Improving the performance of cellular manufacturing by a dynamic part assignment approach

In this paper, a simple dynamic part assignment (DPA) procedure is introduced and its effects on the performance of cellular manufacturing systems is evaluated. In this procedure rerouting of parts among machine cells is allowed for better machine utilization. Three data sets are used to compare the performance of manufacturing systems under job shop and cellular manufacturing when DPA is employed. The results of simulation runs indicate that the proposed DPA method improves the performance of cellular manufacturing significantly by reducing the congestion in machine cells with long waiting lines.