Cooperation in a distributed dual resource-constrained manufacturing system

In this paper, we distinguish two types of cooperation between distributed manufacturing cells to deal with variations in the request for manufacturing capacity between cells. Load-oriented Cooperation (LC) concerns the reallocation of jobs to different cells. Resource-oriented Cooperation (RC) refers to movements of workers between cells. We investigate the effect of these types of cooperation on manufacturing performance by means of a simulation study. Major outcome of our study is that the maximal effect of LC is higher than the maximal effect of RC. Furthermore, our study indicates that a high level of LC may absorb all positive effects of RC. However, RC remains relevant in case of low levels of LC. LC remains profitable, even in case of a maximal level of RC. Our study also shows that increased labour utilization magnifies the effect of a first introduction of some cooperation.