Title: Part-selection and machine-loading problems in a flexible manufacturing system environment: a heuristic approach based on reallocation paradigm

Authors: M.K. Tiwari, J. Saha, S.K. Mukhopadhyay

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India. ' Production Engineering Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India. ' School of Management, West Bengal University of Technology, Salt Lake, Sector-1, Kolkata 700064, India

Abstract: In this research, an exact and efficient heuristic-based solution methodology has been formulated, which covers three segments of the machine-loading problem, i.e., part-type sequence determination, operation allocation decision and reallocation of part-type in a flexible manufacturing environment. An iterative reallocation procedure has been devised to ensure minimum positive system unbalance and maximum throughput. The proposed heuristic aims to achieve these objectives in the presence of constraints posed by availability of machining time and tool slot in a given planning horizon. Computational results on test problems indicate the supremacy of proposed heuristic which shows a significant improvement over existing methods.

Keywords: flexible manufacturing systems; FMS; machine loading; system unbalance; throughput; flexibility; scheduling; priority index; reallocation; materials handling systems; fixtures; part selection; part-type sequences; operation allocation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2008.020367

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2008 Vol.32 No.2, pp.142 - 157

Published online: 18 Sep 2008 *

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