Title: A Decision Support System for the cell formation problem

Authors: Deniz Tursel Eliiyi, Levent Kandiller

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Izmir University of Economics, Sakarya Cad. No:156, Izmir 35330, Turkey. ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06531, Turkey

Abstract: This paper describes a study involving the development of a Decision Support System (DSS) for the part/machine Cell Formation (CF) problem of cellular manufacturing, to be used as a research oriented as well as operational cell design tool. An overview of the CF problem is presented, followed by the description of efficiency measures and construction algorithms selected from the literature for creation and evaluation of alternative solutions. New modified efficiency measures and a Composite Measure (CM) are proposed and employed in the DSS for more comprehensive comparisons. Improvement heuristics are developed for modifying and enhancing the solutions formed by the construction algorithms. DSS users are enabled to switch among solutions or algorithms for determining the best cell configuration for their particular needs.

Keywords: cellular manufacturing; cell formation; decision support systems; DSS; manufacturing cells; cell design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2008.017424

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2008 Vol.3 No.3, pp.348 - 367

Published online: 07 Mar 2008 *

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