Part families selection for computer integrated manufacturing systems

The problem of partitioning the part types produced by a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is discussed. The system examined is designed to produce a set of part types, the number of which is too high to run simultaneously on the system. Constraints imposed by the specifications of the system, such as capacity of tool magazines, number of existing pallets and/or capacity of buffers are violated. The authors' solution is to partition the part types into groups so that the part types within each group will be produced simultaneously to maximize the productivity of the system.<>