| Abstract: | American industry typically uses material requirements planning (MRP) for manufacturing control. This paper presents production planning and control procedures based on group technology (GT), which is used in British manufacturing. A translation between these ideas and the American approach is made, and it is suggested that a combination of MRP and GT is viable. The problems that arise, especially in the areas of lot-sizing and sequencing/scheduling, and their possible solutions are discussed. Since increased adoption of GT is expected within the next decade, an intensified research effort is warranted in these and other areas so that existing MRP systems can be modified or extended to handle cellular manufacturing control problems. Subject Areas: Material Requirements Planning and Production/Operations Management. |
