Two-stage method for solving cell formation and layout problems with alternative routings and machine capacity constraints

Abstract

This paper presents a two-stage method which can be used for the precise evaluation of the material handling cost within the CF process. In the first stage, a mathematical model is presented for minimizing the weighted sum of the total inter- and intra-cell movement cost by considering alternative processing routings and under constraints on cell size and machine capacity. In this stage, depending on the weight proposed in the model, different machine cells can be formed. In the second stage, another mathematical model is presented for minimizing the total material handling cost by taking into account the dimensions of the machines, the widths of the cells and the aisle distances; the linear arrangement of machines within the cells as well as the cell layout are obtained in this stage. Each machine cell formed in the first stage is evaluated using the proposed model in the second stage. Finally, the solution with the lowest material handling cost is selected as the best solution. Several numerical examples adopted from the literature are solved by the CPLEX solver to verify the performance of the proposed method. Finally, the computational results are presented.