Designing a Cellular Manufacturing System: A Materials Flow Approach Based on Operation Sequences

This paper presents a cell formation method which integrates the issues of cell formation and with in-cell material flows. A coefficient which assesses the similarity of two parts in terms of their operation sequences is proposed and used to form part families and cells. Further, the within-cell machine sequence and machine loads are explicitly considered in the design process. The methodology has been operationalized through several computer programs )written in FORTRAN 77) and implemented on an IBM/PC, An application of the design methodology to a hypothetical cell formation problem is provided.