Volume 1, Issue 1 2025 29 Torquecore Publications A multidisciplinary overview of the literature and a research plan for the design of flexible engineering systems

Abstract

Compared to concepts like optimality and robustness, for instance, flexibility is not yet a fully developed academic notion, despite 
its widespread use. Nonetheless, flexibility is acknowledged as a crucial quality of a system, a procedure, or an organization; it is 
required to deal with uncertainty and change and indicates the capacity to adjust to a variety of circumstances. It's noteworthy to 
note that the idea of flexibility is now where the idea of quality was around 20 years ago: "vague and difficult to improve, yet critical 
to competitiveness." In this essay, we examine the notion of flexibility as it has been addressed in many academic fields, highlighting 
the main ideas, difficulties, and constraints in each. We examine flexibility in relation to engineering design, production processes, 
actual alternatives, and decision theory. Additionally, we provide a critical evaluation of how the term "flexibility" is used and 
misused in technical literature. Lastly, we provide a number of research topics that may assist develop the notion of flexibility to the 
level of optimization and robustness in system design and turn it into a measurable technical feature.