CELL-BASED MANUFACTURING AND MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE

During recent years, there has been enormous interest in cellular manufacture and many companies have transferred their hitherto traditional systems into the more focussed manufacturing organisation of cellular manufacture. Some have experienced benefits by combining the better characteristics of traditional systems with more focussed and effective management, but, some have experienced less than maximum benefits because of the way in which the cells have been defined, implemented and set to work. The main objective of defining the structure of manufacturing cells is to produce a cell format which will permit operation closely approximating that of a complete business unit. This paper documents a cellular manufacturing project and illustrates methods for proving and validating cell definitions. These methods concentrate on gaining visibility on cell performance via well established and relevant performance measures. Further, this paper proposes by way of experience, a method for designing and implementing manufacturing cells which is visually interactive and participative.