Flexibleassemblysystems(FASs)haveemergedasaresultofthedevelop mentsinmanufacturingandcomputertechnology. Currentmarketrequire mentscharacterizedby -increasingnumberofdifferenttypesandversionsofproducts, -smallerbatchsizes, and -shorterlife-timeofproducts, stronglydeterminethecompetitivenessinproductionassemblyandaddi tionallycontributetothedevelopmentofflexibleautomatedassembly. For example, attheendof1986[33]40%ofJapaneserobotswerespecialized inassemblyascomparedwithonly10%ofEuropeanrobots. Theremain ing90%wereusedinwelding, painting, andhandling. Theintroductionof flexibleautomatedassemblytohigh-techsectorswhereassemblycostsare criticalistheaimofmajorEuropeanprojectssuchasESPRITandBRITE programmesandtheFAMOS-EUREKAproject, e. g., [33,34]. Thebookdealswithproductionplanningandschedulinginflexibleassem blysystems. ThereaderisfamiliarizedwiththeFASplanningandschedul ingissuesforwhichvariousoperationsresearchmodellingandsolutionap proachesarediscussed. Inparticular, applicationsofintegerprogrammingto theFASshort-termplanningandfastcombinatorialheuristicstotheFAS schedulingarediscussed. Thematerialinthebookhasbeendividedintosevenchapters. Chapter1presentstheoverallstructureandhardwarecomponentsand featuresofaflexibleassemblysystem. TheFASsclassificationisprovided andillustratedwithindustrialapplicationsofmechanicalpartassemblyand printedcircuitboard(PCB)assembly. Chapter2discussesmajorissuesinthedesign, planningandschedulingof flexibleassembly. BasicconfigurationsofFASsandmaterialflownetworksare presentedandvariousapproachestodesignforautomatedassemblyandto assemblyplanningarediscussed. TheFASproductionplanningandschedul ingareconsideredwithinahierarchicalframeworkwithmachineloadingand assemblyroutingatanupperlevelandmachineandvehicleschedulingata lowerlevel. Finally, specificissuesinplanningandschedulingofPCBassem blyarediscussed. VIII Preface InChapter3variousbi-objectiveintegerprogrammingmodelsandso lutionapproachesarepresentedformachineloadi.