Comparison of equivalent pure cellular and functional production environments using simulation

Two alternative production environments are compared by allocating equivalent machining capacity to each one. Equivalent capacity of each environment has been found by minimizing the total daily production cost under each choice. SIMAN simulation language is used in determination of non-cost performance measures for each environment. This study assumes that lot sizes are fixed and cannot be reduced under the cellular option. Results support the recent findings that the cellular manufacturing or group technology method of production is not superior to traditional functional or job shop layout.