A work load-oriented heuristic methodology for manufacturing cell formation allowing reallocation of operations

The majority of manufacturing cell formation procedures are routing-based and rely on existing part routings. However, the reliance on fixed routings in cell formation can be subject to criticism since operations can often be performed on alternative machines. This paper suggests a new heuristic methodology that incorporates the concept of reallocating operations to alternative machines, while meeting capacity constraints. The procedure works with routes specified both in terms of operations and machines and uses a clustering technique based on a new similarity index. Furthermore, the procedure is user-interactive, allowing the analyst to intervene at several points during the cell formation process.