RMS and FMS Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) and flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) have different goals. FMS aims at increasing the variety of parts produced. RMS aims at increasing the speed of responsiveness to market changes and customer's demand. RMS is also flexible, but only to a limited extent—its flexibility is confined to only that necessary to produce a part family. This is the "customized flexibility" or the customization characteristic, which is not the general flexibility that FMS offers. The customized flexibility enables higher production rates. Other important advantages of RMS are rapid scalability to the desired volume, and convertibility, which are obtained within reasonable cost to manufacturers. The best application of FMS is found in production of small sets of products [see Wikipedia]. RMS science base The RMS technology is based on a systematic approach to the design and operation of reconfigurable manufacturing systems. The approach consists of key elements, the compilation of which is called the RMS science base. These elements are summarized below. Given a part family, desired volume, and mix, a system-level process planner can suggest alternative system configurations and compare their productivity, part quality, convertibility, and scalability options. It can perform automatic system balancing based on Genetic Algorithm and statistics. Useful software packages to perform these tasks are PAMS and SHARE. A life-cycle economic modeling methodology, based on blending dynamic programming with option theory, recommends the system that will be optimally profitable during its lifetime. A reconfigurable machine tool (RMT) design methodology allows machines to be systematically designed, starting from the features of a family of parts to be machined. A new arch-type RMT, which has been designed and built at the ERC/RMS in Michigan, forms the basis for a new direction in machine research. A logic control design methodology for sequencing and coordination control of large manufacturing systems results in reconfigurable and formally verifiable controllers that can be implemented on industrial PLCs. A Stream-of-Variations (SoV) methodology based on blending state-space control theory with in-process statistics forms a new theoretical approach for systematic ramp-up after reconfiguration, which results in substantial time-to-market reduction. A machine vision algorithm integrated into the reconfigurable inspection station to inspect surface porosity defects (installed at General Motors Flint Engine Plant). See also Modular design References Manufacturing Modular design