Job shop production system to a manufacturing cellular system: an action research study

Organisations are motivated to improve their production flow. This is achieved by a better use of resources, including equipment, people, and materials. The process of changing production systems is a priority for manufacturers in order to make production more efficient. Cellular manufacturing systems provide several different kinds of benefit over traditional production systems, allowing better customer satisfaction. This paper describes a real company changing process from a job shop production system to a manufacturing cellular system, using simple but effective lean practices and tools and following an action research methodology. The achievements obtained by the introduction of the manufacturing cellular system are presented, and compared with the previous system. The improvements achieved were substantial in terms of production organisation, production levels, quality levels, customer satisfaction and workers' self-esteem. Careful selections of the parts and of the human resources are two critical factors for success.