A review of cellular manufacturing assumptions, advantages and design techniques

Cellular manufacturing is the phsyical division of the functional job shop’s manufacturing machinery into production cells. Each cell is designed to produce a part family. A part family is defined as a group of parts requiring similar machinery, machine operations, and/or jigs and fixtures. The parts within the family are normally transformed from raw material to finished part within a single cell. For the successful implementation of cellular manufacturing, a set of assumptions should be adhered to. These assumptions are related to the design, operation and control of the system. The advantages and disadvantages associated with cellular manufacturing are discussed Numerous techniques which are available to configure or reconfigure a cellular manufacturing system are described.