Optimum Number of Cells for a Member of a Family in an Area of Stochastic Demand

Abstract

Under stochastic demand setting, cellular manufacturing system is planned and assessed according to its profitability. The approach in this paper is composed of five stages. First, the cellular system is studied by defining processing time information and component demand according to the matrix of the part-machine and the demand data. The cellular system is then configured or planned through the following steps: the determination of means, variance and standard deviation of the capacity specifications for parts of the network, the determination of the probabilities of demand coverage for the part network and the determination of the intended usage of cells. Secondly, the estimated revenues from the cellular architecture are calculated second, the overall production costs of part family open cells are estimated taking into account various scenarios of potential unit shortages. Fourthly, the expected profits generated by open cells are decided, and finally the decision is made on the optimal design that yields the greatest profits with its related likelihood of demand coverage. The results show that while five manufacturing cells satisfy the expected part family demand, three manufacturing cells produce the system's highest income.