A manufacturing cell formation problem with a maximum cell workload constraint

作者：Caramia Massimiliano^*; Mari Renato

来源：IMA Journal of Management Mathematics, 2017, 28(2): 279-298.

DOI：10.1093/imaman/dpv027

• cell formation
• workload balancing
• system efficiency
• bilevel programming
• valid inequalities

We address a manufacturing cell formation problem (CFP) in which one of the constraints limits the maximum cell workload to a given threshold. To meet such a requirement, it is possible to allocate copies of existing machines in different cells. Additional machines, however, increase costs and may also increase inter-cell flow. The proposed CFP is first modelled in terms of bilevel optimization and then reformulated as a single-level optimization problem. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study addressing the CFP with a cell workload constraint as a bilevel optimization problem. The results of this paper have direct implications for real-world decision-making for at least two reasons. One is related to the methodology used that allows one to model the actual dynamic of the decision-making process more accurately. The second reason is that the proposed model enables better system efficiency when both machine and inter-cell material handling costs are minimized. Experimental results are presented and discussed.

• 出版日期2017-4