A new cell formation problem with the consideration of multifunctional machines and in-route machines dissimilarity - A two phase solution approach

The purpose of this paper is to develop a variety of cell formation problem (CFP) that considers new concepts. Due to utilizing the machine flexibility causing system flexibility, multifunctional machines are used in the CFP. Machine-operation and part-operation are defined to introduce machine capabilities and part requirements, respectively. A novel solution approach with two phases is presented to solve the considered problem. First phase is a mathematical model proposed to define machines grouping. This model is seeking to minimize in-route machines dissimilarity. Second phase allocated to a heuristic method which assigns parts to corresponding cells. For validation the presented solution approach some test instances are solved: Two critical examples of CFP in, and a new one that design to illustrate the complete characteristics of the considered problem. Results show the capability of proposed approach in comparison with other methods to solve the variety of cell formation problems.