Title: Cell formation in cellular manufacturing: an AHP-based framework for evaluation of various techniques

Authors: Damodar Agarwal, Sadananda Sahu, Pradip K. Ray

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India '

Abstract: The cell formation problem in cellular manufacturing has been addressed by a wide range of different techniques, and by a large number of researchers. Whilst algorithms capable of addressing a number of different concerns have been developed, there is a strong need for the development of a comprehensive framework with which to evaluate the performance of these algorithms and to provide guidelines to determine their appropriateness. In this paper, the need for an evaluation framework is stressed, and an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based framework for evaluation of the cell formation techniques is proposed, and illustrated with an example.

Keywords: cellular manufacturing; group technology; cell formation; grouping efficiency; multi-criteria decision making; analytical hierarchy process.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2003.003707

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2003 Vol.5 No.5/6, pp.521 - 535

Published online: 02 Dec 2003 *

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