Cell Formation Based on New Similarity Coefficient with Operation Sequence and Alternative Routing

Abstract

Cell formation is to construct machine cells and part families and then dispatch the part families to machine cells. Various cell formation approaches and algorithms have been developed over the years considering various production factors, scenarios and objectives. The results of these different approaches are evaluated based on the several parameters. Most of the studies have considered only either the operation sequence or the alternative routing. Very few of the approaches have proposed for considering both the operation sequence and the alternative routing. Here, a new method for the formation of cell and intracellular machine arrangement which is formulated by considering both the operation sequence and alternative process routings is proposed. The arrangement of machines and parts within the cell follows a specific sequence which is formed with the help of coefficient of similarity. Various parameters such as forward flow, backflow and voids in the cell formation scenarios are considered to evaluate the approach. With the help of these parameters problems from other literatures, which were solved by other methods are evaluated. So as to validate the effectiveness of our proposed approach, five eminent test problems from the previous literature are engaged and the results are compared with the existing method the results clearly display that the proposed approach which that provides superior or equal solution than the existing method.