Proposal of a Reconfigurability Index Using Analytic Network Process

This paper proposes a reconfigurability index. Its development is based on five core characteristics, namely modularity, integrability, diagnosability, adaptability and customization. The index takes into consideration the interdependencies that may exist among them. The analytic network process (ANP) method is used to attribute importance weights to each core characteristic. This index can be very useful in practice since it can guide manufacturing companies to a better understanding of the various enablers of reconfigurability, as well as in the decision-making process, to decide which core characteristic requires more attention, in order to further improve the reconfigurability in existing manufacturing systems.