Application of data envelopment analysis for cell performance evaluation and process improvement in cellular manufacturing

This paper proposes a methodology for cell performance evaluation and improvement which considers multiple cell inputs and outputs. A specific technique in data envelopment analysis called ‘window analysis’, which captures the cell efficiency changes over time, is modified and utilized in the methodology. The evaluation is performed by considering the local part families (manufactured in single cells) and the infrequent parts (manufactured in multiple cells) processed by a cell. A major contribution of this research is in proposing a new ‘modified window analysis’ technique for cell performance evaluation, and in demonstrating its effectiveness over the ‘traditional window analysis’. Another contribution is in using the cross efficiency matrix to identify periods of best cell operating practices which aid management in cell process improvement.