The initial stage in the implementation of cellular manufacturing involves the determination of part families and machine cell (PF/MC). We developed a new heuristic for PF/MC formation that provides a variety of PF/MC alternatives. In addition, we developed a simulation model of a group technology (GT) system using the new heuristic and compared this to that of a traditional process layout (TPL) system. We used performance criteria such as: machine ...
Just-in-time (JIT) production systems operate effectively if resources are correctly sized in terms of performance and availability. In JIT production lines in particular, performance can be considerably affected by machine reliability and the attendant maintenance policies. In this paper, a single-product, multi-stage manufacturing line with resource failures and controlled by a two card kanban system was modelled using discrete-event simulation. Several performance measures were evaluated to determine optimum operating policies ...
The uptime of any system is greatly enhanced by a good maintenance program through an effective system of inspection, detection and prevention of catastrophic and/or gradual failures. Most preventive maintenance programs are successful only to the extent that they are predictive. This paper presents the results of a preliminary study conducted in a continuous production plant which consists of a primary metal hot rolling and reduction line. The line has ...
Reports by Author
