Layout design in fractal organizations

SAAD, S. M. and LASSILA, A. M. (2004). Layout design in fractal organizations. In: 17th International Conference on Production Research, Virginia Polytech Inst & State Univ, Blacksburg, VA, AUG, 2003. 3529-3550.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Today's complex, unpredictable and unstable marketplace requires flexible manufacturing systems capable of cost-effective high variety-low volume production in frequently changing product demand and mix. In fractal organizations, system flexibility and responsiveness are achieved by allocating all manufacturing resources into multifunctional cells that are capable of processing a wide variety of products. In this paper, various fractal cell configuration methods for different system design objectives and constraints are proposed. These parameters determine the level of interaction between the cells, the distribution of different product types among the cells and the similarity of cell capabilities. A tabu-search-based method is proposed to optimize the product distribution to the cells and the arrangement of machines and cells on the shop floor. This optimization is performed for different fractal cell configuration methods and cell quantities. The quality of the resulting shop floor layouts is measured in terms of resource requirements and material movements. The results indicate that in fractal layouts, a trade-off is required between machine quantities and material travelling distance. It was generally possible to reduce travelling distances by increasing the degree of optimization on machine layout and product distribution for a specific product demand and mix.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	Times Cited: 1 17th International Conference on Production Research AUG, 2003 Virginia Polytech Inst & State Univ, Blacksburg, VA
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018:	Materials and Engineering Research Institute > Centre for Automation and Robotics Research > Systems Modelling and Integration Group
Page Range:	3529-3550
Depositing User:	Danny Weston
Date Deposited:	27 Apr 2010 15:18
Last Modified:	18 Mar 2021 08:31
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/1734

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads

Publication Metrics