The application of group technology at the production planning phase of a new product

This paper presents a novel application of the principles of Group Technology to the establishment of a machine shop facility for the production of a range of components which would not conform to any of the well established GT procedures. The number of workpiece types involved in the production was small and it was thought initially that a coding and classification approach to the problem would suffice. However none of the standard macro-coding systems provided sufficient information for the establishment of families based on geometric characteristics. This being due mainly to the specialised nature of the components comprising the final product. As production planning became more established for the various components making up the product, the formation of families based on the principles of Production Flow Analysis was attempted. This however again proved ineffective as few workpieces existed with similar process routes. A proposed solution was eventually obtained through the combined use of material flow simplification based on PFA and the exercise of some sound common sense and Judgement.