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An important issue in the design of a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is the operational control of the materials handling subsystem, through which reparts are conveyed from one work station the next. A popular type of materials handling device is the automatic guided vehicle (AGV), which has been widely adopted in FMS because of its versatility and speed. This paper presents a simulation study to investigate the effects of different AGV dispatching rules on the performance of an FMS under various operating conditions. The dispatching rules studied are: FAFS — select the first available AGV; MIT — select the AGV with the most idle time; STT — select the AGV with the shortest travel time; and LTT — select the AGV with the longest travel time. The performance measures adopted are: overall production rate of the system; mean work station utilisation; and mean AGV utilisation. Although the results obtained are related to the specific FMS layout studied in this paper, it is believed that the inferences drawn from them are applicable to any FMS with similar layout structure and can provide useful guidelines for AGV design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the findings of two surveys of computer-based technologies to support operations management (OM) in Hong Kong. One of the surveys is to examine the status of the use of computer-based technology and to uncover the extent to which it is being used to support quality including such aspects as quality control, quality assurance and quality management in Hong Kong. The other survey is to investigate the average level of information technology (IT) applications - the Internet, World Wide Web, local area network, etc. - in small and medium manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong. It is focused on the information needs and access of the SMEs with a view to understanding the existing operation, problems and needs of SMEs in regard to communication, information access and dissemination and the difficulties of applying IT in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of operations and production management. They include "Production Management Techniques in UK Manufacturing Industry: Usage and Barriers to Acceptance," "Aggregate Planning in UK Manufacturing Companies," "An Agenda For Research on the Flexibility of Manufacturing Processes," "AGV Dispatching in a Flexible Manufacturing System," and "Measuring Facility Layout Complexity."