Integrated design of cellular manufacturing systems including the group scheduling
The aim of cellular manufacturing (CM) systems is to group parts that have similar processing needs into part families that meet these needs into machine cells. CM focuses on partitioning a larger manufacturing system, consisting of a set of parts and machines, into smaller subsystems (called manufacturing cells) in order that parts assigned to a manufacturing cell can be either completely or nearly completely processed on machines assigned to the same cell. The noteworthy advantages of creating these subsystems include, reduction in setup time, throughput time and work-in-process inventories, simplified flow of' parts and tools, and centralization of responsibility. The cell formation problem, focusing on the assignment of parts and machines to individual manufacturing cells. In this paper the processing time and the machines required to complete processing for seven parts were found out from the routing card of each part. The cell schedule was found using the Shortest Processing Time [ SPT] for minimizing makespan. The optimal performance was then established and measured using three different techniques.
Dear Author,
Thank you for your paper. Cellular manufacturing has been described as one of the means to achieve group efficiency in manufacturing systems. However, the approach comes with its own problems. One of which is how to minimise bottlenecks/stoppage in the production line. Can you briefly explain how your Group Technology (GT) algorithm can be used to overcome or minimise this problem.
Thank you.
Adebayo