Production control systems for small group production

Experience with small group production systems has shown that mere change of layout and introduction of groups on the shop floor do not achieve the main objectives and possible advantages of groups, unless they are accompanied by certain changes in supporting services. Probably the most important changes are those required in production control. It is absolutely vital that the requirements and characteristics of the manufacturing system are taken into account when designing the production control system and vice versa. This paper outlines the problems and important factors affecting production control in a Group Technology (GT) environment, together with case studies which describe the operation of production planning and control systems used in two different organisations.