Group Technology, Concurrent Engineering and Design for Manufacture and Assembly

Group technology (GT) is an approach to organizing and rationalizing various aspects of design and manufacturing, and it is applicable to any engineering industry where small-batch, variety production is used (Gallagher and Knight 1975; Gallagher and Knight 1986; Burbidge 1975; Ham, Hitomi and Yoshida 1985). Group Technology is a manufacturing philosophy with far reaching implications. The basic concept is relatively simple: identify and bring together items that are related by similar attributes, and then take advantage of similarities to develop simplified and rationalized procedures in all stages of design and manufacture. The term similar attributes may mean similar design features, similar production requirements, similar inspection requirements, etc. The principles of GT can be applied in all facets of a company: in design, through standardization and variety reduction, in cost and time estimating and work planning; as the basis for computer-aided process planning (CAPP) systems; in production, as the underlying principle of cellular manufacturing systems, etc. Group Technology forms the basis for the development of flexible automation and computer integrated manufacturing.