Part type selection, machine loading and part type volume determination problems in flexible manufacturing system planning

The solution to subproblems of FMS planning problems requires an integrated approach. The mathematical programming approaches, which are often followed, are not suitable for large problems. In this paper, we have proposed a three stage approach to solving part type selection, machine loading and part type volume determination problems. In contrast to the usual approach of maximizing the part types in each batch (or minimizing the number of batches), we have attempted to maximize the routeing flexibility of the batches. A heuristic has been proposed for the part type selection problem and simple mathematical programs for the other two problems. The illustrative examples show that by improving the routeing flexibility of the batches the overall system performance has improved.