Using dynamic cellular manufacturing to simplify scheduling in cell based production systems

Previous research has shown that the formation of temporary, logical manufacturing cells in a job shop, overcomes problems of high setup frequency typically found in job shops. In addition, this form of cellular configuration is more flexible than tranditional, group technology based cellular configurations. This research demonstrates that an added benefit of a dynamic cellular configuration is that it simplifies production scheduling, eliminating the need for more complex dispatching rules. In particular, it eliminates the need for further setup reduction when scheduling parts from the same family. Improvements in performance when employing setup reduction are shown to occur only when the premium associated with intra-family setup reduction is very high, and are attributable to reductions in flow time variance.