A systemic criterion of sustainability in agile manufacturing

Roque Calvo (1) , Rosario Domingo (2) , M A Sebastian (3)

1 Manufacturing Engineering
2 Manufacturing Engineering
3 Manufacturing Engineering

Agile manufacturing systems work in a constant change in a global market, in particular, assembly systems at the last stage of product differentiation. Meanwhile, sustainability is becoming a key issue for manufacturing strategy. This paper formulates a systemic criterion of sustainability in agile manufacturing and computes it through flexibility and complexity. It is defined a ratio of utility and entropy as a sustainability measurement. Under a unified framework, utility allows to quantify the contributions to agility, in particular system flexibility. Complexity is measured by entropy. Thus, it is proposed an original complementary role of flexibility and the complexity of the system. Developed from the distribution of system states, the systemic approach to sustainability in terms of output evolution is enriched. Based on a simple assembly line integer model simulation, a first quantitative analysis illustrates the concepts introduced.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Roque Calvo, Rosario Domingo, M A Sebastian. A systemic criterion of sustainability in agile manufacturing. International Journal of Production Research, 2008, 46 (12), pp.3345-3358. ⟨10.1080/00207540601096957⟩. ⟨hal-00512961⟩