Novel approach to multi-channel manufacturing system design

Volatile market conditions have made classical production organizations obsolete in the 1990s. Therefore, new means such as holonic, fractal and multi-channel production systems are investigated to enhance manufacturers' dynamic response ability and competitiveness. Amongst these, newly suggested multi-channel manufacturing (MCM) systems compromise compatibility and specialization to produce a certain range of products. This study proposes a new approach based on genetic algorithms to devise such production channels. Feasible solutions corresponding to machine sequences for channels are coded as chromosome structures. Applying genetic operations to these chromosomes created improved arrangements regarding a problem given in the literature. Furthermore, an effective and realistic solution for a real life problem was found by making use of the multi-objective fitness function developed.