A bicriterion framework for operations assignment and routing flexibility analysis in Cellular Manufacturing Systems

In this paper a bicriterion framework for operations assignment in Cellular Manufacturing Systems is presented. For this purpose two formulations are developed. The minimization of the total processing cost and total processing time are the two criteria considered in the first formulation whereas the minimization of total processing cost and balancing of workloads are the two criteria considered in the second formulation. An algorithm to obtain the efficient frontier which represents a set of all non-dominated production plans is developed. The set of alternate routings available from these production plans provides information about routing flexibility. The implications of selecting non-dominated alternate routings in terms of processing cost, maximum utilization of machines, etc. can be easily analysed. The methodology developed is illustrated by a small example and a number of meaningful insights obtained are discussed.