The Implementation of Cellular Manufacturing on to a Functional Factory Floor

This thesis will focus on the implementation of cellular manufacturing and the issues that must be addressed for the successful transformation from a traditional functionally partitioned manufacturing environment . A large percentage of companies who attempt to transform a functionally partitioned factory into a cellular layout fail to obtain the benefits that it can bring. Research has attributed this to the lack of planning for all the issues involved in cellular manufacturing . It is necessary to address all the issues, not just one or two, or the negative effects of partitioning a factory floor (the loss of pooling synergy) may offset some of the benefits obtained from cellular manufacturing . The purpose of this study is to provide a manual that gives a general set of guidelines covering the major issues that must be addressed if the competitive advantages of cellular manufacturing are to be obtained . Specifically, it will cover cell design, special problems that can occur when designing cells, setup time reduction, worker assignment within the cell, preventive maintenance, and labor issues involved in this type of manufacturing environment . Three business professionals participated in the study as evaluators . The evaluators work in three different disciplines; Purchasing, Operations Management, and Industrial Engineering. The evaluators were administered the manual and a questionnaire f or the purpose of gathering their professional feedback . The questionnaire asked for validity/coverage, errors, and additions that need to be made to the manual. The results of the evaluation revealed the overall coverage is good. This indicates the manual covers the major issues of cellular manufacturing and it solves the problems occurring when the transformation fails. There are a few issues that were removed as well as added to the manual . This made the manual more applicable in a real life business situation