MOCACEF 1.0: Multiple objective capability based approach to form part-machine groups for cellular manufacturing applications

A pre-emptive goal programming formulation is developed for concurrently forming independent part/machine cells. Machine independent capability units, which are known as Resource Elements (RE), are used to define processing requirements of parts and processing capabilities of machine tools. Representation of unique and shared capability boundaries of machine tools is possible via RE, which increases the opportunity to form independent manufacturing cells and efficient utilization of them. RE-based operation sequences, processing times, capacities, demand, cell sizes, cell flexibility, load balance between cells, cell interaction, copies of each machine type in the job shop are all considered in the problem formulation. The model is solved by a specially developed tabu search algorithm.