A quantum particle swarm optimization approach for the design of virtual manufacturing cells

In this paper a QPSO procedure is proposed for the design of virtual manufacturing cells within which machines and jobs are assigned to the cells with a view to maximize productive output, whilst simultaneously minimizing the inter-cell movements due to the limited availability of machines. The QPSO results are compared with both a GA approach as well as a preemptive/lexico goal programming approach. It is observed that the suggested procedure performs well for the assumed VCM design problem.