flexible manufacturing system

Manufacturing system that integrates robotics, automated guided vehicles, and CAM (computer-aided manufacturing). The system is totally automated and allows unattended production of parts.

Advantages of FMS include: increased productivity; reduced costs; performance of a variety of menial mundane tasks freeing up personnel for more complex task; the ability to switch between types of production while still running; and the production of one or many units in an agreed response time. Companies that employ FMS include Dell and Levi Strauss.