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Unlike Henry
Ford, today's manufacturers cannot just make "any color as
long as it's black." Fragmented
markets, competition and sophisticated customers have created
dizzying product variety--
often with lower volume. Numerous firms have choked on this
diversity.
Increasing
inventory, slower product introductions, confusion and declining
quality indicate an inability to deal with increasing variety.
Group Technology (GT)
tames this variety beast.
Group
Technology examines products, parts and assemblies. It then groups
similar items to simplify design, manufacturing, purchasing and other
business processes.
The figures below illustrate how an apparently random collection of
items has surprising similarity. |
Group
Technology can:
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Enable Cellular
Manufacturing
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Reduce Engineering
Cost
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Accelerate Product
Development
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Improve Costing
Accuracy
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Simplify Process
Planning
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Reduce Tooling Cost
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Simplify Purchasing
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Help With Value
Stream Mapping
We
have illustrated GT with metalworking for easy visualization. The
concept has much wider application. It applies to electronics, paper
products, foundry and many other products and services. |
GT
and Manufacturing
Group
Technology benefits manufacturing in many ways. It reduces the number
and variety of parts. Process planning for the remaining parts is
easier and more consistent.
Computer
Aided Process Planning (CAPP) is an important tool for this. It uses
the coded similarities to plan consistently, standardize and
accurately estimate costs. It then assigns the part to a GT
manufacturing cell.
Group
Technology cells reduce throughput time and Work-In-Process. They
simplify schedules, reduce transportation and ease supervision.
Some
of the more dramatic and tangible savings come from improved setups
and tooling cost. Setup time reductions bring smaller lot sizes and
smaller queues which mean faster throughput, shorter lead times and
decreased inventory.
GT
sometimes eliminates the need for expensive NC equipment. Combined
with NC, GT simplifies programming, fixturing and tooling.
GT
and Design Engineering
A typical mechanical
designer produces about two discrete new parts per week. Thus,
even a small department designs hundreds of parts each year.
Without formal methods, designers cannot track the drawings. They
duplicate or near duplicate many existing parts. Like the Hydra of
Greek Mythology, the problem feeds on itself. As more new designs
enter the system they become harder to track and encourage even more
duplication. GT using Coding and Classification (C&C) addresses
this.
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GT
and Other Departments
GT
produces savings and benefits in almost every area of the business. It
combines tasks, equipment, gages, tooling and schedules into larger
groups of similar elements for similar solutions.
Purchasing
can group similar parts and achieve quantity discounts.
For non-standard purchased parts, grouping helps suppliers achieve
savings and reduce price.
Accounting
is simpler in a GT environment.
Here costs are collected by cell and family rather than individual
part. A simple allocation procedure assigns costs accurately within
families.
Classification
Methods
Classification may be done
by several methods. 'Eyeball' and experience suffice when parts are
few. Production Flow Analysis considers current processes and
sequences. It groups parts accordingly. Graphics classification is
useful for design standardization and design retrieval. Coding systems
are highly versatile in manufacturing, design and purchasing.
Learn
More
Intuitive Grouping
Production Flow Analysis (PFA)
Coding & Classification
GT In Workcells
What
Our Clients Achieve
The savings from GT come in
many forms, often intangible. Here are some of the improvements that
successful users have achieved:
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Setup
Time..............35%-40%
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Tooling
Cost............40%
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Inventory.................15%-35%
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Throughput
Time....80%
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Purchased
Items......15%
Group
Technology is the most effective technique available for addressing
the variety demanded by today's customers. It allows customization of
product with standardization of process. |
