Classification and Analysis of Operating Policies for Manufacturing Cells

While the problem of forming manufacturing cells has received considerable attention in the literature (see chapter Dl), the development of guidelines for operating cells once they are constructed has not received as much attention. Nevertheless, some research has appeared on the impact of worker cross-training, cell loading rules, the use of sublot transfers, queue dispatching rules, and the assignment of workers to tasks. In this chapter we summarize the findings to date and propose important directions for future research.