Machine Load Balancing Based on Maximizing the Throughput in a Flexible Manufacturing Environment

Operational effectiveness of flexible manufacturing systems largely depends on a good quality solution to the machine loading problem (MLP). Thus, this problem is considered as a vital pre-release decision making problem in manufacturing environment. Despite the researches which addressed this issue mainly to obtain a near optimal solution, this paper formulates machine loading problem as a linear mathematical programming model to determine an exact solution for it. The objective function of the proposed model is to maximize the profitability of the system based on maximizing the throughput. The proposed model has been coded in Lingo 8 Software environment. Some benchmark problems are solved through the proposed model with Lingo Software and results are compared with those available in the literature. The solution of the proposed model obtains in an acceptable time and it can result in a significant cost-effectiveness in a mass production environment.

Keywords:

Linear mathematically programming , Lingo coding , Machine allocating , Machine load balancing