Abstract
Much of the research inf the field of production systems has been concerned with increasing the efficiencies of manufacturing processes through hardware and software rather than increasing productivity and flexibility through a rational design of production systems. The design of an ideal production system depends on the selection of functional requirements (FRs) within a set of constraints (Cs). This paper presents an approach that uses Axiomatic Design in the design of generic production module templates for the fast configuration of production systems in order to achieve a maximum responsiveness to customer needs and a high efficiency within short times.