Design and implementation of a manufacturing cell in a job shop environment: An action research study

Nowadays, more than ever, organisations are striving for ways to improve the production flow of different products. This is achieved at the expense of a better use of their resources, such as equipment, people, and materials, among others. Thus, the process of changing production systems, in order to make them more efficient, became a top priority to the manufacturers in the current environment of the global economy. In this context, cellular manufacturing systems arise, providing several different kinds of benefits over traditional production systems, allowing for the improvement of the customer satisfaction. In this paper the changing process, from a job shop production system to a manufacturing cellular system, at the company Durit - Metalurgia Portuguesa do Tungsténio, Lda. is presented. In addition, the gains achieved with the implementation of the manufacturing cellular system, in comparison with the production system previously used are also presented. The results after the implementation of the new production system were impressive. Two critical factors of success were the careful selection of the parts family and of the human resources.