The book familiarizes the reader with the flexible assembly systems planning and scheduling issues and various operations research modelling and solution approaches. Some of the many topic highlights presented are the overall structure and components of a flexible assembly system, bi-objective integer programming models and algorithms for machine loading, assembly routing, and assembly plan selection, and fast combinatorial heuristics for scheduling flexible assembly lines with limited intermediate buffers. Also the book deals with just-in-time scheduling of flexible assembly lines, and dynamic dispatching algorithms for simultaneous scheduling of assembly stations and automated guided vehicles.

1. Flexible Assembly Systems - Hardware Components and Features

1.1 Basic components of a FAS
1.2 Classification of flexible assembly systems
1.3 Examples of industrial installations
2. Issues in Design, Planning and Scheduling of Flexible Assembly
2.1 FAS design issues
2.2 Network design for material flow systems
2.3 Design for assembly
2.4 Assembly planning
2.5 Planning and scheduling
3. Loading and Routing Decisions in Flexible Assembly Systems
3.1 Description of a flexible assembly system
3.2 Optimization of station workloads and product movements
3.3 Design and balancing of flexible assembly lines
3.4 Numerical examples
3.5 Simultaneous loading and routing
3.6 Sequential loading and routing
4. Loading and Routing Decisions with Assembly Plan Selection
4.1 Simultaneous loading, routing and assembly plan selection in a general flexible assembly system
4.2 Simultaneous loading, routing and assembly plan selection in a flexible assembly line
5. Loading and Scheduling in Flexible Assembly Cells
5.1 Loading and scheduling in a robot assembly cell
5.2 Loading and sequencing in printed circuit board assembly
6. Production Scheduling in Flexible Assembly Lines
6.1 Flexible assembly line with limited intermediate buffers
6.2 Flexible assembly line with no in-process buffers
6.3 Global lower bounds for flexible flow lines with unlimited buffers
6.4 Just-in-time scheduling of flexible assembly lines
6.5 Multilevel scheduling of flexible assembly lines with limited intermediate buffers
7. Machine and Vehicle Scheduling in Flexible Assembly Systems
7.1 Dispatching scheduling
7.2 Machine and vehicle scheduling - a multi-level approach
7.3 Machine and vehicle scheduling - a single-level approach
References.