The Introduction of a Group Technology System and the Allocation of Resources Within that System

Abstract

The initial part of this thesis outlines the introduction of Group Technology into a small engineering company and gives a brief insight into the history of the company. The main part of the thesis is acritical appraisal of the allocation of resources during and after the introduction of Group Technology. Particular emphasis is placed upon the problems created by the introduction of Group Technology, especially in the areas of Production Control and Product Costing. Methods of solving these problems are analysed and the results thus obtained discussed. The approach of this thesis is essentially a practical one. It demonstrates that running a Group Technology system in a small company with limited resources and a limited product range demands that the practical system must deviate from the theory of Group Technology in certain areas. This is especially true in its approach to ‘foreign' work in cells and the methods used to obtain accuracy in capacity calculations and Product Costing. The results obtained show that even with these deviations the normal gains attributed to Group Technology, such as reduced work-in-progress and faster, more consistent throughput times etc. have been achieved and the company made tofunction more efficiently. In addition, a comprehensive literature survey is included, covering all aspects of Group Technology, especially its development in the U.K. Also included in this survey is an outline of the advances in manufacturing since the beginning of the nineteenth century, comparing Group Technology with other manufacturing systems and other methods of group working. Extensive use is made of tables, graphs, photographs and drawings to support the text.