Design, production planning and scheduling of Cellular Manufacturing Systems, considering dynamic and uncertain environments

Cellular manufacturing system (CMS) is a major key topic in operations management and operations research literature. CMS is considered as one of the main applications of group technology, which involves grouping products into product families or part families, according to their similarities in design or manufacturing operations, to be processed in groups of dedicated machines called manufacturing cells (Ham et al., 1985; Irani, 1999). Thus, the implementation of CMS provides the benefits of reduced costs related to setup times of machines, material handling, work-in-process inventory and space utilisation, as well as improvements in throughput time and quality of products (Burbidge, 1975; Gallagher & Knight, 1986; Ham et al., 1985; Irani, 1999; Wemmerlöv & Hyer, 1989). These benefits make CMS a fundamental production element in advanced production systems such as just-in-time production, computer-aided manufacturing systems and flexible manufacturing systems, among others, since fierce competition, shorter product life-cycles and varying customer demands are some of the characteristics of today's markets (Ahkioon et al., 2009b)