Group scheduling in parallel manufacturing cells with resource and family assignment flexibility

This paper investigates algorithms that combine resource, family, and order assignment in a dynamic environment where orders from multiple families arrive over time and the number of families is larger than the number of production cells. A variety of production variables are considered including the size of setup between families, the ratio of families to cells, and a range of allowed labor resources per cell. The study considers the case where labor resource allocations are fixed and the case where labor resources can move between production cells. The paper discusses experimental results and their implications for cell control.