A flexible manufacturing system is expensive to install. Which combination of advantages justifies that cost?

1. Flexible manufacturing systems are expensive, so the case for them rests on what they give back. 2. Once in place, such a system requires little labor to operate. 3. It provides consistent product quality, because the machines repeat the same operation identically. 4. It can also be adjusted easily and inexpensively, since the equipment can be quickly reprogrammed to perform a variety of jobs. 5. That reprogrammability is why the systems work well when small batches of a variety of products are needed, or when each product is made to individual customer specifications. 6. Option D therefore inverts the truth, because long single-product runs are precisely the case where a simpler dedicated line would do. _Source: OpenStax Introduction to Business (CC BY 4.0), Ch 10 "Achieving World-Class Operations Management", section Adaptable Factories: Flexible and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing Systems_