Part identification and group technology: A new approach

Abstract Part numbering, as it was practiced in the precomputer age, is showing major weaknesses for current information processing requirements. Manufacturing information systems are extensively involved with processing parts and part information in computer systems ranging from computer-aided design to computer-aided manufacture and computer-aided inspection. The hierarchically significant part numbering (HSPN) approach is a novel one that has shown improvement in efficiency for data processing, especially in the case of bill of material processing. Group technology applications have explored the use of several different part numbering schemes, and have discovered monocodes to be particularly useful. The HSPN approach introduced here shows considerable value for group technology applications.