Hi,

I have a routing sequence for a set of machines on an assembly line. Each route has to go through the entire line (i.e. if you only run the first and second machine, you still account for the distance from the second to the end of the line).

I have six different machines (720 possible combinations of machines) with fixed distances between each location on the line. The distance between the first and second machine is 100', the distance between second and third is 75', third and fourth is 75', fourth and fifth is 25', and fifth and sixth is 25'.

I have 4 different products that have to run down the line, and each of them have a fixed routing.

My problem is, how do I set up a vba code or solver that will allow me to run through all possible combinations of the line setup and determine the optimal setup for this line? Any machine can be placed at any location, as long as it optimizes the result! What are your thoughts?

The four product routes are :
A - B - C - D - F
A - C - B - D – E - F
A - F - E - D - C - B - A - F
A - C - E - B - D – F