A mathematical model for a reconfiguration problem of transfer machining lines

In this paper, we introduce a new optimization problem that aims to minimize the reconfiguration cost of a transfer line. A line has to be reconfigured if a new product has to be produced by an existing line or any changes in product characteristics occur. In such cases, new operations have to be integrated on existing equipment while some previously assigned operations are deleted. Since transfer lines consist of a sequence of unit head machines, their reconfiguration is not an easy issue because of numerous constraints on compatibility of operations to be taken into account. In this paper, a Mixed Integer Program is proposed for solving this problem with objective to minimize the cost of the final line configuration. An illustrative example is presented.