To solve the backlog of work in process and the low machining efficiency in traditional manufacturing cells, a resource allocation model together with its optimization algorithm is proposed. According to the ideology of modular manufacturing cells, various manufacturing cells are established. A mathematical model is established with the minimum total processing cost and equilibriums among various manufacturing cells as its goals. The plant growth simulation algorithm is applied to solve the model. Finally, a numerical example verifies the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed model and algorithm.