AN ASSIGNMENT METHOD FOR THE PART-MACHINE CELL-FORMATION PROBLEM IN THE PRESENCE OF MULTIPLE PROCESS ROUTES

Abstract

This paper considers the part-machine cell formation decision of the generalized Group Technology (GT) problem in which multiple process routes can be generated for each part. The existing p-median model and similarity coefficient algorithm can solve only small-sized or well-structured cases. An assignment method for the cell formation problem is suggested. This method uses an assignment model which is a simple linear programming. Numerical examples show that the assignment method provides good separable cell formation even for large-sized and ill-structured problems.