2. What do you think are the main problems with un-staffed overnight operation and what has Yamazaki done to avoid them? The Japanese tool manufacturers Yamazaki have in their European factory, one of the most advanced machine tool manufacturing operations.. Their four FMS systems allow overnight unstaffed production and so allow the company to make the most from its investment. Of course, the Yamazaki products are built by Yamazaki FMS systems (see picture). With a wide range of over 60 products, individual volumes are small. Because of this, the company wanted an operation that would be so flexible it would not matter in which order items were processed.

High utilization would be maintained by having very fast set-ups that would also reduce the need for large batches. The operation can make individual pieces to suit the tight production schedules. This enables the company to offer typical order lead-times of only four weeks, in comparison with competitors’ lead- times of eight or more weeks for similar products. All component work pieces are loaded into fixtures mounted on special pallets. The operators prepare enough work to enable the system to run overnight and unsupervised. At the centre of the FMS is a host computer, which schedules and controls the activity of each machining centre and the materials-handling devices. The computer predetermines the pallet locations and as the machining centres become free, an automatic pick/load device will select the next work piece from the waiting queue and will place it into the available machine. Each machine is capable of handling almost any of the components so that bottlenecks do not develop at any point in the system. Spare tools used for the machining centres are stored in a central tool bank at the ends of the area and are transported to the required machine by a holding device on a highway that runs above the machining centres. At the end of the shift, the incoming operator can consult the computer for a printout of the tools that may need to be replaced in the tool bank. Many of the materials are delivered from the warehouse to the factory by AGVs, which pick up the items when requested by the central scheduling system.