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Setting
Up A Cell
Essentially
GT or cellular manufacturing aims at the advantages of mass production
and the assembly line (efficiency, one piece flow) without its disadvantages
of inflexibility and demotivated workers. So a GT cell is a hybrid between
the assembly line and the job shop.
To
set-up a GT cell.
- Identify part families. These are parts that have
similar manufacturing routings. The routings do not have to be exactly
the same, and the products may not even look alike. There are some
sophisticated methods to identify families (see below), but the "eyeball
approach" is often adequate.
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- Since one cell will be responsible for one product
family, volumes must be sufficient for this to be feasible. This may
mean, on the one hand, trimming the product range or selecting out only
the highest volume products, or on the other hand, changing some existing
product routings to enable them to be made within the cell. This therefore
may involve engineering and design. Develop the anticipated flow rate
by consulting Marketing and Sales. Aim for a capacity that matches demand
every week rather than every month. This may involve reducing changeover
times, or permanently set up machines
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