An integration approach to process design and parts-layout planning

A pallet with jigs and fixtures has been remarkably utilized, in order to implement automatically the multi-product production by a machining center. In the effective machining operation using a pallet, it is important to set appropriately both the sequence of machining operations and the location of workpieces to be installed on a pallet. In this paper, the method for simultaneously determining the optimum sequence of operations as well as the optimum layout of the workpiece on a pallet is proposed according to the optimization techniques. Then, based on the constructed model, the interactive optimization algorithm is developed to achieve the minimum total elapsed time. Finally, both a numerical example and a practical applicability are demonstrated.