Original Article

Proc IMechE Part B:

J Engineering Manufacture
1–16
Integration of cell formation and job Ó IMechE 2016
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sequencing to minimize energy sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0954405416630182

consumption with minimum pib.sagepub.com

make-span

Neelum Iqbal, Muhammad Haris Aziz, Mirza Jahanzaib,

Wasim Ahmad and Salman Hussain

Abstract
Cell formation is the fundamental step while designing a cellular manufacturing system. Integration of job sequencing
with cell formation can attain lower make-spans. The traditional cell formation and scheduling problems consider perfor-
mance indicators such as productivity, time and flexibility in cellular manufacturing system; however, energy consumption
has not been given due attention. Therefore, this research addressed the minimization of total energy consumption by
implementing an energy-efficient schedule at the cell formation stage of cellular manufacturing system. For this purpose,
a two-phase approach is proposed; in phase I, formation of independent cells is being carried out by considering energy-
efficient routings and genetic algorithm is used for improving search performance. In phase II, a formulation is being
developed to compute the total energy of the system based on optimal job sequence with respect to minimum idle run-
ning of the machines in each independent cell. For the proposed approach, a code is being developed in MATLAB soft-
ware. Different sample problems have been evaluated. The results showed that the proposed approach is effective in
generating independent cells and sequences with minimum energy consumption and make-span.

Keywords
Cellular manufacturing system, cell formation, independent cell formation, energy consumption, scheduling, make-span

Date received: 1 July 2015; accepted: 6 January 2016

Introduction tools.5,6 Although there is an increase in capital invest-

In today’s world, cellular manufacturing (CM) is used
for the improvement of the systems to achieve fusion of
flexibility and production efficiency.1 Cell formation
(CF) is the fundamental step in designing a cellular
manufacturing system (CMS). It involves grouping of
similar parts and corresponding machines into cells.2
Ideal situation in CF is achieving a cell which is inde-
pendent.3 An independent cell allows assigned parts to
complete their processing of machines available in a
single cell and does not need other cells for their com-
pletion. The application of independent cells is found in
industries where equipments and machines can be easily
reconstructed and replaced by those having similar
functions.
Such cells are suitable for producing small-in-size,
light-in-weight, easy-to-assemble and medium-in-
volume products.4 Such cells are best applicable to
manufacturing systems including pharmaceutical, med-
ical apparatus, food, electronic goods and precision
ment by duplication of equipments and machinery,
independent cells can lead to simpler and easier pro-
duction scheduling. Also, this investment can be com-
pensated by applying energy-saving strategies in
independent cells. These energy-saving strategies not
only compensate the investment but also aid in devel-
oping the energy-efficient manufacturing systems in
this era of growing energy security concerns.
Energy consumption of industrial sector has
increased more than double in the last 50 years and it is
consuming half of the world’s energy.7 Such situation
compels industries to incorporate energy-efficient and
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Engineering and
Technology – Taxila, Taxila, Pakistan
Corresponding author:
Muhammad Haris Aziz, Department of Industrial Engineering, University
of Engineering and Technology – Taxila, Taxila 47080, Pakistan.
Email: harisqureshi444@gmail.com

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2 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture
energy-saving strategies. Research on the energy con-
sumption minimization has focused on three perspec-
tives: the machine-level perspective, the product-level
perspective and the manufacturing system–level per-
spective.8 The machine-level perspective involves
designing of machines in such a way that machines con-
sume minimum energy. The product-level perspective
involves modeling a framework which designs products
such that products consume minimum energy. The
manufacturing-level perspective involves decisions such
as scheduling; by applying these decisions, minimized
energy consumption can be achieved. Minimizing idle
times between processing of parts can assist in reducing
energy consumption of the machines.
The next section provides the literature review.
Section ‘‘Problem description’’ consists of the consid-
ered problem along with the assumptions. Section
‘‘Proposed approach’’ explains the approach suggested
for solving the described problem. Section ‘‘Numerical
problem’’ covers an illustrative example to demonstrate
the proposed approach. Section ‘‘Results and discus-
sion’’ presents the obtained results. Section
‘‘Conclusion’’ concludes the work with a summary and
future scope of work.
Literature review
CMS has been known as the most recent technological
improvements in job shop as well as batch production
to achieve economic benefits as those achieved in mass
production.9 CMS has three major designing steps: (1)
CF, (2) machine layout and (3) cell layout. CF is the
most important, primary and crucial issue.
Over the last few decades, extensive research studies
have been carried out on CF. An efficient method for
solving multi-objective CF problem is proposed by par-
tially implementing Falkenauer’s grouping genetic
algorithm (GGA). The main objectives in that study
were minimization of cell load variation and intercellu-
lar flows.10 Machine part grouping problem is
addressed with the considerations of machine flexibility
as well as machine aggregation and disaggregation
simultaneously. The main objectives in this study were
minimization of total intercellular and intracellular
movements.11 A clustering approach is presented for
generating machine cells and part families automati-
cally. An optimal machine sequence, maximizing the
overall flow of elements between the machines, is found
out.12 A Pareto-optimality-based multi-objective Tabu
search (MOTS) algorithm is offered for the problem of
machine-part grouping to incorporate objectives such
as minimization of total cost, which consists of intracel-
lular and intercellular transportation cost and machine
investment cost, minimization of intracell loading
unbalance and minimization of the intercell loading
unbalance.13 A new methodology for CF consuming a
syntactic recognition approach is proposed.
Operational information of the part is utilized to select
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a suitable cell for a new part.14 The Tabu search meta-
heuristic is presented for solving the problems in less
computational time and dealing with the part family
formation and cell grouping problems separately. The
minimization of intercellular movements as an objec-
tive function is demonstrated.15 A method incorporat-
ing machine modification for solving CF problem is
presented. It included the minimization of the sum of
machine modification cost and intercell travel.16
Another study included a mathematical model to
simultaneously solve CF, cell layout and sequence of
operations to achieve the objective of minimizing trans-
portation cost and make-span. Multi-objective genetic
algorithm (MOGA) was presented to solve the prob-
lem.17 An approach for solving CF problem is pre-
sented with the consideration of many factors such as
machine requirement, operation sequence, alternative
processing routes, processing time, production volume,
budget limitation and cost of machines. A GA-based
model was presented to minimize the sum of dissimilar-
ity and to maximize the total saving in the assignment
of bottleneck machines.18 All these studies formed cells
with intercellular movements, which accounted for
intercellular travel cost and, in turn, affected make-
span.
Various methods exist for solving CF problems.
Those methods can be categorized into (1) heuristics,
(2) meta-heuristics, (3) hybrid meta-heuristics, (4) math-
ematical programming and (5) artificial intelligence
procedures.19–21 GA is categorized as a useful technique
because of its ability to cope with the Non- determinis-
tic Polynomial-time (NP) hard aspect and the feature of
combinatorial optimization of CF problem.22 GA imi-
tates the natural development process in such a way
that the survived fittest between solution configurations
is merged with a structured, however randomized,
information swap to produce offspring. GA has been
widely used in a variety of fields such as engineering,
manufacturing, telecommunications and business.23
GA can assist in finding multiple solutions by applying
genetic operators such as cross over and mutation.
Consequently, there is a possibility to reach the optimi-
zation point promptly. It has been found in the litera-
ture that GAs and its modified versions have been
successfully used for solving the CF problems in the
CMS. A GGA proposed by Brown and Sumichrast24
incorporated characteristics of CF problem into a typi-
cal GA. Furthermore, for solving the CF problem, a
hybrid GGA is proposed which joins a local search with
a standard GGA to form machine-part cells.25
In order to improve the efficiency of formed cells in
terms of material handling cost, mutual independence
between formed cells was being preferred. One such
study included independent CF by taking into account
multiple identical machines. This study presented a bi-
objective mathematical model for minimizing work
load imbalance in formed cells.26 A heuristic algorithm
consisting of two phases was proposed for designing a
new CMS; CF and machine selection problems were
Iqbal et al. 3

addressed. The first phase incorporates formation of
independent cells using cell aggregation procedure. In
the second phase, under-utilized machines are elimi-
nated by introducing intercell flows.27 Furthermore, a
method is proposed for the design of independent man-
ufacturing cells in CM by considering alternative pro-
cess routings and machine replication. The problem
was solved using GA which determined machine cells,
part families and process plan for each part simultane-
ously.28 Several studies investigated production plan-
ning and scheduling problems in independent cells29–32
while the research on forming independent manufactur-
ing cells is rather rare. One way of forming independent
cells is through duplication of the machines.
Apparently, the duplication of the machines results
in increased machine investment cost and total CF cost
for practical purposes. But ultimately, it can lead to sig-
nificant decrease in the total production cost because
of the accumulated intercellular material handling and
setup cost. In response to the increased investment cost
in the independent cells due to machine duplication,
application of an energy-saving strategy will provide a
remarkable means to construct an efficient manufactur-
ing system. This will not only compensate machine
investment but also give an energy-efficient solution in
this era of globally increasing energy demand.
The survey on the electric energy consumption has
exposed that up to 54% of electric energy was used in
production processes, which was mostly on production
machines.33 This increased energy resulted in significant
increase in the annual cost of industry. One of the low
investment method to minimize energy consumption is
energy-efficient scheduling. For a flexible flow shop, an
energy-efficient model is proposed. For implementation
of practicable schedule, an improved genetic-simulated
annealing algorithm was proposed which provided a
remarkable trade-off between make-span and energy
consumption.8 An energy aware mathematical model
integrating process planning and scheduling is pro-
posed for job shops.34 A mathematical model is pre-
sented for energy aware scheduling of flexible flow
shop. Reference schedule was produced by an advanced
planning and scheduling (APS) system which did not
take energy saving into account, and that reference
schedule was modified to consider energy saving with-
out changing assignment of jobs and sequencing as
used in reference schedule.35
Another research included several dispatching rules
to save energy by switching off non bottleneck
machines when they remained idle for significant
amount of time. Also, a multi-objective mathematical
model was proposed to minimize energy consumption
and completion time.36 Moreover, a methodology is
addressed for the assessment of energy consumption
and material flows by considering multiple process
plans for a part type. That research also considered
objective of minimizing weighted sum of energy con-
sumption, inventory holding cost and backorder cost
on a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) considering
multiple process plans.37
In spite of knowing the growing needs toward energy
reduction, so far up to our knowledge, there is no study
in the literature focusing on CF with the objective of
energy-efficient scheduling along with minimization of
make-span, while there is a need to consider this low
investment method for the minimization of energy con-
sumption in the CF as well. To highlight this fact, the
research articles on CF with time- and/or energy-related
objectives have been shown in Table 1, which shows
that so far no one has considered independent CF along
with energy-efficient scheduling and minimum make-
span. Thus, this study presents an efficient approach
consisting of two phases for CF to minimize total
energy consumption by minimizing idle running of
machines. For this purpose, many real-time production
features such as processing times, alternative processing
routes, production quantity, machine’s make to part
power and idle power are being considered.
Problem description
In this section, the considered problem along with the
assumptions is being presented. The solution with a
new approach has been presented in the next section.

Table 1. Summary of literature on CF considering time and/or energy-related objective functions.

Article author Scope of research Objective functions

Cell formation Independent cell formation Scheduling Energy related Time related

Beaulieu et al.27 ü ü ü
Moon and Gen28 ü ü ü
Songore and Sangore15 ü ü
Chan et al.11 ü ü
Yasuda et al.10 ü ü
Lei and Wu13 ü ü
Foulds et al.16 ü ü
Wu et al.2 ü ü ü
Arkat et al.17 ü ü
Karthikeyan45 ü ü ü
Lian et al.26 ü ü ü
Proposed research ü ü ü ü ü

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4 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture
Processing data and production quantity are consid-
ered as the input parameters. CF is the grouping of part
families and the corresponding machines into cells in
order to achieve the desired objectives. For improving
the efficiency of systems in this era of globally increas-
ing energy demand and prices, minimization of the
energy consumption of machines is regarded as an
important performance measure. Therefore, in this
study, two concepts (energy consumption of machines
and make-span of parts) are considered simultaneously
for forming the cells and finding the optimal sequence
of assigned part families on the machines. Make-span is
the total completion time of all products in the system.
The main focus is the minimization of idle energy con-
sumption by reducing the idle time between processing
of parts.
The addressed problem incorporates the following
features:
1. Parts are divided into several types and production
quantity of each part type is known.
2. For each part type, only one processing route must
be selected.
3. Same cell can comprise multiple identical machines.
4. For the same operation of a part type on different
machines, the processing time may vary in different
processing routes because of different rated horse
powers of the machines.
Assumptions
In this study, the following assumptions are made in
order to carry out the above problem:
Figure 1. Flow diagram of proposed methodology.
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1. For each operation, the processing time on differ-
ent machine types is known and is deterministic.
2. Identical machines which belong to a particular
machine type have similar operation and process-
ing times.
3. Raw material of all part types is available at
time = 0.
4. Production quantity of all part types is equal and
known.
5. Preemption is restricted for processing each part
type. It means, after starting of an operation, no
interruption is allowed until it is finished.
Proposed approach
This article focuses on the integration of CF and job
sequencing to minimize the energy consumption with
the minimum make-span. For this purpose, a new
approach consisting of two phases is proposed to meet
the desired objective. Phase I includes two steps; first
step consists of the selection of routing with the mini-
mum processing energy consumption of machines.
Second step is the independent CF by taking into
account multiple identical machines using GA. Phase II
includes job sequencing with respect to minimum idle
energy and calculation of the total energy consumption
of the system. Figure 1 demonstrates both phases of
the proposed approach.
Phase I: formation of independent manufacturing
cells with routing selection based on the processing
energy
Designing of CMS comprises three steps, CF, machine
layout and cell layout. Among these, CF is the
Iqbal et al. 5

Figure 2. Schematic representation for independent cell formation by considering multiple identical machines: (a) description of
each part type and quantity, (b) alternative process routing for each part type, (c) selected process routing for each part type, (d)
machine type pool each with given machine quantity and (e) possible cells fulfilling independency criteria and assigned part types.

foremost and the fundamental step. The most critical
issue in CF is achieving the independent manufacturing
cells, because achieving independent cells is the ideal
situation in a CMS. As described earlier, in an indepen-
dent cell, part families do not require other cells to
complete their processing. This eliminates the intercel-
lular part movements and significantly increases the
efficiency of the overall system. The first step in inde-
pendent CF is routing selection.
Routing selection based on processing energy. In real manu-
facturing systems, there can be various routes for com-
pletely processing a part. Part may visit different
machines with the different rated horse powers. Since
each machine has different make to part power, there-
fore parts can have different times on different
machines for the same operation. It means parts can
have alternative processing routings for their manufac-
turing with varying make-span and energy

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6 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture
consumption. The selection of a route from the avail-
able routes can be made random or based on some
criteria.
In this research in order to evolve an energy-efficient
approach, before making part families and assigning
them to different cells, the processing routes are evalu-
ated on the basis of processing energy consumption of
the machines. This energy consumption is computed
using processing times and make to part power of
machines in a given route and this energy cannot be
reduced in a specific route. It means in each route, the
processing energy is fixed, and hence, extracting the
route with the minimum processing energy consump-
tion is an additional feature of the approach. If
n is the total number of part types, indexed by i;
m is the total number of machine types, indexed by j;
r is the total number of routings, indexed by l;
xij is the processing time of part type i on machine j;
Pij is the make to part power of machine j while pro-
cessing part type i;
Eil is the energy consumed if part i follows route l.
Then processing energy consumption E(il) of the
machines in manufacturing of all part types for all pos-
sible routes can be calculated using equation (1). Then
processing routes with minimum processing energy
consumption are sorted for each part type using equa-
tion (2) where E(i) is the minimum value of energy con-
sumed by machine j for part i among all possible routes
n X
X m
E(il) = xij 3 Pij 8 l = 1, . . . , r
i=1 j=1
EðiÞ = MIN½E(il)  8 i = 1, . . . , n
After selecting route with minimum processing
energy, the next step is independent CF. Independent
CF and improvement of solution are done using GA.
Formation of independent manufacturing cells. Independent
CF can be carried out by considering multiple identical
machines. The presence of multiple identical machines
abolishes the intercellular movements and makes sure
that each formed cell is independent. Such independent
cell can process parts from beginning to end without
the assistance of other cells. Schematic representation
of the proposed method is shown in Figure 2. Machine
pool consists of different machine types, each with dif-
ferent machine quantities, as shown in Figure 2(d). This
will serve as an input to CF. Based on the product type
with selected routing as shown in Figure 2(c), the
machines are moved from the pool of machines (where
that particular machine type is in large quantity) to that
cell where the product type requires them so that for
processing on those machines the product type need not
be moved to other cells. As shown in Figure 2(e), if
product types 2, 4 and 5 are assigned to cell 1, then after
reassigning machines based on processing routes of
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Figure 3. Chromosome configuration.
these product types, cell 1 will comprise M1, M1, M2,
M3, M3 and M3. Created cell 1 is independent because
it contains all those machines which are required for
processing of product types 2, 4 and 5. Similarly, for
processing of product types 1, 3 and 6, cell 2 is indepen-
dent. The initial feasible solution is generated by GA.
This is called as the initial feasible solution. In this
research, GA is used to achieve a feasible solution.
CF using GA. GA, introduced by Holland,38 is an
efficient meta-heuristic for finding the solution of com-
binatorial optimization problems.39 Falkenauer40 pro-
posed GGA which is appropriate for solving the
grouping problems than conventional GA regarding
the encoding plan and genetic operators.
Encoding. GA deals with a variety of solutions rather
than a particular solution. A chromosome represents
an encoding plan of a feasible solution of the problem
in sight. Particularly, for the CF problems, the chromo-
some corresponds to a possible division of the set of
machines in a number of groups termed as cells.
Encoding of such a grouping problem is identified as
the group encoding plan. Group encoding plan aids in
ð1Þ keeping the reliability of group structure and assisting
the cross over operator.41
ð2Þ In this research, the chromosome is represented by
two sections separated by the vertical lines. The first
section represents the machines and its length is equal
to the number of machine types. The second section
represents the product types. In both sections, each
gene takes its value from the natural number which
belongs to {1,2,., C} where C is the total number of
cells.
For better understanding of encoding, consider an
example of seven machines and six product types that
need grouping into three cells. The encoded chromo-
some = [1 2 2 3 1 2 2 | 1 3 1 3 2 2] represents that the
machines [1 5] and product types [1 3] are in cell 1;
machines [2 3 6 7] and product type [5 6] are in cell 2
and machine [4] and product types [2 4] are in cell 3.
This encoding design is represented in Figure 3 and is
used for initialization of the initial population.
Figure 4 shows the group chromosome configuration
for the example mentioned above. Group chromosome
configuration of this type is a way similar to encoding
scheme configuration proposed by Goncalves Filho
and José Tiberti.42 In this configuration, the ordering of
cells organizes the genes for both sections. The machine
types and product types that are assigned to each of the
cell are illustrated clearly.
Iqbal et al.
Figure 4. Encoded and decoded chromosomes.
Creation of initial population. A number of chromosomes
together are known as a ‘‘population.’’ At a particular
time, a population is known as a ‘‘generation.’’ The ini-
tial population is created only one time having the
known size of the population. This initial population
can be created randomly or using some heuristic at the
start of GA. After that, some chromosomes are picked
out as parents which contribute toward generation of
offspring using genetic operators, that is, mutation or
cross over. A special procedure is adopted to create an
initial population randomly in order to restrain the
presence of empty cells. For achieving a defined popu-
lation size, the following procedure is adopted for cre-
ation of each chromosome of the initial population:
1. For each cell, C = ½1, 2, 3, . . . , c, perform random
selection of a machine type from m, where m is the
total number of machine types, and a product type
from n, where n is the total number of product
types, and assign them to each cell.
2. From the rest unassigned machines ½m  C, a
machine type and a cell are selected at random.
Later on, the selected machine is allocated to the
selected cell. Similarly, the remaining product types
½n  C are assigned in the same way.
3. Iterate Step 2 until all the machine types and all the
product types are assigned to the cells.
4. Both portions of the chromosomes will be formed
by the results of Steps (1)–(3). In the next step,
these chromosomes are written in the configura-
tion as described in Figure 3 and putting it in the
initial population.
Feasibility improvement. The chromosomes that are cre-
ated at random or using genetic operators typically vio-
late problem constraints of cell independence. Referring
to the feasibility improvement method proposed by
Lian et al.,26 considering the desired objective, the fol-
lowing modified method is employed for transforming
randomly created chromosomes into feasible ones. This
method identifies any chromosome not satisfying inde-
pendency of cells’ criteria. The following method is
employed to make independent cells by correcting the
chromosomes:
5. Alter the existing chromosomes’ structure into
new one by decoding as shown in Figure 3.
6. Pick up a chromosome b randomly.
7. Pick up a product type i from the selected chro-
mosome b and examine cell c in which the
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7
product type i exists. Processing route Ei selected
for the product type i is compared with the
machines included in cell c. If the machine in cell
c does not fulfill the production requirements of
product type i, continue to Step 4; otherwise,
jump to Step 5.
8. Identify the machines’ type intended to be
included in cell c. For each of the needed machine
type, other cells are tested and categorized a cell,
designated by c#, that contains the highest num-
ber of identical machines of similar type; then
choose a machine of same kind from cell c# and
relocate it to cell c.
9. Steps 3 and 4 are iterated until all product types
in chromosome b make sure that each formed cell
is independent.
10. In case all given chromosomes get corrected, then
stop. Otherwise, jump to Step 2.
After forming feasible chromosomes with indepen-
dent cells, the next step is to improve the chromosomes’
generation by cross over.
Cross over. Each generation has relatively smaller size
than the complete search space, but some unvisited areas
can be visited by applying genetic operators such as
mutation and cross over to get improved results.
Therefore, GA considered here mainly contributes to
take advantage of genetic operators to improve results.
In case of grouping problems, mutation operator does
not have the ability to enhance the GA performance
widely.43 Hence, cross over operator is regarded here.
The cross over operator works by joining the character-
istics of two parent chromosomes for making offsprings.
For solving grouping problem, there exists many
types of cross over, for example, single-point cross over,
two-point cross over, cell swap cross over and cell-two-
point cross over. In this article, cell-two-point cross over
is preferred because it is a problem-specific genetic oper-
ator and it improves the performance of GA regarding
computational efficiency and quality of solution.44 For
each portion of parent chromosome generation, a cross
over point is selected randomly between 1 and (c-1) for
beginning of cross over. Subsequently, in each portion,
by substituting groups into the right of the cross over
point, two new chromosomes are created.
For better understanding of cross over operator,
example of seven machines and six product types
needed to be grouped into three cells is shown.
Consider two parent generations:
P1 = [3 2 2 1 3 2 2 | 1 2 3 1 2 2] = [4/2 3 6 7/1 5 | 1 4/2 5
6/3]
P2 = [1 1 3 2 1 3 2 | 1 3 1 3 2 3] = [1 2 5/4 7/3 6 |1 3/5/2
4 6]
Suppose the cross over point is 2 for both portions
of the chromosome. As a result, two offspring are cre-
ated as shown in Figure 5.
8 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture
Figure 5. Illustration of cross over operator.
These newly created chromosomes in Figure 5 may
not hold some essential genes and may hold some unne-
cessary genes. For instance, in chromosome ‘‘A,’’
machines [1 5] and product type 3 are not present. It
means offspring are not feasible because some machines
and product types are absent and some exist more than
once. Hence, a heuristics is developed for the genera-
tion of feasible child chromosomes.
First of all, remove the repeating machines and
product types from the left portion of cross over point
for each off spring chromosome. But after the removal
procedure, a new problem occurs. There may be some
cells with no machines and product types in it. Identify
the absent machines and product types and search for a
vacant cell at the left of cross over point. If an empty
cell is found, then allocate the absent machines and
product types to the empty cell. Search again and if still
an empty cell is found, then randomly choose a
machine or a product type from non-empty cells which
are not yet swapped and reallocate it to empty cells.
Iterate it until no empty cell is found.
After applying this procedure, empty cells will be
eliminated and no repeating machines and product
types exist and the offspring become feasible. This fea-
sibility correction procedure of offspring is described in
Figure 6.
Phase 2: job sequencing and the minimization of
total energy of the system
Before presenting formulation for obtaining optimal
job sequence and total energy of the system, some nota-
tions are described.
Problem formulation for phase II. In phase I after routing
selection based on the processing energy, the indepen-
dent cells are formed. Each independent cell consists of
machines and part families. In phase II, part families
are scheduled in all possible sequences on the machines
available in each cell to find the energy-efficient
schedule.
For finding an energy-efficient schedule, it is desired
to reduce the idle run time of the machines in each
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Figure 6. Feasibility correction of offspring.
individual cell. In return, this idle time reduction saves
energy of the machines caused by idle running.
Part families can be scheduled in Sc! sequences. For
example, if the part families P1 and P2 are assigned to
cell 1, then these part families can be scheduled in
2! = 2 possible ways such that:
[P1, P2], [P1, P2] . [QP1, QP2]
[P2, P1], [P2, P1] . [QP2, QP1]
In Sc! sequences, part families are scheduled on the
assigned and available machines in each cell. One
sequence from each cell is selected which gives schedule
with the minimum idle energy consumption. Then the
total idle energy is calculated by adding the idle ener-
gies in individual cells. All chromosomes in the popula-
tion are entered one by one in the developed MATLAB
code and the above-mentioned procedures are repeated.
After evaluating the given population, a chromosome is
selected which gives the minimum energy consumption
with the minimum make-span.
Make-span is the longest finishing time of parts
among all finishing times in a selected sequence in all
possible cells. These sequences are selected based on
the minimum idle energy consumption of the machines.
Since cells are independent, the machines can simulta-
neously process parts in all possible cells.
Two objective functions are given below in equations
(3) and (4); the first is the minimization of total energy
consumption (ETotal ) and the second is the minimization
of make-span T
Minf1 : ETotal = EProcessing + Eidle ð3Þ
Minf2 : T = max½TC  ð4Þ
EProcessing is the energy consumed by the machines dur-
ing the part processing. Eidle is the energy consumption
of the machines during the idle running.
Equation (5) shows the processing energy consump-
tion of the machines for given part type quantity
X
n
EProcessing = ½Ei 3 Qi  ð5Þ
i=1
Iqbal et al. 9

Table 2. Processing times and associated machine type of each operation.

Product type Processing Operation Operation Operation Operation Operation

route 1 (min) 2 (min) 3 (min) 4 (min) 5 (min)

1 1 15 (VII) 10 (I) 20 (VI) 10 (IV) /

2 13 (II) 12 (V) 15 (VII) / 10 (I)
2 1 10 (III) 20 (VII) 10 (II) 15 (IV) /
3 1 10 (I) 12 (IV) 11 (V) / /
2 17 (VII) 18 (III) / / /
3 10 (II) 13 (V) 10 (I) 0 10 (VII)
4 1 19 (V) 14 (VII) 10 (I) / /
2 10 (VI) 14 (II) / / /
5 1 13 (II) 18 (I) / 15 (VI) /
2 11 (VII) 10 (V) 12 (II) / 10 (I)
6 1 10 (VI) 15 (VII) 10 (II) / /
2 12 (I) / 13 (IV) 15 (VI) 11 (II)

Let Lc represent a series with the part types belong-
ing to cell c and ‘‘a’’ the difference between two consec-
utive part types (where different part types are named
with integers 1, 2, 3,., n) in that series. In these con-
secutive terms, predecessor will be subtracted from suc-
cessor. For Sc ! sequences, if i is the leading part type of
any pair in a particular sequence Lc , then ITi(i + agj
shows the idle time between part type i and the next
part type i + a coming after part type i on machine
type j in a given sequence.
Equation (6) is the idle energy of the system, that is,
in all possible cells. This idle energy is calculated by
multiplying the idle time between parts’ processing with
idle power of the relevant machines. The term Ucij is
incorporated to allow this formula to work for the pos-
sible cells separately as each cell is independent. This
equation shows the idle time of machine j between pro-
cessing of the consecutive part types for single quantity.
Since the idle time incorporated here is the idle time
between parts’ processing which is entirely different
from the total idle time. Unlike the total idle time, the
idle time between parts’ processing for whole produc-
tion quantity cannot be computed by simply multiply-
ing the idle time between one pair of parts with total
parts’ quantity. As the idle time between parts’ process-
ing may vary in the upcoming consecutive part pairs.
Therefore, the MATLAB code is generated for com-
puting the idle time for given quantity of all part types
belonging to the respective cell. A pseudo code for the
complete computation process is attached in
Appendix 2
" !#
XC Xm X n
Eidle = ITi(i + a)j 3 IPj 3 Ucij ð6Þ
c=1 j=1 i=1
where
ITi(i + a)j = S(i + a)j  Zij
 
S(i + a)j = Max (Z(i + a)(j1) ), (Zij )
Zij = Sij + xij
subject to
ITi(i + a)j 50 ð10Þ
Equation (7) represents the idle time between pro-
cessing of two consecutive part types in a particular
sequence Lc . Equation (8) shows the starting time of
the next part type on machine j. Equation (9) shows the
completion time of part type i. Finally, equation (10)
reveals that the idle time cannot be negative. This for-
mulation helps in finding the total energy consumption
of the machines and the make-span.
The proposed approach incorporates many real-time
production features such as processing times, alterna-
tive processing routes, production quantity, machine’s
make to part power and idle power. All these para-
meters have not been considered simultaneously in past
researches of CF. Also, the chosen approach makes use
of lower capital investment method of minimizing
energy consumption that is energy aware scheduling.
Other methods of minimizing energy consumption
include re-designing of equipment and/or re-designing
of products which requires higher capital investment.
Effectiveness of the proposed approach is being demon-
strated with the help of numerical problems presented
in the next section.
Numerical problem
Three problems, with problem size (product types 3
machine types) = 6 3 7, 12 3 12 and 20 3 15, are
solved using MATLAB coding. For problem of 6 3 7
size, data are shown below. Table 2 represents six prod-
uct types, each with different processing routings on
seven machine types (each machine with a given
machine quantity). Processing time in minutes and
machine type is given for each product type. The num-
bers existing external to the parenthesis represents pro-
cessing times. The roman letters within parenthesis
ð7Þ show the associated machine types. The symbol ‘‘/’’
ð8Þ shows the absence of the associated operation. There
ð9Þ exist 28 machines related to seven machine types. The
categorization of machines and the associated horse
power are given in Table 3. The type and quantity of

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10 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture

Table 3. Categorization and horse power of machine.

Machine type I II III IV V VI VII

Machine M1–M4 M5–M7 M8–M11 M12–M16 M17–M18 M19–M22 M23–M28

Make to part power per minute (hp/min) 12 7 4 6 12 6 8
Idle power (hp/min) 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3

Table 4. Type and quantity of each product type.

Product type 1 2 3 4 5 6

Production quantity 650 650 650 650 650 650

Table 5. Objective function values of different solutions for problem size of 6 3 7.

Objective Solution 1 Solution 2 Solution 3 Solution 4 Solution 5 Solution 6 Solution 7 Solution 8 Solution 9 Solution 10

ETotal 1,232,768 1,202,979 1,180,377 1,173,298 1,169,474 1,221,938 1,173,242 1,169,208 1,180,377 1,226,294
(hp min)
T (min) 52,650 52,650 22,789 22,791 22,789 52,650 22,770 22,791 22,789 45,525

Note: Bold values represent least values of objectives functions among all solutions.

Table 6. Objective function values of different solutions for problem size of 12 3 12.

Objective Solution 1 Solution 2 Solution 3 Solution 4 Solution 5 Solution 6 Solution 7 Solution 8 Solution 9 Solution 10

ETotal 1,499,552 2,235,257 1,471,634 2,267,470 1,490,510 1,446,614 2,267,470 1,471,058 1,474,724 2,047,179
(hp min)
T (min) 23,200 23,200 22,025 19,644 23,200 24,641 19,644 22,025 22,025 23,610

Note: Bold values represent least values of objectives functions among all solutions.

Table 7. Objective function values of different solutions for problem size of 20 3 15.

Objective Solution 1 Solution 2 Solution 3 Solution 4 Solution 5 Solution 6 Solution 7 Solution 8 Solution 9 Solution 10

ETotal 1,304,283 1,291,524 1,305,328 1,325,846 1,312,473 1,290,282 1,317,345 1,321,629 1,309,429 1,292,979
(hp min)
T (min) 21,051 17,150 15,920 15,970 17,160 21,051 22,731 23,010 24,672 21,051

each part type are given in Table 4. The number of
formed cells is assumed and depends on the size of the
problem. Considering the randomness of GA, 10 solu-
tions, created by cross over operator, are evaluated to
achieve efficient result. The initial population consists
of four chromosomes and the rest are generated by
applying the cross over operator and the feasibility cor-
rection procedure as described in section ‘‘CF using
GA.’’
Results and discussion
To solve the problems using the proposed approach,
the code was developed in MATLAB 7.12 and run on a
PC with 1.80-GHz processor operating system MS
Windows 7. In any case, if the number of cells is known,
the developed MATLAB code can be used to obtain
the objective function values.
For the above-mentioned numerical problem size of
6 3 7, the objective function values are provided in
Table 5 for 10 solutions where each solution corre-
sponds to a chromosome. Among these 10 solutions,
one solution with the minimum energy consumption
and the make-span value is selected. Tables 6 and 7
show the objective function values of 10 solutions with
problem size of 12 3 12 and 20 3 15, respectively.
Visual interpretations of Tables 5–7 for the objective
function values of total energy consumption and make-
span are shown in Figures 7–9 for problem size of
6 3 7, 12 3 12 and 20 3 15, respectively.
From Table 5, it is clear that solution 8 gives least
value for total energy consumption, that is,

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Iqbal et al. 11

Figure 7. Comparison of ETotal and make-span values for all 10 solutions for problem size of 6 3 7.

Figure 8. Comparison of ETotal and make-span values for all 10 solutions for problem size of 12 3 12.

Figure 9. Comparison of ETotal and make-span values for all 10 solutions for problem size of 20 3 15.

1,169,208 hp min and solution 7 gives least value for
make-span, that is, 22,791 min. Detailed information of
this selected solution can be found in Table 8. It shows
if machines 1, 5, 7, 2 and 6 with product type 6 are in
cell 1; machines 2, 3, 6, 1, 4 and 7 with product types 1,
3 and 5 are in cell 2 and machines 4, 2, 3, 7 and 6 with
product types 2 and 4 are in cell 3 and product types in
cell 2 are scheduled on the available machines in the
sequence 5, 1, 3 and product types in cell 3 are sched-
uled on the available machines in the sequence 2, 4,
then the objective of the minimum energy consumption
can be achieved but for minimized make-span, solution
7 is preferred.
The results of the problem size of 12 3 12 and
20 3 15 are presented in Tables 5 and 6, respectively.
It shows that, same like the results of problem size of

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12
6 3 7, these two cases also do not give minimum value
of the total energy consumption and the minimum
value of make-span for the same solution simultane-
ously. Since the make-span is the longest time among
the selected sequences in all possible cells. Therefore,
the reason for not obtaining the minimum energy con-
sumption and the minimum make-span in same solu-
tion is because of the variation in completion times in
selected sequences of all possible cells.
As shown in Figure 8, for problem size of 12 3 12,
solutions 6, 8 and 9 give lower values for the total
energy consumption and solutions 4 and 7 give the least
value for the make-span. Likewise in Figure 9, for
problem size of 20 3 15, solution 6 gives least for the
total energy consumption and solution 3 gives the least
value for the make-span.
From experimentation, it can be concluded that the
least energy and the least make-span values cannot be
obtained in the same solution. However, by making a
trade-off between these two objective functions, there
can be a solution with lower energy consumption and
shorter make-span.
The proposed method will provide assistance in
making decision, but it is up to the manager to decide.
For example, in case of 6 3 7 problem, solution 5 can
be selected as it gives second values for both objective
functions: total energy consumption and make-span. In
the case of 12 3 12 problem, solution 8 can be opted
because it gives second values for make-span as well as
energy consumption. Similarly, in 20 3 15 problem,
solution 2 can be opted as it provides second lowest
value for energy consumption and third lowest value
for make-span.
Conclusion
The production features included in this research are
processing times, alternative processing routes, produc-
tion quantity, machine’s make to part power and idle
power. For achieving the objective, an approach con-
sisting of two phases was developed. Phase I incorpo-
rated formation of the independent cells with routing
selection based on the minimum processing energy of
machines. GA was utilized to find assistance in visiting
unvisited search areas to obtain better results. Phase II
incorporated the job sequencing and the calculation of
the total energy of the system. A MATLAB code was
developed for the evaluation of the objective function
values: the total energy consumption and the make-
span for alternate solutions. Different numerical prob-
lems were solved using the proposed approach. The
results obtained from these numerical problems illu-
strated that the proposed approach is effective in gener-
ating independent cells and energy-efficient sequences.
Also, it evaluates minimum energy consumption and
minimum make-span for various alternate solutions.
Further empirical investigation is required to see the
possibility of obtaining minimum energy consumption
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Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture
along with minimum make-span in a single solution for
generated cells and sequences. In future, the research
could also be extended by including more performance
indicators, for instance, queue size, work in process
and waiting time. It would be more realistic to develop
model for stochastic demand.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest
with respect to the research, authorship and/or publica-
tion of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the
research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
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Appendix 1
Notation
C total number of cells, indexed by c
IPj idle power consumption of machine
type j
ITi, (i + a)j idle time between part type i and next
part a coming after part type i on
machine type j
14 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture

Pij make to part power of machine type j Ucij 1 if part type i is processed on machine
while processing part type i j and both belong to cell c, otherwise 0
Qi production quantity of part type i xij processing time of part type i on
Sc number of part types belonging to cell c machine type j
Sij starting time of part type i on machine Zij completion time of part type i on
type j machine type j
T make-span
Tc finishing time in selected sequence in
the possible cells c

Table 8. Detailed information of different solutions for problem size of 6 3 7.

Solution Chromosome Cells Machine Product Selected Idle energy of Processing Total energy Make-span
no. types in types in sequence of the system energy in in all cells (min)
independent independent assigned product in selected selected (hp min)
cells cells types sequences processing
(hp min) routing
(hp min)

1 1223122|131322 1 154673 13 13 67,318 1,165,450 1,232,768 52,650

2 23671 56 65
3 42376 24 24
2 3221322|123122 1 41672 14 14 37,529 1,165,450 1,202,979 52,650
2 236741 256 652
3 1537 3 3
3 1132132|131323 1 1254673 13 16 14,927 1,165,450 1,180,377 22,789
2 47126 5 35
3 36247 246 642
4 1221321|232123 1 14726 4 4 7848 1,165,450 1,173,298 22,791
2 236147 135 513
3 523476 26 26
5 2231232|132323 1 4167 1 1 4024 1,165,450 1,169,474 22,789
2 125736 35 53
3 36247 246 642
6 3112312|113122 1 236147 124 412 56,488 1,165,450 1,221,938 52,650
2 47126 56 65
3 1537 3 3
7 1221322|131123 1 146732 134 314 7792 1,165,450 1,173,242 22,770
2 23671 5 5
3 523476 26 26
8 1223121|232321 1 15726 6 6 3758 1,165,450 1,169,208 22,791
2 236147 135 513
3 42376 24 24
9 1 1 3 2 2 3 2 |1 3 1 3 2 3 1 124673 13 13 14,927 1,165,450 1,180,377 22,789
2 457126 5 5
3 36247 246 642
10 2 2 1 3 2 2 3 |1 1 3 2 2 1 1 314672 126 612 60,844 1,165,450 1,226,294 45,525
2 1256 45 54
3 473 3 3

d. Energy (Time) Of Each Operation For Each

Appendix 2 Route
e. Route For Each Operation
Pseudo code for the complete computation process f. Numbers Of Machines
g. Types Of Machines
Start
h. Number Of Operations
1. Set the required parameters to be used in program
i. Number Of Products
such as
j. Products Quantity
a. Product Type
k. Sequence Of Machines
b. Processing Power
c. Idle Power

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Iqbal et al. 15

2. Calculation and Selection of minimum energy route

Start loop from 1 to Number of Operations
Calculate Energy of Each Route using formula
end of loop
find minimum energy route
3. Population Generation
a. Get Chromosome Value From User
b. Cell Formation
i. Find number of unique machines in chromosome
ii. Find number of unique product types in chromosome
c. Machines Allocation
Start loop1 from 1 TO Number of Products
find required machines for particular product
Start loop2 from 1 TO Number of required machines
Set flag 1 if required machine is presented in access
If flag = 1
Start loop3 from 1 TO Number of machines
Allocate required machine to product
Remove the allocated machine from access
end of loop3
end of if
end of loop2
end of loop1
4. Scheduling
Start loop1 from 1 TO Number of Machines
Find all possible combinations of Product types
Start loop2 from 1 TO Number of possible combinations
For current combination in sequence do1
Start loop3 from 1 TO Quantity of Products
Start loop4 from 1 TO Number of Product Types
For selected route based on minimum energy do2
Start loop5 from 1 TO Number of OperationsCalculate following parameters
based on Process time**
i. Start time
ii. End time of each process
end of loop5
end of do2
Save parameters
end of loop4
end of loop3
end of do1
save parameters for current combination
end of loop2
save parameters for all combination
end of loop1
5. Idle Time
Idle time calculation of all specified products for selected routes
Start loop1 from 1 TO Number of Machines
Start loop2 from 1 TO Number of possible combinations
Start loop3 from 1 TO Quantity of Products
Start loop4 from 1 TO Number of Product Types
Start loop5 from 1 TO Number of Operations
Implement formula of Idle time calculation
end of loop5
end of loop4
end of loop3
end of loop2
end of loop1

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16 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture

find Make Span based on minimum idle time of each product among its all possible routes.
6. Find Idle Energy In Each Combination Of Each Cell using formula
Idle Energy = Idle Time * Idle Power
7. Find Basic Energy using formula
Basic Energy = Selected Route Energy * Production Quantity
8. Finding Lowest Idle Energy In Each Cell
9. Final Total Energy using formula
Total Energy = Basic Energy + Idle Energy
Stop

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