Optimal and Heuristic Procedures for Row Layout Problems in Automated Manufacturing Systems

In many automated manufacturing environments, particularly flowlines and flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs), machines are arranged along a straight material handling track with a material handling device moving jobs from one machine to aother. These layouts are referred to as row machine layouts. In this paper we study the Row Layout Problem (RLP) under the design objective of minimizing the total backtracking distance of the material handling device, which is a NP-complete problem. We propose the use of a dynamic programming algorithm for its solution. Special cases of the problem, usually encountered in flexible manufacturing cells and which can be solved with polynomial procedures, are also discussed. For the equidistant case (i.e., successive candidate locations are in equal distances), we formulate the problem as an integer linear program. The use of standard mathematical programming codes can efficiently solve this formulation. Two effective heuristic procedures, which explore simple ideas based on local optimality conditions, are also presented. Extensive computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of such heuristics.     

Heuristics for determining economic processing rates in a flexible manufacturing system

In this paper, models are presented for determining economic processing speeds and tool loading to minimize the makespan required to produce a given set of parts in a flexible manufacturing system. Using Taylor's tool life equation, models for determining the optimal processing speeds and the tools to be loaded into finite capacity machine magazines are formulated to minimize the maximum processing time in the system. These problems are evaluated for computational complexity, and several heuristics for obtaining good feasible solutions to the problem are discussed. The quality of the solutions obtained using these heuristics is evaluated by computational experiments against lower bounds established by either relaxations or optimal solutions when possible.     

Long term capacity decisions in uncertain markets for advanced manufacturing systems incorporating scope economies

By examining the literature in the field of manufacturing flexibility many researchers have located several form of flexibility by distinguishing them into strategic and operational flexibility forms. Furthermore, many measures and design methods have been proposed for flexible manufacturing systems. Surely scope economies are one of the most important strategic form of flexibility in manufacturing systems and their strategic impact has been acknowledged by the very beginning of the flexible manufacturing era. However, despite several researches are available to address scope economies measurement and design methodologies, very few researches investigate their economic convenience in front of dedicated manufacturing systems depending on the competitive market conditions.This paper proposes a theoretical model whose main aim is the general understanding of the convenience conditions of scope economies-based manufacturing systems. The results of the theoretical model are very interesting, because they locate market conditions that make scope economies manufacturing systems less profitable than dedicated manufacturing ones; moreover, the proposed model sets some general criteria to guide the entrepreneur in making right investment decision regarding this kind of manufacturing investments. Such results can explain the reason of many failures of flexible manufacturing systems and it suggests the use of this kind of approach to investigate other flexibility forms of manufacturing systems. The ultimate goal of this research is the construction of a Decision Support System for supporting the entrepreneur in making decision on Advanced Manufacturing Systems investment decisions.     

Economic design of screening procedures when the rejected items are reprocessed

In a screening inspection, all of the items are subject to acceptance inspection. If an item fails to meet the predetermined specifications, it is rejected. In this paper, economic screening procedures are considered when the rejected items are reprocessed. It is assumed that the reprocessed and nonreprocessed items are produced by the same manufacturing process and therefore their quality characteristics are identically and independently distributed. Screening procedures based on the performance variable of interest and a variable which is correlated with the performance variable are considered. Cost models are constructed which involve the cost incurred by imperfect quality, reprocessing cost, and inspection cost. Methods of finding the optimal screening procedures are presented and an example is given.     

Testing causality using efficiently parametrized vector ARMA models

We outline a practical methodology for fitting to data vector autoregressive moving-average models, and employ these models to test for Granger causality. The procedures are applied to data on employment and hourly wages in manufacturing in the United States.     

外源投入型两阶段制造系统网络DEA效率分析研究

制造过程评价是改善制造系统效率的重要一环,传统的评价方法将每个制造系统决策单元视为黑箱来研究整体效率,忽略了中间产品转化信息及投入要素在各子过程中的配置信息。针对两阶段(第二阶段有外源性新投入)制造系统的效率评估问题,分别在固定规模报酬和可变规模报酬假设下,充分利用制造系统中间产品的转化及外源投入要素的配置信息,建立了制造系统网络DEA效率测度及分解模型,建模方法遵循客观评价原则,无需事先主观确定子效率和系统效率之间的组合关系。并将其应用于钢铁制造系统效率测度与分解,研究结果表明该方法能够挖掘决策单元内部子单元的效率情况,帮助决策者发现复杂制造过程非有效的根源,为复杂制造过程的整体效率测度及分解提供了有效的分析方法。     

Cell formation using fuzzy relational clustering algorithm

Cellular manufacturing is a useful way to improve overall manufacturing performance. Group technology is used to increase the productivity for manufacturing high quality products and improving the flexibility of manufacturing systems. Cell formation is an important step in group technology. It is used in designing good cellular manufacturing systems. The key step in designing any cellular manufacturing system is the identification of part families and machine groups for the creation of cells that uses the similarities between parts in relation to the machines in their manufacture. There are two basic procedures for cell formation in group technology. One is part-family formation and the other is machine–cell formation. In this paper, we apply a fuzzy relational data clustering algorithm to form part families and machine groups. A real data study shows that the proposed approach performs well based on the grouping efficiency proposed by Chandrasekharan and Rajagopalan.     

An extended enterprise planning methodology for the discrete manufacturing industry

Extended factories consisting of geographically dispersed independent production facilities are already a reality in the global economy. Production facilities concentrate on core technologies and create partner networks for the manufacturing of their products, a trend initially visible in semiconductor manufacturing but quickly spreading to other industries. A methodology, more flexible and efficient than the traditional time-bucket-based techniques and dynamic dispatching heuristics, to plan the Extended Semiconductor Enterprise and schedule work at the different production entities is presented in this paper. The generic approach also opens opportunities for applications in other discrete manufacturing industries. The methodology uses stepwise search procedures to improve plans and make-or-buy decision processes to solve resource constraints. Focus of the paper is principally on resource scheduling and less on logistics and distribution topics.     

The plant location and flexible technology acquisition problem

In many industries, production–distribution networks have become more complex due to globalization. In particular, increasing interdependencies among structural decisions call for the development of integrated models. In this paper, we present a mathematical model for simultaneous optimization of the plant location, capacity acquisition and technology selection decisions in a multi-commodity environment. The proposed model represents the possible scale and scope economies associated with manufacturing technology alternatives. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear program with concave costs. We developed an exact and three heuristic solution procedures. Using these procedures, we are able to solve fairly large facility design problems with reasonable computational effort.     

Computing confidence intervals for output-oriented DEA models: an application to agricultural research in Brazil

We define and model the research production at Embrapa, the major Brazilian institution responsible for applied agricultural research. The main theoretical framework is data envelopment analysis. We explore the economic interpretation and the statistical properties of these models to compute confidence intervals for output-oriented efficiency measurements. It was based on a parametric flexible model, defined by the truncated normal distribution. Intervals are calculated exploring a bootstrap approach. These results provide a better insight on the efficiency classification and allow comparisons among the decision making units involved in the evaluation process, taking into account random errors and inefficiency random variation.     

A review of open queueing network models of manufacturing systems

In this paper we review open queueing network models of manufacturing systems. The paper consists of two parts. In the first part we discuss design and planning problems arising in manufacturing. In doing so we focus on those problems that are best addressed by queueing network models. In the second part of the paper we describe developments in queueing network methodology. We are primarily concerned with features such as general service times, deterministic product routings, and machine failures — features that are prevalent in manufacturing settings. Since these features have eluded exact analysis, approximation procedures have been proposed. In the second part of this paper we review the developments in approximation procedures and highlight the assumptions that underlie these approaches.     

Economically study regarding modernizing of the final working of the car radiators through implementation of an articulated robot in a flexible manufacturing cell

In this paper the authors purpose the conception and modelling of a possible application in a circular flexible manufacturing cell. This flexible cell is composed from five manufacturing points for realizing the final technological itinerary of a type of radiator. This flexible manufacturing cell is served by an industrial articulated robot, which possess in his cinematic chain three degrees of freedom, type RRT. In virtue of real values of the functional parameters which are input data in the analysis of the flexible manufacturing cell, had been dignify the cost of the flexible manufacturing cell, determining the value of the included industrial robot in the system and the value of the entire flexible cell where the robot realize the manipulating process of the radiators. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Performance ranking of units considering ideal and anti-ideal DMU with common weights

A characteristic of traditional DEA CCR mode is that it allows DMUs to measure their maximum efficiency score with the most favorable weights. Thus, it would have some shortcomings, for example, the efficiencies of different DMUs obtained by different sets of weights may be unable to be compared and ranked on the same basis. Besides, there are always more than one DMU to be evaluated as efficient because of the flexibility in the selection of weights; it would cause the situation that all DMUs cannot be fully discriminated. With the research gaps, in this paper, we propose two models considering ideal and anti-ideal DMU to generate common weights for performance evaluation and ranking. Finally, two examples of Asian lead frame firms and flexible manufacturing systems are illustrated to examine the validity of the proposed methods.     

A Petri Net based algorithm for minimizing total tardiness in flexible manufacturing systems

Petri Nets have been extensively used for modeling and simulating of the dynamics of flexible manufacturing systems. Petri Nets can capture features such as parallel machines, alternative routings, batch sizes, multiplicity of resources, to name but a few. However, Petri Nets have not been very popular for scheduling in manufacturing due to the Petri Net “state explosion” combined with the NP-hard nature of many of such problems. A promising approach for scheduling consists of generating only portions of the Petri Net state space with heuristic search methods. Thus far, most of this scheduling work with Petri Nets has been oriented to minimize makespan. The problem of minimizing total tardiness and other due date-related criteria has received little attention. In this paper, we extend the Beam A^* Search algorithm presented in a previous work with capability to handle the total tardiness criterion. Computational tests were conducted on Petri Net models of both flexible job shop and flexible manufacturing systems. The results suggest that the Petri Net approach is also valid to minimize due date related criteria in flexible systems.     

中国高端装备制造业的技术创新能力:2004～2014

为了评价中国高端装备制造业的技术创新能力,采用技术创新投入、技术创新开展、技术获取和技术创新产出等4个一级指标,以及RD经费、专利申请数等9个二级指标,构建了中国高端装备制造业技术创新能力的评价指标体系.依据这些评价指标体系分析和评价了中国通用设备制造业、专用设备制造业等六大类高端装备制造业在2004~2014年间的技术创新能力.根据评价结果,针对不同产业存在的具体问题,提出了加强产业技术创新能力建设的对策.     

Valuation of Resources

This paper presents an overview of results of research into problems of financial reporting faced by an average manufacturing company. The paper demonstrates how Linear Programming can be used to overcome some of the shortcomings encountered by standard accounting procedures. However, the widespread occurrence of degenerate solutions to such LP corporate models requires a fundamental revision to our interpretation of the economic meaning of the dual variables: a revision that may be extended to the dual of non-degenerate optimal solutions.     

Robots,CAM and O.R.

Microelectronics have greatly influenced the nature of manufacturing technology and systems. New factories make growing use of microcomputers and microprocessors in robots, C.N.C. machine tools and flexible manufacturing systems. The result is an increasing trend towards fully integrated computer-based manufacturing systems. As a consequence, O.R. software has a newer, more direct role in the modern factory than ever before. Fully integrated CAM systems are implemented by multi-disciplinary teams of engineers and management scientists. The O.R. practitioner can make a major contribution, for example in layout optimisation and plant simulations.