Group technology (GT) is a manufacturing philosophy that identifies and groups similar parts into families based on their design and production characteristics. This approach aims to make batch manufacturing more efficient. GT involves arranging parts into families that require similar processing steps. Organizing production this way reduces material handling, setup times, work in process inventory, lead times, and costs compared to traditional layouts that do not consider part similarities.

1. GROUP TECHNOLOGY

2. Introduction
• Batch manufacturing is estimated to be the most common
form of production in the United States, constituting more
than 50% of total manufacturing activity.
• It is important to make batch manufacturing as efficient and
productive as possible. Also there has been a trend to
integrate the design and manufacturing functions in a firm.
• An approach directed at both of these objectives is Group
technology(GT)

3. GROUP TECHNOLOGY
• The term group technology was first used by Prof. Mitrofanov in early
1950s.
• Group technology is manufacturing philosophy in which similar parts are
identified and grouped together to take advantage of their similarities in
design and production. Similar parts are arranged into part families, where
each part family possesses similar design and / or manufacturing
characteristics.
.

4. Objectives of Group technology
• Reduce MLT
• Reduce WIP
• Improve scheduling
• Reduce tooling
• Increase equipment utilization

5. PART FAMILIES
• Part family is a collection of parts that are similar
either because of geometric shape and size or
because similar processing steps are required in their
manufacture.
• The parts within a family are different, but their
similarities are close enough to merit their inclusion
as members of the part family.

6. figures 1 and 2 show to different part families.
Fig 1. Two parts of identical shape and size but different
manufacturing requirements
(a) 1,00,000 pc/yr, material = 1015 CR steel,nickel plate
(b) 100 pc/yr, material = 18-8 stainless steel

7. Fig.2 A family of parts with similar manufacturing process
requirements but different design attributes.
All parts are machined from cylindrical stock by turning: some parts require
drilling and /or milling

8. Results in
1. Significant amount of material handling
2. Work in process inventory
3. More machine setups
4. More lead time
5. High cost
PROCESS TYPE LAYOUT

9. GROUP TECHNOLOGY LAYOUT
Results in:
1. Reduced material handling
2. Lower setup time
3. Less in process inventory
4. Shorter lead time
5. Low cost