An exploratory study of virtual cell design for thin-film transistor–liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) array manufacturing

A cellular manufacturing system has several advantages over conventional production methods, including reduced cycle time, less work-in-process, and cheaper setup. The manufacture of a thin-film transistor–liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) array is a complex process that uses large machines and automated material handling systems. Consequently, the relocation of machines for the manufacture of a TFT-LCD array is unrealistic and cost prohibitive. Virtual cells can be reconfigured using production control mechanisms without physically relocating the machines. This improves the cellular manufacturing system. This is an exploratory study for the design of a virtual cell design for TFT-LCD array manufacturing. The virtual cell design is dynamically reconfigured based on the product mix changes, in order to retain the efficiency and effectiveness of the system. A practical case is used for empirical illustration. The results show that the average improvements in terms of cycle time and the level of work-in-process are 23.73 and 23.59 %, respectively. The empirical results show that the proposed methodology is successful in a practical application.