The objective of this paper is to minimize machine duplication by increasing its utilization, minimize intercell moves, simplify the scheduling problem and increase the¯exibility of the manufacturing system. An integrated approach of design and scheduling alternative hybrid multi-cell¯exible manufacturing systems (M CF M Ss) in four steps will be presented in this paper. The ® rst step is the implementation of branch and bound techniques which provide tools to design group technology (GT) cells. The second step is balancing the inter-cell workload of G T cells which leads to a hybrid M CF M S with better utilization of the machines. The problem of the exception machines and their utilization and workload balance will be solved within the M CF M S centre. Thus the performance of G T cells can be improved by transferring workloads from a congested (bottleneck) machine in one cell to an alternative one, a less congested (exception) machine in another cell within a group of G T cells forming a M CF M S centre. The third step is the group scheduling; a proposed heuristic method will be used for the scheduling of a family of parts with the objective of minimizing the maximum completion time of each part. The problem of scheduling under M CF M S can be reduced by considering the scheduling of each family of parts. F inally, thē exibility of the system will be enhanced by selecting appropriate machine tools and¯exible material handling equipments. This approach is both eOE ective and e cient ±it has generated a hybrid M CF M S centre which includes several alternatives, for some benchmark problems in much shorter time than algorithms previously reported in the literature. In addition, the method is conceptually simple and easy to implement.

Purpose -This paper presents a new method of resource optimization through workload balance in designing of multiple cellular manufacturing (MCM) systems for flow-shop environments. The application of a step-by-step structured approach to design MCM cells more efficiently and generate smooth flow shop type with better resource utilization. Design/methodology/approach -An industrial application case with 31 products carried on 12 workstations is presented to explore the step-by-step of designing and analyzing the results of alternative cellular manufacturing and balancing the workload. Findings -MCM designs have become an important approach for batch production in the last decade, and their layout provides a dominant flow structure for the production scheduling. The flow shop nature of MCM adds a simplifying structure to the complexity of planning and scheduling. This method will generate many alternative designs and configurations of MCM in the form of highly flexible manufacturing systems. These alternatives could be better a choice for resource optimization in the industrial application. Originality/value -Together with the associated costs, each proposed solution for the MCM could help to design and build efficient and highly flexible systems. Special emphasis will be devoted to the workload balance of workstations, machines, material-handling equipment and WIP with the utilization of the resources in the production system. This method is practical, experiential and participates. A program using C language will be written to test the proposed algorithm for randomly generated input data.

XYZ Company spends millions of dollars in the procurement of spare parts and tools every year. The maintenance part plays the role of sustaining the technical readiness of the equipment and vehicles. This research will try to find ways to reduce total inventory cost while maintaining the targeted level of technical readiness. The research consists of two phases of multi-criteria decision making on total inventory cost and technical readiness. First phase is to apply a 2-dimentional material classification technique to the selected data. Thus, a combination of ABC-and 123-analysis is used to simplify the problem by focusing on costly items only. The second phase is to apply a deterministic inventory model to the results of the material classification. A detailed analysis of the technical readiness and total inventory cost is covered for the deterministic inventory model. The objective of this research is to design a new system to balance readiness and the associated total inventory cost by finding the relationship between the desired level of technical readiness and cost. Finally, a comparison between the current inventory system and the proposed one shows around 42% savings in the total inventory cost over a period of 3 years, (Adi in Optimizing total inventory cost and enhancing technical readiness level. Master's thesis, ESM at AUS, Sharjah, UAE, 2005).

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

This paper employs a simulation model in a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system. This study is one of the first to present simulation model of inventory control system in supply chain management using barcode and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The main objective of this model is to compare two inventory systems in a supply chain, one using RFID, versus the barcode. The model will help company to consider moving from a barcode system to the RFID application. A quantitative analysis based on a simulation model is developed. The model runs for both systems using ARENA simulation software with a comparison between the two systems. Furthermore, the simulation model is tested by applying three different types of demand for both scenarios. The results have shown that regardless of demand distribution pattern and customer order rate, the outcomes of the model are consistent and provide promising RFID technology adoption to improve inventory control of the entire supply chain system. The installation and unit cost of RFID implementation were estimated and considered to be the main barrier. Such model can offer the policymakers insight into how RFID might improve SCM system performance. Additional test has been conducted for demand with normal and triangular distributions using real data provided by ABC-Dubai Company. The results obtained from running the two models for these distributions are consistent with the original results.

No abstract