Grouping of parts and components in flexible manufacturing systems

In this paper, the problem of grouping of parts and components in flexible manufacturing systems is discussed. The actual grouping is done by modeling the problem as an optimal k-decomposition of weighted networks. Algorithms which are suitable for computer implementation and large problems are developed to find an initial solution and for refining this solution. Bounds on algorithm performance are constructed to give an estimate of the quality of the generated solution. A numerical example illustrates these new techniques.