what are the benefits and drawbacks of an fms 
the main benefit of an fms is that it makes production more efficient delays are reduced as production doesn t have to be shut down to set up for a different product drawbacks include higher up front costs and the greater time required to design the system specifications for a variety of future needs there is also an additional cost for the specialized technicians who work the fms nevertheless the system s automation generally leads to an overall reduction in labor costs who invented the fms jerome h lemelson 1923 1997 an american industrial engineer and inventor is credited with developing the concept of flexible manufacturing his initial design featured a robot based system that could weld rivet convey and inspect manufactured goods systems based on his design began showing up on factory floors in the united states and europe in the late 1960s becoming even more popular in the 1970s 