The conventional way of solving the group technology (GT) problem is to start from an assignment of parts to machines and try to find a partitioning of machine cells and part families. The similarity between parts is measured based on commonality of the machines assigned to them. However, parts are assigned to machines based on their operation requirements and the operation capabilities of machines. Similarity between parts should be based on their required operations. In this paper, the authors attempt to solve or facilitate solving the GT problem at the assignment level. An algorithm for assigning parts to machines is provided which utilizes the types of operations required by parts and applies GT principles in producing the assignment. This leads to better partitioning of machine cells and part-families. Furthermore, operation sequences required by parts in determining the similarity between parts have been considered. An algorithm to form part-families based on the operation sequence similarity coefficient has been developed. The resulting families are then used by the assignment algorithm to produce machine assignments to part-families. The use of the algorithm is demonstrated by examples.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burbidge, J. L. (1992) Change to group technology: process organization is obsolete. International Journal of Production Research, 30(5), 1209–1219.
Cheng, Ch. (1992) Algorithms for grouping machine groups in group technology. OMEGA International Journal of Management, 20(4), 493–501.
Cheng, Ch. (1993) A tree search algorithm for designing a cellular manufacturing system. OMEGA International Journal of Management, 21(4), 489–496.
Chow, W. S. and Hawaleshka, O. (1993) Minimizing intercellular part movements in manufacturing cell formation. International Journal of Production Research, 31(9), 2161–2170.
Garey, M. and Johnson, D. (1979) Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness, W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.
Harhalakis, G., Proth, J. M. and Xie, X. L. (1990) Manufacturing cell design using simulated annealing: an industrial application. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 1(3), 184–191.
Kamel, M. and Ghenniwa, H. (1991) Job allocation scheduling for partially overlapped systems, in Proceedings of International ISMM/ISTAED Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing and Systems, Washington D.C.
Kamel, M. and Ghenniwa, H. (1993) Partially overlapped systems: the scheduling problem. Submitted for publication.
Kusiak, A. and Chow, W. S. (1987) An efficient cluster identification algorithm. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 17(4), 696–699.
Kusiak, A. (1988) EXGT-S: a knowledge based system for group technology. International Journal of Production Research, 26(5), 887–904.
Kusiak, A. (1990) Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliff, NJ.
Rajamani, S. and Aneja, Y. (1990) Integrated design of cellular in the presence of alternative process plans. International Journal of Production Research, 28(8), 1541–1554.
Tam, K. Y. (1990) An operation sequence based similarity coefficient for part families formations. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 9(1), 45–68.
Tatikonda, M. and Wemmerlov, U. (1992) Adoption and implementation of group technology classification and coding systems: insights from seven case studies. International Journal of Production Research, 30(9), 2087–2110.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kamel, M., Ghenniwa, H. & Liu, T. Machine assignment and part-families formation using group technology. J Intell Manuf 5, 225–234 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123695
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123695