Planning the introduction and predicting the benefits of group technology

Abstract A large multi-national company involved in the manufacture of capital equipment, with production facilities in the U.K., recently undertook a study into the benefits of shop floor layout based on product organization in a proposed ‘focused factory’ for the manufacture of transmission gears and shafts. This paper describes the work carried out, in particular the method for predicting the likely benefits and that for determining machine groups and part families.