Mgwatu, Mussa I.
Description:
More often, the decisions of part selection, machine
loading, machining optimisation and part scheduling
sub-problems are made at different decision-making levels. As a
result, part selection, machine loading and machining optimisation
decisions at higher-production planning level may fail to interact
with part scheduling decisions at lower-scheduling level. This
paper presents a two-stage sequential methodology aimed at
integrating the decisions of part selection, machine loading,
machining optimisation and part scheduling sub-problems for
flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) and avoiding disparities of
decisions which can be difficult to implement on the FMS shop
floor. In this case, two mathematical models were presented and
solved. Results from the models show that more interactive
decisions and well-balanced workload of the FMS can be achieved
when part selection, machine loading, machining optimisation and
part scheduling sub-problems are solved jointly.