Tool requirements planning in a flexible manufacturing system with an automatic tool transporter

Abstract

In this thesis, we consider a tool requirements planning problem in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) with an automatic tool transporter, in which the number of copies of each tool type maintained is determined. We solve two problems, defined by two different objectives, i.e. the problems of determining the number of copies of each tool type with the objective of minimizing total tool purchase cost under a makespan constraint, and with the objective of minimizing total tardiness within a limited budget. For the problems, several heuristic algorithms are developed using greedy type search methods and simulation. Results of computational experiments done on randomly generated test problems show that the heuristic algorithms work better than an algorithm that is modified from an existing algorithm for a similar problem.