Cellular manufacturing definition
/What is Cellular Manufacturing?
Cellular manufacturing occurs when production equipment is grouped together and used for the sequential production of a set of parts that have similar characteristics. This concept is used in a lean manufacturing operation, as part of the effort to strip waste from the production process. The following are characteristics of cellular manufacturing:
Machines within a cell are grouped close together, so that unfinished parts can be walked from one machine to the next.
Employees may operate more than one machine within the production cell.
Parts processed through the cell have similar characteristics, so that machine setups are minimized.
There are likely to be a number of production cells within a manufacturing process.
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Advantages of Cellular Manufacturing
By using cellular manufacturing, a business can benefit from greatly reduced inventory levels, since there is no room for much inventory to pile up between machines. Also, it will become immediately apparent if there are problems with a part, so quality levels tend to be quite high. In addition, the tight packing of equipment tends to reduce the total square feet of floor space required for production operations.