A state of the art review of IDEFO

The study of manufacturing systems has generated interest in IDEFO, a structured functional analysis technique for manufacturing. The paper comprises a review of relevant published literature. Four categories of publications have been identified: descriptions and reviews of the basic principles of IDEFO; performance evaluation and comparisons with other techniques; enhancements to the technique; and specific applications. The paper concludes with a discussion of issues raised ns a result of the review, identifying general agreement that there is a need for such a technique and that it provides a basis for understanding and analysing manufacturing systems.