An empirical evaluation of holonic and fractal layouts

Agile manufacturing requires facilities that can produce a variety of customized products with minimal reconfiguration and setup. Holonic and fractal approaches are investigated to locate machines in such an environment. Heuristic procedures for assigning machines to locations are proposed for holonic systems. Methods for routing jobs in holonic systems and assigning jobs in fractal systems are also proposed. A simulation study compares these approaches to process layouts on the basis of cycle time, material handling requirements, and uniformity of workload across machines. The holonic and fractal approaches are found to be potentially useful alternative layout concepts.