Abstract
In flexible manufacturing systems, production lines are often laid out along a linear track. In these lines, facilities engineers attempt to simplify the workflow of jobs by avoiding a job shop structure in favor of a generalized flow line (GFL) by assigning machines to appropriate locations in the layout. The upstream flow of materials in a production line is called backtracking. Determining an optimum assignment of M unique machines to exactly M locations along a track to minimize the total backtracking of jobs is computationally intractable. Therefore, an efficient heuristic is developed in this chapter to overcome these difficulties.
An ideal (GFL) incurs no backtracking. In many cases, achieving a GFL is not feasible because of the routing required by jobs. The relative amount of backtracking which does occur in such a configuration is an indication of the degree to which the ideal (and most productive) case is achieved. A measure of backtracking is developed in this chapter to assess the degree which a configuration achieves a (GFL). A simulation model is used to assess the effect of reducing backtracking on overall system performance in day-to-day dynamic operations.
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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg
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Sarker, B.R., Wilhelm, W.E., Hogg, G.L., Han, MH. (1991). Backtracking of Jobs and Machine Location Problems. In: Material Handling ’90. Progress in Material Handling and Logistics, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84356-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84356-3_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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