U1 03 MANUFACTURING CELLS

What is a manufacturing cell?

It is a small unit, consisting of one to several workstations. As usual. A workstation
contains one machine (single machine cell) or multiple machines (machine group
cell), with each performing a different operation on the part.
What is his utility?
It is used primarily in sheet metal forming and machining operations. The machine
tools that are usually used in the cells are lathes, milling machines, drills, grinding
machines and electric discharge machines.
In general, cellular manufacturing capabilities include the following operations:
- Loading and unloading of raw materials and work pieces at work stations.
- Change of tools at work stations.
- Transfer of work pieces and tools between workstations.
- Scheduling and control of the total operation in the cell.

When was this article created?

2016
What else do you address after the manufacturing cell?
Workload balancing, which basically says that it is essential to consider workload
balancing to achieve a lean manufacturing system, in which cells have a constant
flow that reduces lead time and inventory in process.
Practically, workload balancing consists of balancing the total time of operations or
processes assigned to each workstation or machine in the cell.
What do they do in the article?
It is described the process developed, it begins with the introduction to the formation
of the manufacturing cells and the balancing of the workloads; then it presents the
proposed mathematical model, the structure of the genetic algorithm used with the
coding of the solutions and the implemented operators, then the methodology and
the experimental development implemented and finally, the results and conclusions
are presented.
It also covers the proposed mathematical method, the genetic algorithm,
methodology and experimental development, results and the conclusion.
What was the hypothesis?
The optimal design of cellular manufacturing systems through the simultaneous
solution of the formation of the manufacturing cells and the balancing of the
workloads using Genetic Algorithms (GA).
What is concluded from the article?
“From the values of the average percentage of deviation of the solutions with respect
to the optimum, it can be affirmed that the simultaneous solution of the formation of
the manufacturing cells and the balancing of workloads with Genetic Algorithms, is
a viable alternative that allows achieve very good solutions, with minimal deviation
from optimal values. This represents more efficient manufacturing system designs
in the industrial environment.
When considering the average time in obtaining the best solutions, a clear
advantage can be evidenced for the manufacturing system design process, since it
is possible to carry out several iterations that allow the results to be validated,
simulated or carried out a more detailed evaluation of these in a very short time.
Additionally, if changes are made to the products or processes that modify the
incidence matrix, the operating times and / or the cycle times, it is possible in a short
time to formulate new proposals to reconfigure the cells or modify the allocation of
the loads of work to achieve a better operation; this has a positive influence on
facilitating the flexibility of the system. "