Abstract
Cellular manufacturing systems are well known as flexible and reliable manufacturing systems for assembly processes. A suitable control method is required for the cellular manufacturing systems to keep the production capacity in the case where unforeseen changes, such as delay of assembly processes, occur during the progress of assembly processes. This research proposes a new method for dynamic production management in the cellular manufacturing systems. When delays of assembly processes occur in the cellular manufacturing systems, delayed production schedules are modified in real-time by changing initial task allocations for workers and loading sequences of the allocated tasks in order to minimize the maximum tardiness of products. The method also allocates various tasks for untrained workers in order to enhance workers' capabilities and productivities in the case where the cellular manufacturing systems still have enough production capacities for minimizing the maximum tardiness. A prototype of task reallocation and rescheduling system is developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
