Using simulation to evaluate the batching approach to part type selection in flexible manufacturing systems Available to Purchase

The selection of part types for simultaneous processing in a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) is one of the most responsible phases of the short‐time production planning. The batching approach to part type selection is more popular in practice but this leads to the requirement for a preliminary evaluation of the results obtained. Using simulation is a convenient, no‐risk and cheapest way to do this, which is shown and discussed in the paper. The objective of batching approach is to maximize the number of part types in a batch taking into account constraints on tool magazine capacity and tool type availability. Two alternative ways of assigning weights in the objective function of the part type selection model are explored to direct the search to a different set of part types. A procedure to determine the mix ratios of the selected part types is used so as to balance the aggregate machine workloads. The model aggregations have been accounted for in a simulation experiment conducted to evaluate the performance of the batching approach and to investigate the sensitivity of total makespan and machine utilizations.