A new shop-based and predictive scheduling heuristic for cellular manufacturing

In this paper we develop a new efficiency-oriented subfamily queue selection heuristic for the cellular manufacturing environment. With the goal of minimizing aggregate times required for major sequence-dependent machine setups at a workcentre, this heuristic includes a feature for dynamically assessing variations in a subfamily's arrival rate, enhancing its suitability for realistic transient-state conditions. Computer simulation is used to test the heuristic against several well-known alternatives under various experimental conditions. The results indicate superior flowtime and due date performance by the new heuristic in a variety of situations.