Standardizing Components and Rotating Workers Using GT-Based Algorithm—A Case Study

• Published in: Sustainability Vol. 13; no. 14; p. 7880
• Main Author: Li, Ming-Liang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 14.07.2021
• Subjects: Advanced manufacturing technologies; Algorithms; Case studies; Coronaviruses; Costs; COVID-19; Energy consumption; Factories; Group technology; Internet of Things; Inventory; Labor costs; Manufacturing; Pandemics; Public health; Quality control; Recycling; Remanufacturing; Sorting algorithms; Standardization; Supply chains; Sustainability; Workers
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su13147880

In both manufacturing and remanufacturing systems, exploiting bulk buying and avoiding delivery delays due to material shortages are crucial. One method that aids in these processes is component standardization. Additionally, company managers seek to reduce labor costs and mitigate the risk of sudden worker resignation or absence due to, for example, reasons associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The aforementioned problems could be solved using the sorting algorithm proposed in this study. The concept of the proposed algorithm is based on group technology. One numerical example and two case studies are presented to demonstrate the utility of the proposed algorithm. The first example suggested that the performance of the algorithm proposed in this study is superior to another one in the literature. The second one demonstrated that the algorithm in this work achieves component standardization by reducing an initial number of 12 components down to 6. The final case study provides an effective means of grouping workers with similar operational abilities and suggests how to assign new tasks to other skilled workers if a worker resigns suddenly or cannot attend work due to pandemic prevention measures.