Cellular Manufacturing

M. Haddad
Lean Manufacturing
 What is Cellular Manufacturing?
• A fundamental step in lean manufacturing that helps companies build a variety of
products with as little waste as possible:
– Workstations and equipment used for similar products are arranged in an efficient sequence
that supports a smooth flow of materials and components with minimal transport or delay
– Layout organizes process into a group of team members and machines in a way to work at the
same speed, with even workloads and no setups or wastes between different operations
o e.g. if a process for a product requires “Cutting” followed by “Drilling” and “Finishing”, the cell would
include all the workers and equipment for performing those processes, arranged in that order

• Impact of layout on production:

Poor: difficult to balance a

Poor: operators birdcaged,
Poor: operators “caged”, straight line, workload very
no change to increase output
can’t trade work elements unevenly divided
with a 3rd operator
between them

Better: can help each other,

Better: can trade work, can can add a 3rd operator to Better: can train multi-skilled
reduce operators, self-balance increase output operators, can reduce number
at different output rates of operators (5 to 4)
 Cellular Manufacturing Types
• Typical work cells:
– U-shaped or Parallel line
– 3-12 people, 5-15 workstations
– Cells might be designed for a specific process, part, or a complete product
 Traditional vs. Cellular Manufacturing
Example: Electronics Plant (hardware board manufacturing)
• Current State (functional configuration)
– Departmental organization is by function (or process)
– Since each electronics board requires all (or most) processes,
it travels to every department
– In each department, it sits in queue waiting for processing
o 10 process steps require 10 queues and 10 waits

– Travel distances are long, communication is difficult and

coordination is messy

• Future State (cellular layout)

– All processes essential for a type of product are available in the
production cell, regardless of which department is responsible
for which process
o Materials sit in an initial queue when they enter
o Parts move directly from process to process

o Communication and coordination are easy since operators are close

o The result is very fast throughput with improved quality
 Traditional vs. Cellular Manufacturing
• Continuous production in small lots of a narrow range of highly similar products
 Why Cellular Manufacturing?
• General Benefits:
– To have the necessary flexibility to produce a variety of low demand products, while maintaining
the same productivity obtained with a large scale production
– Before CM: lots of transport and movement waste, waiting and inventories (batch and queue)
– After CM: product focused, single piece flow (pull production)
o workstations in a cell are close together  little or no time is required to move parts
o product flow is more visible  easier to improve quality, WIP, machine utilization, lead time…
o Less Space: – 50% | Inventories: – 75% | Lead-time: – 75% | Setup Time: – 70% | Labor cost: – 25%
o More Productivity: + 50% | Quality | Production Capacity | Product Variety | Customer Responsiveness
 3 Stages for Implementing CM
• Stage 1: Understanding the Current Conditions
– Collect Product Data: identify processing similarities between different
products, group products that could be made in a cell together
– Collect Production Data: create VSM, time the process, determine shifts, • Understand the
hours, employees, volume, calculate VAR, Process Capacity, Takt Time Current Conditions
1
– Document Current Layout and Flow: identify sequence of production steps
assigned to a single operator using Standard Work Combination Sheets

• Stage 2: Converting to a Process-Based Layout

• Convert to a Process-
– Plan Ways to Improve methods, machines, materials, and people Based Layout
2
– Plan Possible New Layouts: u-shape or parallel, move machines closer
together
– Document the New Operating Procedures: test new layout, if successful
standardize new cell operations
• Continuously
• Stage 3: Continuously Improving the Process Improve the Process
3
– Assess new state: Look for problems that keep the process from flowing
(e.g. long cycle or changeover times, equipment failures, product defects…)
– Apply appropriate lean techniques: 5S, SMED, TPM…
 Stage 2: Convert to a Process-Based Layout
• The 2nd stage of implementing CM consists of 3 steps:

– Step 1: • Identification of machines and

Selection their quantity

o Can be done by many different types of clustering algorithms (rank order clustering is the simplest,
supplemented with machine capacity constraints is useful)

– Step 2: Cell Design • Layout of the Cell

– Step 3: Cell Operation • Type of Production Control

 Stage 2, Step 1: Rank-Order Clustering Example
Selection • Identification of machines and their quantity

• Consider a manufacturing operation with 7 parts and 6 machines

– At most 4 machines can be in a cell (constraint on total number of machines in a cell)
– Not more than 1 duplicate of each machine in the same cell (constraint on number of identical
machines in a cell)
– The following matrix contains the processing times (including setup times) for a typical lot size
of each part on the corresponding machines
o All times are normalized as percentage of total machine capacity
Parts

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A 0.3 -- -- -- 0.6 -- --
B -- 0.3 -- 0.3 -- -- 0.1
Machines

C 0.4 -- -- 0.5 -- 0.3 --

D 0.2 -- 0.4 -- 0.3 -- 0.5
E -- 0.4 -- -- -- 0.5 --
F -- 0.2 0.3 0.4 -- -- 0.2
 Stage 2, Step 1 (Continued)
• Sum up all entries in a row to obtain total machine utilization
– If this value exceeds 1, round up to get the minimum number of machines needed
– Total number of machines is: 9
– Since not more than 4 machines are permitted in a cell, at least 9/4 = 2.25 or 3 cells are needed

• For the binary ordering portion, interpret rows and columns as binary numbers

Parts

1 5 7 3 4 6 2 Minimum #
Sum
of machines
D 0.2 -- 0.4 -- 0.3 -- 0.5 1.4 2
Machines

C 0.4 -- -- 0.5 -- 0.3 -- 1.2 2

A 0.3 -- -- -- 0.6 -- -- 0.9 1

F -- 0.2 0.3 0.4 -- -- 0.2 1.1 2

B -- 0.3 -- 0.3 -- -- 0.1 0.7 1

E -- 0.4 -- -- -- 0.5 -- 0.9 1

 Stage 2, Step 1 (Continued)
• Sort rows w.r.t. decreasing binary numbers (2x to 20) by adding the totals for each row
o The new machine order is: D – C – A – F – B – E

Parts

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A 1 -- -- -- 1 -- -- 25 = 32

B -- 1 -- 1 -- -- 1 24 = 16
Machines

C 1 -- -- 1 -- 1 -- 23 = 8

D 1 -- 1 -- 1 -- 1 22 = 4

E -- 1 -- -- -- 1 -- 21 = 2

F -- 1 1 1 -- -- 1 20 = 1

26 = 64 25 = 32 24 = 16 23 = 8 22 = 4 21 = 2 20 = 1

• For the re-sorted matrix above, sort columns w.r.t. decreasing binary numbers
o The new parts order is: 1 – 5 – 7 – 3 – 4 – 6 – 2
 Stage 2, Step 1 (Continued)
• The resorting of rows and columns is done based on the following totals

Parts

1 5 7 3 4 6 2 Binary Total

D 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.4 -- -- -- 25 = 32 85

C 0.4 -- -- -- 0.5 0.3 -- 24 = 16 74

Machines

A 0.3 0.6 -- -- -- -- -- 23 = 8 68

F -- -- 0.2 0.3 0.4 -- 0.2 22 = 4 57

B -- -- 0.1 -- 0.3 -- 0.3 21 = 2 41

E -- -- -- -- -- 0.5 0.4 20 = 1 34

Binary 26 = 64 25 = 32 24 = 16 23 = 8 22 = 4 21 = 2 20 = 1

Total 56 7 36 22 40 17 38
 Stage 2, Step 1 (Continued)
• Assign (group) parts and their corresponding machines to cells (in sorting order)
– Add machines to cells until either:
o the capacity of some machine would be exceeded, or
o the maximum number of machines, or of duplicate machines, would be exceeded
 e.g. if part 5 required more than 0.8 capacity of machine D, then cell 1 would need a duplicate of machine D,
which is OK since only 1 duplicate per machine is possible

 e.g. if part 4 required more than 0.5 capacity of machine F, then it would require duplicate of machine F but in
this case it could not be made in cell 2 anymore since the maximum number of machines (4) would be exceeded

Part Assigned machines Remaining capacity per machine

Iteration Cell
chosen (max 4 per cell) (max 1 duplicate machine per cell)

1 1 1 D, C, A D (0.8), C (0.6), A (0.7)

2 5 1 D, C, A D (0.5), C (0.6), A (0.1)

3 7 2 D, F, B D (0.5), F (0.8), B (0.9)

4 3 2 D, F, B D (0.1), F (0.5), B (0.9)

5 4 2 D, F, B, C D (0.1), F (0.1), B (0.6), C (0.5)

6 6 3 C, E C (0.7), E (0.5)

7 2 3 C, E, F, B C (0.7), E (0.1), F (0.8), B (0.7)

 Stage 2, Step 1 (Continued)
• The solution consists of 3 cells:
– Cell 1: parts {1, 5}, machines {D, C, A}
– Cell 2: parts {7, 3, 4}, machines {D, F, B, C}
– Cell 3: parts {6, 2}, machines {C, E, F, B}

• Machines used:
– One machine each of types: A, E
– Two machines of types: B, D, F
– Three machines of type: C
 Stage 2, Step 1 (Continued)
• Single-pass heuristic (of Askin and Standridge, 1993) is a simple heuristic  not
necessarily optimal solution (not always minimum possible number of machines)
– Compare result with theoretical min number of machines
o need one more copy of machine B (2 instead of 1) and one more copy of machine C (3 instead of 2)

• Compare result with theoretical minimum number of machines

Parts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Theoretical Heuristic
Sum Min. # Min. #

A 0.3 -- -- -- 0.6 -- -- 0.9 1 1

Machines

B -- 0.3 -- 0.3 -- -- 0.1 0.7 1 2

C 0.4 -- -- 0.5 -- 0.3 -- 1.2 2 3

D 0.2 -- 0.4 -- 0.3 -- 0.5 1.4 2 2

E -- 0.4 -- -- -- 0.5 -- 0.9 1 1

F -- 0.2 0.3 0.4 -- -- 0.2 1.1 2 2

Total 9 11
 Stage 2, Step 2: Cell Layout
Cell Design • Layout of the Cell

• Machines are usually arranged in U shape or parallel line to decrease operator

movement and enhance production visibility
– Production analysis board ensures that the workers know the daily production requirements of
the cell
– Andons are used to stop production when a workstation has a problem and problems are
tabulated on the “problem display” as they occur to mobilize problem-solving and highlight
other potential problems

• Machines placed close together with room for only a minimal quantity of WIP
• Process flow is often (but not always) counterclockwise to maximize right hand
maneuvers of operators
 Stage 2, Step 2 (Continued)
• Clockwise U-shape example in detail
 Stage 2, Step 3: Cell Operation
Cell Operation • Type of Production Control

• Two types of cell operations: Integrated and Decoupled

• Integrated cells are linked through the use of Kanbans
– Materials flow from workstation to workstation via Kanbans

• Decoupled cells use a storage area to store part families after a cell has finished working
on them
– Parts are retrieved from storage area when another cell is to operate on them
– Storage area acts as a decoupler, making cells and departments independent of each other

Integrated Decoupled
 Challenges with CM Implementation
• It is not enough to simply arrange different equipment in sequence to make cellular
manufacturing really work
• Bottlenecks along the single process flow must be eliminated
– balancing the equipment capacities with each other
– choosing 'right-sized' equipment that match each other
– combining two or more smaller capacity equipment to match one larger-capacity equipment

• Manufacturing cells should be designed, controlled and operated using complementary

lean techniques such as:
– 5S: cellular manufacturing cannot succeed in a workplace that is cluttered, disorganized, dirty…
– JIT: cell operation uses small lot sizes, short setups, standardized containers, decentralized
storage areas...

– Total Quality Management (TQM): cellular manufacturing relies on process inspection,

statistical process control, prevention measures...

– Total Employee Involvement (TEI): cellular manufacturing requires focus on operators with
multifunctional capabilities that are involved in teamwork
 Challenges with CM Implementation
• Human resource issues:
– Cell teams need to be cross trained in cell operations (cross-functional training)  compensation
– Supervisors need to also act as coaches  compensation
– Operators need teamwork training
– Initial resistance to change
– Cells need support

• Operational barriers:
– Obtaining balance among cells is difficult
– Conversion to cellular manufacturing can involve costly realignment of equipment
– Shifts to production cells distributes painting, coating, washing or chemical milling operations to
multiple points  requires adjustment in chemical and waste management practices to avoid
adverse impact to the environment and failure to comply with regulatory requirements