This dissertation, "A Holistic Approach to Designing Cellular Manufacturing Systems" by Ka-wing, Lau, 劉家榮, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: ABSTRACT of THESIS A Holistic Approach to Designing Cellular Manufacturing Systems Submitted by Lau Ka Wing for the degree of Master of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong in December 2004 Cellular Manufacturing Systems (CMSs), which are based on the concept of Group Technology (GT) have been recognized as an efficient and effective way of improving productivity in factories. In recent years, many researchers have tried to find ways of improving CMSs. Most of them have concentrated on distinguishing the part families and machine cells either simultaneously or individually, with the objective of minimizing total intercellular and intracellular part movements. This is known as a cell formation problem (CFP), and is a crucial process in the design of a CMS. Besides considering simple CFPs, some researchers have also focused on machine flexibility, in which parts are having alternative routings/process plans. However, it is very rare to consider the area of aggregation and disaggregation of machines during cell formation under some uncertain constraints. i The first part of this study addressed the design of a CFP holistically, taking into account machine flexibility as well as machine aggregation and disaggregation. Based on the availability of alternative routings, a method was proposed to generate an alternative solution for machine breakdown situations. The aim of this model was to form machine cells and part families so as to minimize the intercellular and intracellular part movements. In practice, as some components may not be finished within only one cell, they have to travel to other cells for further operations. Under such circumstances, intercellular part movement will occur. Different sequences of machine cells may result in different total intercellular movement units. A method was therefore proposed in the second part of the study for solving inter-cell layout problems (IECLPs) based on the results previously obtained. In this part, the impact of inter-cell layouts on minimizing intercellular movement units was studied. Parts moving within cells are called intracellular part movements. The sequences of machines within cells are very important from the point of view of reducing total intracellular part movement units. However, little research into these intra-cell layout problems (IACLPs) has been carried out. In the third part of the study, a method of handling all the sequences of machines within each existing cell and the sequence of the existing cells simultaneously was suggested. The aim of the solution to the intra-cell and inter-cell layout problem (IAECLP) ii addressed in this part of study was to minimize total intracellular and intercellular part movements. It is noted that IECLPs and IAECLPs are considered as quadratic assignment problems (QAPs). Since CFPs and QAPs have already been proved to be NP-complete, a genetic algorithm (GA) is employed through the study, as it performs better for complex optimization problems. The holistic approach proposed in this study will lead to the development of vertical integration from cell formation to intra-cell and inter-cell layouts. In other words, CMS designers will in future be able to consider IAECLPs as well as CFPs. An industrial case study was made of a steel member production company for demonstration purposes, and a comparative study ev