Cellular manufacturing system design using a holonistic approach

We propose an integrated algorithm that will solve the part-family and machine-cell formation problem by simultaneously considering the within-cell layout problem. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that considers the efficiency of both individual cells and the overall system in monetary terms. Each cell should make at least a certain amount of profit to attain self-sufficiency, while we maximize the total profit of the system using a holonistic approach. The proposed algorithm provides two alternative solutions; one with independent cells and the other one with inter-cell movement. Our computational experiments indicate that the results are very encouraging for a set of randomly generated problems.