Group technology and cellular manufacturing systems: an introduction

Abstract

Global market competition is changing the nature of the present and future marketplace to a highly dynamic environment. Product variety is high and individual product demands are low. Also, customer's demand for faster responses and for products of lower costs and higher quality increases everyday. Under these circumstances, companies are forced to search for new ways to improve the productivity of their manufacturing operations. Group technology, and its application to the manufacturing environment called cellular manufacturing, arises as a new manufacturing philosophy that will play a key roll helping companies meet their objectives. The use of group technology and cellular manufacturing concepts will allow small batches of high variety and mixed quantity production with the benefits and economic advantages of mass production. This paper presents an explanation of the fundamental concepts and definitions related to group technology and cellular manufacturing. It also addresses some relevant issues related to the design and control of cellular manufacturing systems from a production management view.