Optimal operator assignment and cell loading when lot-splitting is allowed

This paper is an extension of a previous work where a product could be assigned to only one of its feasible cells. Here, that assumption is relaxed and lot-splitting is allowed. The impact of lot-splitting is also discussed in terms of setup times. The proposed approach has two phases; 1) generating alternative operator levels, and 2) finding the optimal operator and product assignments to the cells. Mathematical models proposed in the previous work are modified to allow for lot-splitting and to consider setup times. The results obtained by using the same example problem are discussed later in the paper.