UPRAVLJANJE FLEKSIBILNOM PROIZVODNJOM I ULOGA ROBOTA U NJOJ - CONTROL OF FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING AND ROBOT’S ROLE IN IT

The important characteristic of the today's world economy is market spreading. Countries are becoming more open to influences dictated by developing economy and modern technologies. This opening has, as a consequence, the appearance of huge competition. Conducting successful business implies constant improving of existing products and conquest of the new technologies. The orientation on permanent changes in the product line demands changes in the manufacturing organization and business. Solving this complex problem could be done by implementation of flexible production systems. Automatization becomes the unavoidable element when quality and price of production are being considered. Retaining existing positions and realizing new ones on the very selective market, is possible only by accepting permanent application of new understandings and experiences. Application of the flexible production systems requires the analysis of the technologies and equipment characteristic for this type of production. One of most important elements of these systems are robots. Under difficult economic conditions, manufacturing is additionally burdened by a series of factors jointly making the final product more expensive. Hard conditions of business and operation, principally hard competition on the market and clients’ criteria more and more difficult to satisfy, put the manufacturer in the role of a big creator. The application of flexible manufacturing systems and robots should primarily make the final product better and cheaper. Analysis of manufacturing and its main problems should bring about new technologies, which have to overcome big techno-economic obstacles.