Two-stage Procedure for the Cell Formation Problem with Alternative Part Processing Routes

Abstract

This paper proposes a two stage procedure for the cell formation problem with alternative processing routes. Previously, Kusiak(1) provided the generalized p-median model in which route selection and part family formation problems are solved simultaneously. In the proposed procedure, the two problems are solved separately whose objective functions are formulated based on different similarity measures. In the first stage, the route selection problem is solved using a newly defined similarity measure, called the compatibility coefficient. The generated set of routes tends to result in a grouping solution with highly independent manufacturing cells. In the second stage, part families are formed using the p-median model. Computational results by the proposed procedure are presented and compared to those by the generalized p-median model.