An integrated real time MRP and group technology system

Abstract

The approach taken in this paper is twofold. First manufacturing environment is simplified for the purposes of planning and control without losing any of the essential characteristics. Second, a simple GT model is applied to the shop floor area and real time MRP is applied to the assembly area. The aim of this study is to develop and compare with a simulation of similar proposal except that jobshop is used in the shop floor area instead. The variable factors in both models were the set up time to operation time ratio and the intensity of the loading on the machines. In the highly loaded situations, the GT model faired better than the job shop model. However, for low loaded situations the performances of the two models were similar.