H. Mirzahosseinian - Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science & Technology
M. Ranjbar-Bourani - Industrial Engineering, Islamic Azad University-South Tehran Branch
Reza Tavakkoli-Moghaddam - Industrial Engineering, University of Tehran
M.B. Aryanezhad - Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST)

This paper presents a novel, multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model for a cell formation problem (CFP) with alternative means. Due to existing contradiction among objectives, three are considered: ۱) Minimizing the total cost consisting of; intercellular movements, purchasing, operation, and maintenance; ۲) maximizing the utilization of machines in the system; ۳) minimizing the deviation levels between the cell utilization (i.e., balancing the workload between cells). Furthermore, alternative process for each part, which is a key characteristic for flexible manufacturing systems, is considered in this paper. The main goals of our proposed model are to; ۱) Select a process plan for each part with minimum cost, simultaneous machine grouping and complete series of all parts; ۲) Identify the appropriate level of overall utilization of machines; ۳) Balancing the workload among the cells in the production system.

multi, Objective Cell Formation Problem, Alternative Process Plan, Alternative Routes