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Optimisation of crew size and repair policy in flexible manufacturing systems

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Abstract

This paper presents a simulation-based scheduling algorithm for evaluating the performance of different repair policies and computating the optimum size of repair-crews in flexible manufacturing systems. The simulation experiments were conducted for a system with numbers of machines ranging from six to twelve, processing 15 different types of parts. The experiments were planned according to the rules of central composite rotatable experiment design, and the system performance was optimised on the basis of minimum unit production cost. It has been concluded that for the particular system configuration studied, a repair policy based on shortest repair time yields the best results. It has been shown further that the optimum size of repair crews is much more sensitive to labour costs than to other production-associated costs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, MNR Engineering College, 211 004, Allahabad, India

    P. K. Mishra

  2. Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, University of Roorkee, 247 667, Roorkee, India

    P. C. Pandey

Authors
  1. P. K. Mishra
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  2. P. C. Pandey
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Mishra, P.K., Pandey, P.C. Optimisation of crew size and repair policy in flexible manufacturing systems. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 4, 281–297 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02601527

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02601527

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