Resumen:
In most transformations from dedicated to modular approaches, products are assumed to have a unique modular
structure. However, it is well known that alternatives for constructing modular structures may exist in any level of
abstraction. Explicit considerations of alternative structures invoke changes in the number of module instances so
that lower capital investment in modules, more independency of structures and higher efficiency can be achieved.
Relatively few research papers that deal with the optimization of modular structures problem with alternative
assembly combinations aiming at minimization of module investments were found in the literature. A genetic
algorithm (GA) was applied to solve the optimization problem of selecting and combining the alternative of modular
structures to create a set of modular structures minimizing the cost involved in its implementation. Test results are
presented and the performance of the proposed GA is compared with solutions obtained from total enumeration
tests.
