Manufacturing Cell
Why might it be difficult to develop a manufacturing cell? Support your answer with examples.
Cellular manufacturing is a manufacturing process that produces families of parts within a single line or cell of machines operated by machinists who work only within the line or cell. A cell is a small scale, clearly-stated production unit within a larger factory. This unit has full responsibility for producing a family of like parts or a product. All necessary machines and manpower are enclosed within this cell, thus giving it a level of operational autonomy.
Cellular manufacturing, which is actually an application of group technology, has been described as a stepping stone to achieving world class manufacturing status. The objective of cellular manufacturing is to design cells in such a way that some measure of performance is optimized. This measure of performance could be productivity, cycle time, or some other logistics measure.
While its benefits have been well recognized, it should be noted that it might be difficult to develop a manufacturing cell. Some have argued that implementing cellular manufacturing could lead to a decrease in manufacturing flexibility. It is felt that conversion to cells may cause some loss in routing flexibility, which could then impact the viability of cell use. Obtaining balance among cells is also more difficult than for flow or job shops. Flow shops have moderately fixed capacity, and job shops can draw from a pool of skilled labour so balance isn't that much of a problem. By contrast, with cells, if demand diminishes deeply, it may be essential to break up that cell and redistribute the equipment or reform the families.
Furthermore, issues like placement of bottleneck machines are needed to be addressed during cell formation. Machines may require their own individual stocks of materials. Inadequacies in employee education, training and involvement could come in the way of proper implementation.
Also, some researchers have
Cellular manufacturing is a manufacturing process that produces families of parts within a single line or cell of machines operated by machinists who work only within the line or cell. A cell is a small scale, clearly-stated production unit within a larger factory. This unit has full responsibility for producing a family of like parts or a product. All necessary machines and manpower are enclosed within this cell, thus giving it a level of operational autonomy.
Cellular manufacturing, which is actually an application of group technology, has been described as a stepping stone to achieving world class manufacturing status. The objective of cellular manufacturing is to design cells in such a way that some measure of performance is optimized. This measure of performance could be productivity, cycle time, or some other logistics measure.
While its benefits have been well recognized, it should be noted that it might be difficult to develop a manufacturing cell. Some have argued that implementing cellular manufacturing could lead to a decrease in manufacturing flexibility. It is felt that conversion to cells may cause some loss in routing flexibility, which could then impact the viability of cell use. Obtaining balance among cells is also more difficult than for flow or job shops. Flow shops have moderately fixed capacity, and job shops can draw from a pool of skilled labour so balance isn't that much of a problem. By contrast, with cells, if demand diminishes deeply, it may be essential to break up that cell and redistribute the equipment or reform the families.
Furthermore, issues like placement of bottleneck machines are needed to be addressed during cell formation. Machines may require their own individual stocks of materials. Inadequacies in employee education, training and involvement could come in the way of proper implementation.
Also, some researchers have