picsie Books Google Scholar
- 3. (1998). ‘Applying and assessing two methods for measuring complexity in manufacturing’. J. Operat. Res. Soc.. 49, 7, 723-732 Google Scholar
- 4. (2013). ‘Flexibility and complexity: is it a trade-off?’. International Journal of Production Research. Google Scholar
- 5. , Mudditt, A. (1995). ‘The survey method’. Beginning Research in Psychology – A Practical Guide to Research Methodology and Statistics. Massachusetts, USA:Blackwell Publishers Inc. Google Scholar
- 6. (2012).
‘Manufacturing systems complexity review: challenges and outlook’.
3,
45th CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems 2012 , 644-649 Google Scholar - 7. ,
Lien,
T.K. (2010).
‘A classification code for assembly systems’.
3rd CIRP Conference on Assembly Technologies and Systems ,1–3 June ,Trondheim, Norway, Tapir Uttrykk Google Scholar - 8. (2012). ‘Complexity in engineering design and manufacturing’. CIRP Annals – Manufacturing Technology. 793-814 Google Scholar
- 9. (2012). ‘Relationship between complexity in manual assembly work, ergonomics and assembly quality’. Ergonomics for Sustainability and Growth, NES 2012. Sweden:Stockholm Google Scholar
- 10. (2011a).
‘Interaction between complexity, quality and cognitive automation’.
Submitted to CIRP Conference on Assembly Technologies and Systems Google Scholar - 11. (2011b).
‘An empirical study towards a definition of production complexity’.
21st International Conference on Production Research (ICPR) ,31 July 31–4 August ,Stuttgart, Germany Google Scholar - 12. (2001). ‘An entropic measurement of queueing behaviour in a class of manufacturing operations’. Proceedings of Royal Society. London, 1579-1601 Google Scholar
- 13. (2008). ‘The measurement of complexity in production and other commercial systems’. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathemetical. 464 Google Scholar
- 14. (2012). ‘Concepts and measurements of industrial complexity: a state-of-the-art survey’. Int. J. of Industrial and Systems Engineering. 12, 1, 42-83 Abstract, Google Scholar
- 15. (2004). ‘Uncertainty management at the core of system design’. Annual Reviews in Control. 28, 2, 267-274 Google Scholar
- 16. (1999). ‘Empirically testing the impact of manufacturing system complexity on performance’. International Journal of Operations & Production Management. 19, 12, 1254-1269 Google Scholar
- 17. (2011).
‘Towards a production complexity model that supports operation, re-balancing and man-hour planning’.
4th Swedish Production Symposium (SPS) ,Lund, Sweden Google Scholar - 18. (2012).
‘Comparing two methods to measure assembly complexity from an operator perspective’.
Swedish Production Symposium (SPS12) ,Linköping, Sweden Google Scholar - 19. (2009). ‘Analysis of automotive body assembly system configurations for quality and productivity’. Int. J. of Manufacturing Research. 4, 3, 281-305 Abstract, Google Scholar
- 20. (2013).
‘Could the use of ICT tools be the way to increase competitiveness in Swedish industry?’.
12th IFAC Symposium: Analysis, Design and Evaluation of Human-Machine Systems ,Las Vegas, USA Google Scholar - 21. (2011). Complexity Metrics in Engineering Design: Managing the Structure of Design Processes. Berlin, Heidelberg:Springer-Verlag Google Scholar
- 22. (2004). The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer. USA:McGraw-Hill , 303 Google Scholar
- 23. (2012). Analysis of the Impact of Process Complexity on Unbalanced Work in Assembly Process and Methods to Reduce It. Royal Institute of Technology, Master of Science thesis Google Scholar
- 24. ,
Lu,
B. (2013).
‘Validation of the complexity index method at three manufacturing companies’.
The International Symposium for Assembly and Manufacturing ,30 July–2 August ,Xian, China Google Scholar - 25. (2012).
‘Testing complexity index – a method for measuring perceived complexity’.
Proceedings of the 45th Conference on Manufacturing Systems (CMS45).
16–18 May ,Athens, Greece , Elsevier, 394-399 Google Scholar - 26. (1993). ‘The impact of knowledge and technology complexity on decision making software development’. Expert Systems with Applications. 8, 1, 111-134 Google Scholar
- 27. (2011). ‘Harnessing product complexity: step 1 – establishing product complexity dimensions and indicators’. The Engineering Economist. 56, 1, 59-79 Google Scholar
- 28. (2004). ‘Complexity management and supply chain performance assessment: a field study and a conceptual framework’. International Journal of Production Economics. 90, 1, 103-115 Google Scholar
- 29. (2012). ‘Complexity mapping of the product and assembly system’. Assembly Automation. 32, 2, 135-151 Google Scholar
- 30. (2006). ‘Advances on measuring the operational complexity of supplier-customer systems’. European Journal of Operational Research. 171, 1, 208-226 Google Scholar
- 31. (2006). ‘Modeling of manufacturing process complexity’. Google Scholar
- 32. (2013). ‘Measuring complexity in mixed-model assembly workstations’. International Journal of Production Research. 51, 15, 4630-4643 Google Scholar
- 33. (2010). ‘Implementation of real-time shop floor manufacturing using RFID technologies’. Int. J. of Manufacturing Research. 5, 1, 74-86 Abstract, Google Scholar
- 34. (2008). ‘Modeling of manufacturing complexity in mixed-model assembly lines’. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. 130, 5, 10 Google Scholar