Automated guided vehicle configurations in flexible manufacturing systems: a comparative study

In the present competitive environment, manufacturing organisations have changed the trend from mass production to mass customisation. Flexible manufacturing system (FMS) has evolved as a solution to the requirement of modern manufacturing industries. Automated guided vehicle (AGV) system is the most widely used material handling system in FMS which enhances the flexibility in material transfer between the workstations (WSs). The pattern of AGV guide path layout also called as AGV configuration has become the main issue in the AGV system. This paper compares the three commonly used AGV configurations, i.e., single loop, tandem, and tandem loop in terms of AGV load/unload time, machine failure, processing time distribution and AGV speed. Simulation method is used to perform the study while Taguchi method is used for statistical analysis of results. It has been concluded that no single AGV configuration perform better in all the manufacturing environments.