M. Rheault et al., PHYSICALLY RECONFIGURABLE VIRTUAL CELLS - A DYNAMIC-MODEL FOR A HIGHLY DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT, Computers & industrial engineering, 29, 1995, pp. 221-225
This paper presents a scheduling framework for sustaining a manufactur
ing environment that is said to be very dynamic and turbulent. The fra
mework proposes five modules: part family formulation, family sequenci
ng, cellular configuration, jobs scheduling and system monitoring. The
modules will configure the worksatations in virtual, dynamic or hybri
d cells. Decision criteria are exclusively economic and aim at minimiz
ing the cost for transfering unit loads and the cost for relocating pr
ocessors.