A two-phase heuristic algorithm for cell formation problems considering alternative part routes and machine sequences

In this paper, we deal with the multi-objective machine cell formation problem. The problem is characterized as determining part route families and machine cells such that the total sum of inter-cell part movements and maximum machine workload imbalance are simultaneously minimized. Together with the objective function, alternative part routes and the machine sequences of part routes are considered in grouping part route families. Also, it is assumed that the number of machine cells is not pre-defined. Owing to the complexity of the problem, a two-phase heuristic algorithm is proposed. Computational experiments were conducted to verify the performance of the algorithm. Throughout the computational experiments, we verified that the two-phase heuristic algorithm is effective for large-scale machine cell formation problems.