Dávila-Torres, Irving A.

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A mixed integer linear programming model for labor intensive manufacturing cells considering skills and preferences
(2014) Dávila-Torres, Irving A.; Cesaní-Vázquez, Viviana I.; College of Engineering; Bartolomei Suárez, Sonia M.; Resto Batalla, Pedro; Department of Industrial Engineering; Santana Morant, Dámaris
Operators in cellular manufacturing systems are an extremely important resource since they are the ones that drive the output by putting their effort directly into the product. An operator’s preference for a specific task has a significant influence in his/her performance due to its possible emotional impact. Operators with a high skill level in certain areas, but that prefer to work someplace else, can show lack of interest, consequently lowering their performance. Most cell manufacturing related literature has failed to consider non-technical factors such as operators’ preferences for tasks. This work addresses this issue by proposing a three-stage assignment linear optimization model that considers simultaneously technical and non-technical characteristics of the operators and uses an objective function that measures skill-satisfaction. Moreover, the model provides cross-training recommendations that may further enhance the preference-skill combination in the system. The suitability of this model is tested using a hypothetical case study.