Modeling of machine failures in a flexible manufacturing cell with two machines served by a robot

In this study, a stochastic model is developed to analyze performance measures of a flexible manufacturing cell (FMC) under different operational conditions, including machine failures and repairs. The FMC consists of two machines served by a robot for loading and loading purposes, and a pallet handling system. The model is based on Markov processes and determines closed-form solutions for the probabilities of system states that are used to calculate system performance measures, such as production output rate and utilizations of system components under different parametric conditions and equipment failures and repairs.