Cellular Manufacturing

CM is an application of group technology in which

all or a portion of a firm’s manufacturing system
has been converted into cells.
• A manufacturing cell is a cluster of machines or
processes located in close proximity and designed
to the manufacture of a family of parts.
• The parts are similar in their processing
requirements, e.g., operations, tolerances, and
machine tool capacities.
 Cellular Manufacturing

• The primary objectives of a CMS are:

– To reduce setup times (by using part family tooling
and sequencing);
– Flow times (by reducing setup times, move times,
and wait time for moves and using smaller batch
sizes);
– Reduce inventories and market response times
 Design of CM Systems
Cell design
• Cell design involves both system structure and
system operation.
structural issues include:
1. Selection of part families and grouping of parts into
families
2. Selection of machine and process populations and
grouping these into cells
3. Selection of tools, fixtures, and pallets
4. Selection of material-handling equipment
5. Choice of equipment layout
 Design of CM Systems
Cell design
• Cell design involves both system structure and system operation.
Issues related to procedures include:
1. Detailed design of jobs
2. Organization of supervisory and support personnel around the
cellular structure
3. Formulation of maintenance and inspection policies
4. Design of procedures for production planning, scheduling, control,
and acquisition of related software and hardware
5. Modification of cost control and reward systems
6. Outline of procedures for interfacing with the remaining
manufacturing system ( in terms of work flow and information,
whether computer controlled or not).
 Part Families
• A part family is a collection parts that are
similar either because of geometric shape and
size or because of similar processing steps.
• Parts within a family are different, but have
similarities close enough to merit their
inclusion as members of the part family.
 Part Families
• Parts shown in the figure are geometrically
the same, but quite different in terms of
manufacturing; differences in tolerances,
production quantities, and material.
 Part Families
• Parts shown in the figure constitute a family in
manufacturing, but their geometries are
different which makes them appear different
from a design viewpoint.
Process type plant layout
 Process type plant layout
• Various machines are arranged by function
– Lathe dept.; milling machine dept.; drill press
dept.; etc.
– To machine a part, the workpiece must be
transported between departments, perhaps
visiting a dept. several times
– Significant material handling; large in-process
inventory; many machine setups; long
manufacturing lead times; and high cost.
Group technology layout
 Group technology layout
• The above figure shows a production shop
with machines arranged into cells
• Each cell is organized to specialize in the
production of a particular part family
• Advantages are:
– Reduced setup times; fewer setups; less in-
process inventory, and shorter lead times
 Analysis of single station systems
• A MS must be designed to produce a specific
quantity of parts or products at a specific
production rate.
• In the SSMS, this may mean that more than one
single station cell is required to achieve the
specifications.
• The issue is to determine the number of
workstations required to achieve a given
production rate or produce a given quantity of
units.
 Analysis of single station systems
Number of workstations required
• The basic approach is:
– To determine the total workload that must be
accomplished in a certain period;
• workload is defined as the total hours required to
complete a given amount of work or to produce a
given number of work units for the period.
– Then divide the workload by the hours available
on one work station in the same period
 Analysis of single station systems
• Workload schedule for a given period (hrs or
wks of work etc.) is expressed as follows:

WL = QTc

Q = quantity to be produced during the period

(pc/hr or pc/wk, etc.)
Tc = cycle time per piece (hr/pc)
 Analysis of single station systems
For multiple part or product styles produced on the
same workstation, the above expression becomes:
WL = ∑Q jTcj
Q j = quantity of part or product style j produced
during the period (pc),
Tcj = cycle time of part or product style j (hr/pc).
The summation includes all of the parts or
product styles
 Analysis of single station systems
Number of workstations
n = WL/AT
AT = available time on one station in the period
(hr/period).
 Analysis of single station systems
Factors which may influence manufacturing systems
• Setup time in batch production
– During setup, the workstation is not performing
• Availability
– Reliability factor that reduces the available time (production)
• Utilization
– Workstation may not be fully utilized due to lack of work for a
given machine type, workload imbalance among workstations,
etc.
• Worker efficiency
– For highly manual work, worker performs either above- or
below standard performance for the given task
• Defect rate
– Defective units may be produced at a certain defect rate, and
this must be accounted for.
 Quantitative analysis in cellular
manufacturing
A number of quantitative techniques have been
developed to deal with problem areas in GT
and CM:
1. Grouping parts and machines into families
2. Arranging machines in a GT cell
 Grouping parts and machines
Grouping parts and machines by rank order
clustering
• The problem is to identify and group machines
into cells
• Identify part families
• Three basic methods to identify part families are:
1. Visual inspection,
2. Parts classification and coding, and
3. Production flow analysis
 Rank order clustering
This technique is applicable in production flow
analysis. It is an efficient and easy-to-use
algorithm for grouping machines into cells.
• Rank order works by reducing the part-
machine incidence matrix to a set of
diagonalized blocks that represent part
families and associated machine groups.
 Rank order clustering
Starting with the initial part-machine incidence matrix,
the algorithm consists of the following steps:
1. In each row of the matrix, read the series of 1’s and
0’(blanks) from left to right as a binary number. Rank
the rows in order of decreasing value. In case of a tie,
rank the rows in the order as they appear in the
current matrix.
2. Numbering from top to bottom, is the current order
of rows the same as the rank order determined in the
previous step? If ‘yes’ go to step 7. If ‘no’ then next
step.
 Rank order clustering
3. Reorder the rows in the part-machine incidence matrix by
listing them in decreasing rank order, starting from the
top.
4. In each column of the matrix, read the series of 1’s and
0’s(blanks) from top to bottom as a binary number. Rank
the columns in order of decreasing value. In case of a tie,
rank the columns in the order as they appear in the
current matrix.
5. Numbering from left to right, is the current order of
columns the same as the rank order determined in the
previous step? If ‘yes’ go to step 7. If ‘no’ then next step.
6. Reorder the columns in the part-machine incidence matrix
by listing them in decreasing rank order, starting with left
column. Go to step 1.
7. Stop.