CAD/CAM/CIM (MAT-613) – 2013E.

Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)

Unit - Three
Group technology (GT) and computer aided process planning (CAPP)

Concept of Group technology;

Group technology is a manufacturing philosophy in which similar parts are identified and
grouped together to take the advantage of their similarities in manufacturing and design.
Similar parts are arranged in to part families.

Advantages of group technology

o Product design benefits - 10 % reduction in the number of drawings

o Tooling and setup benefits - 69 % reduction of setup time.
o Materials handling benefits
o Production and inventory control benefits
o - 70 % reduction in production time
o - 62 % reduction in work in process inventories
o - 82 % reduction in overdue orders
o Employee satisfaction
o Process planning procedures

3.1. Group technology (GT);

Group technology (GT) is a manufacturing philosophy to increase production

efficiency by grouping a variety of parts having similarities of shape, dimension, and/or
process route.

Group technology is an operations management philosophy based on the recognition that

similarities occur in the design and manufacture of discrete parts. Similar parts can then
be arranged into part families. To implement such a system, some form of classification
of parts and coding is required.

Group Technology is the concept, which has been around since World War 2, and
received wide attention due to close association with cellular manufacturing, FMS, CIM,
etc. GT is not simple the formation of machinery into manufacturing cells, but it involves

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bringing together and organizing common concepts, principles, problems, tasks, and
technologies, to improve productivity.

Group technology, like JIT is a journey, not a destination. It involves continuous

improvement and structured discipline and must be a fundamental building block of a cell
or system if the real benefits of automation are to be achieved. And it must be approached
and applied before, during and after automation.

Fig. Process Type Layout

Fig. Group Technology layout

Part classification and coding is concerned with identifying the similarities and using
these similarities to evolve a classification code. Similarities are of two types: design
attributes (such as geometric shape and size), and manufacturing attributes (the sequence
of processing steps required to make the part).

In companies which employ several design engineers and manufacturing a diverse range
of products, such classifications and coding has a number of other uses. One of the major

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benefits is avoiding the duplication of similar components. This can result in considerable
savings in terms of design cost, processing cost and tooling cost. One prime necessity to
realize this is to have a good design retrieval system.

The parts classification and coding is required in a design retrieval system, and in
computer aided process planning the process routing is developed by recognizing the
specific attributes of the part and relating these attributes to the corresponding
manufacturing operations.

Group technology is a manufacturing philosophy in which similar parts are identified and
grouped together to take the advantage of their similarities in manufacturing and design.

o Similarities among parts permit them to be classified into part families

o In each part family, processing steps are similar
o The improvement is typically achieved by organizing the production facilities into
manufacturing cells that specialize in production of certain part families

3.2 Benefits of Group Technology

Group technology, when successfully implemented, offers many benefits to

industries. The likely impact of group technology can be seen in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Impact of Group Technology

Before After
Discontinuous, Random Flow of Parts
Structured Flow of Parts
Through the Shop
Reinvent New Parts Retrieve Parts Already in Production
Multitude of Process Plans for Some Parts Consistent, Single, Best Process Plans
Continuous Purchase of Components due
Regulated Purchase of Components
to Lack of Total Visibility
Inflexible, Rigid, Unable to Respond to
Changing Environment Flexible

GT benefits can be realized in a manufacturing organization in the following areas:

i. Production design
ii. Tooling and setups

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iii. Materials handling

iv. Production and inventory control
v. Process planning
vi. Management and employees.

i. Benefits in product Design

The main advantages of GT for product design come in cost and time savings, because
design engineers can quickly and easily search the database for parts that either presently
exist or can be used with slight modifications, rather than issuing new part numbers.

A similar cost savings can be realized in the elimination of two or more identical parts
with different part numbers. Another advantage is the standardization of designs. Design
features such as corner radii, tolerances, chamfers, counter bores and surface finishes can
be standardized with GT.

ii. Benefits in Tooling and Setups

In the area of tooling, group jigs and fixtures are designed to accommodate every
member of a part family. Also work holding devices are designed to use special adapters
in such a way that this general fixture can accept each part family member. Since setup
times are very short between parts in a family, a group layout can also result in dramatic
reductions in setup times.

iii. Benefits in material handling:

GT facilitates a group layout of the shop. Since machines are arranged as cells, in a group
layout, the materials handling cost can be reduced by reducing travel and facilitating
increased automation.

iv. Benefits in production and inventory Control

GT simplifies production and planning control. The complexity of the problem has been
reduced from a large portion of the shop to smaller groups of machines. The production
scheduling is simplified to a small number of parts through the machines in that cell.

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v. Benefits in Process Planning

The concept of group technology - parts classification and coding - lead to an automated
process planning system. Grouping parts allows an examination of the various
planning/route sheets for all members of a particular family. Once this has been
accomplished, the same basic plans can be applied to other members, thereby optimizing
the shop for the group.

vi. Benefits to Management and Employees

It is understood that GT simplifies the environment of the manufacturing firm, which

provides significant benefit to management.

• Simplification reduces the cumbersome paper work.

• Simplification also improves the work environment.

In the GT work environment, the supervisor has in – depth knowledge of the work
performed and better control.

Group technology and cellular manufacturing are applicable in a wide variety of

manufacturing situations. GT is most appropriately applied under the following
conditions:

• The plant currently uses traditional batch production and a process type layout and
this result in much material handling effort, high in-process inventory, and long
manufacturing lead times.
• The parts can be grouped into part families. This is a necessary condition, each
machine cell is designed to produce a given part family, or limited collection of part
families, so it must be possible to group parts made in the plant into families.
However, it would be unusual to find a mid-volume production plant in which parts
could not be grouped into part families

There are two major tasks that a company must undertake when it implements group
technology. These two tasks represent significant obstacles to the application of GT.

Role of GT in CAD/CAM integration

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1. Identifying the part families: If the plant makes 10,000 different parts, reviewing all
of the part drawings and grouping the parts into families is a substantial task that
consumes a significant amount of time.
2. Rearranging production machines into machine cells: it is time consuming and
costly to plan and accomplish this rearrangement, and the machines are not
producing during the changeover

3.3 Part family;

One of the major benefits derived from GT applications is part family formation for
efficient work flow. Efficient work flow can result from grouping machines logically so
that material handling and setup can be minimized. Parts can frequently be grouped so
that the same tooling and fixtures can be used. When this occurs, a major reduction in
setup results. Machines can also be grouped so that the amount of handling between
machining operations also can be minimized. A part family is a collection of parts which
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 identification as members of the part family.
The major obstacle in changing over to group technology from a traditional production
shop is the problem of grouping parts into families.

o Part families are a central feature of group technology

o There are always differences among parts in a family
o But the similarities are close enough that the parts can be grouped into the same
family

Machine cell - Group of machineries used to process an individual part family.

The basis of cellular or GT layout is part-family formation. Family formation is based on

parts production or more specifically, their manufacturing features. Components
requiring similar processes are grouped into the same family.

3.3.1 General methods used for part families;

The parts within a family are different, but their similarities are close enough to merit
their identification as members of the part family. The major obstacle in changing over to

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group technology from a traditional production shop is the problem of grouping parts into
families. There are three general methods for solving this problem.

Ways to Identify Part Families

1. Visual inspection - using best judgment to group parts into appropriate families,
based on the parts or photos of the parts
2. Production flow analysis - using information contained on route sheets to classify
parts
3. Parts classification and coding system - identifying similarities and differences
among parts and relating them by means of a coding scheme

The visual inspection method is the least sophisticated and least expensive method. It
involves the classification of parts into families by looking at either the physical parts or
photographs and arranging them into similar groupings. It is obvious that when we have
many components, visual inspection will be difficult to use. This method is generally
considered to be the least accurate of the three.

What is desirable in a computer integrated manufacturing environment is a software

which will analyze the geometric model of the part and come out with a set of
alphabetic/numeric characters which can broadly embed similarities.

Production Flow analysis;

Production Flow analysis (PFA) is a method for identifying part families and
associated machine groupings that uses the information contained on production route
sheets rather on part drawings. Work parts with identical or similar routings are classified
into part families. These families can then be used to form logical machine cells in a
group technology layout.

The procedure of Production flow analysis (PFA) consists of the following steps:

1. Data collection: The minimum data needed in the analysis are the part number and
operation sequence, which is obtained from process plans.
2. Part sorting and routing: A sortation procedure is used to group parts with identical
process plans.

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3. PFA chart: The processes

rocesses used for each group are then displayed in a PFA
chart as shown below.
4. Analysis: From the pattern of data in the PFA chart, related groupings are identified
and rearranged into a new pattern that brings together groups with similar machine
mac
sequences.

In PFA, a large matrix (incidence matrix) is constructed. Each row represents an OP code,
and each column in the matrix represents a component
component.

Rank Order Clustering Algorithm is a simple algorithm used to form machine

machine-part groups.

Step 0: Total number of components and components sequence

Step 1: Form the machine-component

machine component incidence matrix using the component sequences.

Step 2: Assign binary weight and calculate a decimal weight for each row.

Step 3: Rank the rows in order of decreasing

decreasi decimal weight values.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each column.

Step 5: Continue preceding steps until there is no change in the position of each
element in the row and the column.

Example #1

Consider a problem of 5 machines and 6 parts. Try to group them by using Rank Order
Clustering Algorithm.

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Now it’s easy to identify part family #1 and family #2

Parts classification and coding system

In group technology, parts are identified and grouped into families by classification and
coding (C/C) systems. This process is a critical and complex first step and is done
according to the part’s design attributes and manufacturing attributes.

Parts classification and coding systems can be grouped into

into three general types:

1. system based on part design attributes

2. system based on manufacturing attributes
3. system based on design and manufacturing attributes

Systems in the first category are useful for design retrieval and to promote design
standardization.. Systems in the second category are used for computer
computer-aided process
planning, tool design, and other production related functions. The third category
represents an attempt to combine the functions and advantages of the other two systems
into a single classification
sification scheme. The types of design and manufacturing attributes
typically included in classification schemes are listed below:

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Two categories of part similarities can be distinguished:

Design attributes: which concerned with part characteristics such as

• Part configuration (round or prismatic)

• Dimensional envelope (length to diameter ratio)
• Surface integrity (surface roughness, dimensional tolerances)
• Material type
• Raw material state (casting, forging, bar stock, etc.)

Manufacturing attributes: which consider the sequence of processing steps required to

make a part.

• Operations and operation sequences (turning, milling, etc.)

• Batch sizes
• Machine tools
• Cutting tools
• Work holding devices
• Processing times

Coding Structures used in GT application;

A part coding scheme consists of symbols that identify the part’s design and/or
manufacturing attributes. The symbols in the code can be all numeric, all alphabetic, or a
combination of both types.

Coding is the systematic process of establishing an alphanumeric value for parts on

selected part features. Classification is the grouping of parts based on code values. This
method is the most time consuming of the three methods, in parts classification and
coding, similarities among parts are identified and these similarities are related in a
coding system.

Three categories of part similarities can be distinguished 1. Design attributes which are
concerned with part characteristics such as, geometry, size and material, and 2.
Manufacturing attributes consider the processing steps required to make a part. 3. System
based on both attributes.

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There are three basic code structures used in group technology applications:

1. Hierarchical codes (mono codes or tree structures)

2. Attributes codes (poly codes or chain type structure)
3. Decision - tree codes (hybrid structures or mixed codes) which is a combination of
the above two

With the hierarchical structure, the interpretation of each succeeding symbol depends on
the value of the preceding symbols. In the chain type structure, the interpretation of each
symbol in the sequence is fixed and does not depend on the value of preceding digits.
Most of the commercial parts coding systems are used in industry are a combination of
the two pure structures.

Coding systems

Through more than 100 coding systems are available, some of the coding systems that
have been successfully implemented in process planning are given below:

1. OPITZ classification system 6. CUTPLAN system

2. DCLASS system 7. COFORM (coding for machining)

3. The CODE system 8. RNC system

4. The MICLASS system 9. Part analog system

5. The KK-3 system 10. Brisch system

When implementing a parts classification and coding system, most companies can
purchase a commercially available package or develop a system for their own specific
use. Commercial systems have the advantage of less lead time in implementation.

3.4. Cellular manufacturing;

Whether part families have been determined by visual inspection, parts

classification and coding, or production flow analysis, there is advantage in producing
those parts using group technology machine cells rather than a traditional process-type
machine layout. When the machines are grouped, the term cellular manufacturing is used
to describe this work organization. Cellular manufacturing (CM) is an application

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of group technology in which dissimilar machines have been aggregated into cells,
each of which is dedicated to the production of a part family.

The machines in a multi station system with variable routing may be manually operated,
semi-automatic, or fully automated. When manually operated or semi automatic the
machine groups are often called machine cells, and the use of these cells in a factory is
called cellular manufacturing.

Typical objectives of cellular manufacturing:

o To shorten manufacturing lead times: by reducing setup, work part handling,

waiting times, and batch sizes.
o To reduce WIP inventory: Smaller batch sizes and shorter lead times reduce work-
in-process.
o To improve quality: This is accomplished by allowing each cell to specialize in
producing a smaller number of different parts. This reduces process variations.
o To simplify production scheduling: The similarity among parts in the family
reduces the complexity of production scheduling. Instead of scheduling parts
through a sequence of machines in a process-type shop layout, the parts are simply
scheduled though the cell.
o To reduce setup times: This is accomplished by using group tooling (cutting tools,
jigs, and fixtures) that have been designed to process the part family, rather than
part tooling, which is designed for an individual part. This reduces the number of
individual tools required as well as the time to change tooling between parts.

Design considerations guiding the cell-formation;

• Parts/products to be fully completed in the cell.

• Higher operator utilization.
• Fewer operations than equipment.
• Balanced equipment utilization in the cell.

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3.4.1 Machine Cell Design

Design of the machine cell is critical in cellular manufacturing. The cell design
determines to a great degree the performance of the cell. In this subsection, we discuss
types of machine cells, cell layouts, and the key machine concept.

Types of cell design (Types of Machine Cells and Layouts): GT manufacturing cells
can be classified according to the number of machines and the degree to which the
material flow is mechanized between machines.

1. Single machine cell

2. Group machine cell with manual handling
3. Group machine cell with semi-integrated handling
4. Flexible manufacturing system

Determining the best machine arrangement

Factors to be considered:

• Volume of work to be done by the cell

• Variations in process routings of the parts
• Part size, shape, weight and other physical attributes

3.5. Process planning;

Process planning can be defined as the systematic determination of the detailed

methods by which work pieces or parts can be manufactured economically and
competitively from initial stages (raw material form) to finished stages (desired form).
The activity of developing such a plan is called process planning.

Geometrical features, dimensional sizes, tolerances, materials, and surface finishes are
analyzed and evaluated to determine an appropriate sequence of processing operations.

Process planning involves determining the most appropriate manufacturing and assembly
processes and the sequence in which they should be accomplished to produce a given part
or product according to specifications set forth in the product design documentation. The
scope and variety of processes that can be planned are generally limited by the available

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processing equipment and technological capabilities of the company or plant. Parts that
can-not be made internally must be purchased from outside vendors. It should be
mentioned that the choice of processes is also limited by the details of the product design.

Based on the planner's knowledge, skill, and experience, the processing steps are
developed in the most logical sequence to make each part. Following is a list of the many
decisions and details usually included within the scope of process planning.

Role of process planning

• Interpretation of design drawings: The part or product design must be analyzed

(materials, dimensions, tolerances, surface finishes, etc.) at the start of the process
planning procedure.
• Selection of machining processes: The process planner must select which
processes are required and their sequence. A brief description of all processing
steps must be prepared.
• Selection of machine tools: In general, process planners must develop plans that
utilize existing equipment in the plant.
• Determination of fixtures and datum surfaces: The process planner must decide
what tooling is required for each processing step. The actual design and
fabrication of these tools is usually delegated to a tool design department and tool
room, or an outside vendor specializing in that type of tool is contracted.
• Sequencing the operations.
• Selection of inspection devices.
• Determination of production tolerances.
• Determination of the proper cutting conditions: These must be specified for
machining operations, often with reference to standard handbook
recommendations.
• Calculation of the overall times: Work measurement techniques are used to set
time standards for each operation.
• Generation of process sheets including NC data.

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Process planning techniques;

• Manual approach
• Computer aided process planning techniques
• Retrieval type CAPP system (Variant type CAPP system)
• Generative type CAPP system

3.5.1. Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP);

There is much interest by manufacturing firms in automating the task of process planning
using computer-aided process planning (CAPP) systems. The shop-trained people who
are familiar with the details of machining and other processes are gradually retiring, and
these people will be unavailable in the future to do process planning. An alternative way
of accomplishing this function is needed, and CAPP systems are providing this
alternative. CAPP is usually considered to be part of computer-aided manufacturing
(CAM). However, this lends to imply that CAM is a stand-alone system. In fact, a
synergy results when CAM is combined with computer-aided design to create a
CAD/CAM system. In such a system, CAPP becomes the direct connection between
design and manufacturing. The process planning function bridges the gap between
engineering design and manufacturing, and is thus a critical element in integrating
activities within manufacturing organizations. Current CAPP systems range from simple
editors for manual planning to fully-automated systems for planning a range of products.

CAPP refers to computer/aided process planning.

CAPP is used to overcome the drawbacks of manual process planning.
With the use of computers on the process planning one can reduce the routine
clerical work of manufacturing engineers.
Also it provides the opportunity to generate rational, consistent and optimal
plans.

The benefits derived from computer-automated process planning include the following:

• Process rationalization and standardization. Automated process planning leads to

more logical and consistent process plans than when process planning is done

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completely manually. Standard plans tend to result in lower manufacturing costs

and higher product quality.
• Increased productivity of process planners. The systematic approach and the
availability of standard process plans in the data files permit more work to be
accomplished by the process planners.
• Reduced lead time for process planning. Process planners working with a CAPP
system can provide route sheets in a shorter lead time compared to manual
preparation.
• Improved legibility. Computer-prepared route sheets are neater and easier to read
than manually prepared route sheets,
• Incorporation of other application programs The CAPP program can be interfaced
with other application programs, such as cost estimating and work standards.

There are also several problems associated with automation of the planning process:

1. The designer's intention may not always be obvious to the process planner, who
must act on the designer's intentions. Differences in terminology and perspectives
separate these two functions.
2. In order to fully automate process planning, the features of a part must be extracted
from the product model without human intervention; however, engineering
drawings sometimes do not convey all the information about a part. Information
may be inaccessible or in a form incompatible with CAPP.
3. One problem source for CAPP systems is the interface between CAD and CAPP,
where features are translated into a form recognizable by CAPP. Different CAD
systems have different methods of representing dimensions. Translation from CAD
to CAPP often requires a human interface.
4. The designer is often unaware of potential manufacturing constraints and may
produce a design that is either infeasible or costly to produce.
5. The generation and execution of a production plan may take a long time and may
involve several organizations in different geographical locations. Plan-monitoring
and improvement may be complex and difficult to automate.

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Computer aided process planning system offers the potential for reducing the routine
clerical work of manufacturing engineers. It provides the opportunity to generate routings
which are rational, consistent and perhaps even optimal.

The ultimate goal of a system is to integrate design and production data into a system that
generates useable process plans. Computer-aided
aided process planning systems are designed
d
around two approaches. Some CAPP systems combine the two approaches in what is
known as semi-generative
generative CAPP.

i. Variant process planning (Retrieval type)

ii. Generative process planning

3.5.2. Variant or Retrieval approach;

A variant CAPP system, also called a retrieval CAPP system, has been widely used in
machining applications. Of the various CAPP methods, variant process planning is the
easiest to implement. Variant systems allow rapid generation of process plans through
comparison of features with other known features in a database. The basic idea behind
the retrieval CAPP is that
hat similar parts will have similar process plans. In this system, a
process plan for a new part is created by recalling,, identifying and retrieving an existing
plan for a similar part, and making the necessary modifications for the new part.

In fact, the
he variant CAPP is a computer - assisted extension of the manual approach. The
computer assists by providing an efficient system for data management, retrieval,
retrieval editing
and high speed printing of the process plans. The retrieval CAPP system has the capacity
to alter an existing process plan. That’s why it is also known as variant CAPP system.

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Procedure for using Retrieval CAPP system

A retrieval CAPP system is based on the principles of group technology (GT) and parts
classification and coding. In this system, for each part family a standard process plan (i.e.,
route sheet) is prepared and stored in computer files. Through classification and coding, a
code number is generated. These codes are often used to identify the part family and the
associated standard plan. The standard plan is retrieval and edited for the new part.

Variant CAPP system procedure

Step 1: Define the coding scheme

Adopt existing coding or classification schemes to label parts for the purpose of
classification. In some extreme cases, a new coding scheme maybe developed.

Step 2: Group the parts into part families

Group the part families using the coding scheme defined in Step 1 based on some
common part features. A standard plan is attached to each part family (see step 3). Often,
a number of part types are associated with a family, thereby reducing the total number of
standard process plan.

Step 3: Develop a standard process plan for each part family based on the common
features of the part types. This process plan can be used for every part type within the
family with suitable modifications.

Step 4: Retrieve and modify the standard plan:

When a new part enters the system, it is assigned to a part family based on the coding and
classification scheme. Then the corresponding standard process plan is retrieved and
modified to accommodate the unique features of the new part.

Advantages of Retrieval CAPP system:

• Once a standard plan has been written, a variety of parts can be planned.
• Comparatively simple programming and installation ( compare with generative
CAPP systems) is required to implement a planning system.
• Efficient processing and evaluation of complicated activities and decisions, thus
reducing the time and labour requirements.

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• Standardized procedures by structuring manufacturing knowledge

knowledge of the process
planners to company’s needs.
• Lower development and hardware costs.

Draw backs of Retrieval CAPP system

• The components to be planned are limited to similar components previously

planned.
• Maintaining consistency in editing is difficult.
• Experienced process planners are still required to modify the standard plan for the
specific component.

3.5.3. Generative approach;

In the generative approach, an automatic computerized system is used to synthesize or

generate each individual process plan automatically and without reference to any prior
plan. The automatic computerized system normally consists of decision logic, formulas,
technology algorithms and geometry based data to uniquely determine the many
processing decisions required for generating
generat process plans.

Unlike the retrieval CAPP no standard manufacturing plans are predefined or stored.
Instead, the computer automatically generates a unique operation/ route sheet whenever
the part is ordered. Thus the generative CAPP system automatically generates the process
plan based on decision logics and pre-coded
pre coded algorithms. The computer stores the rules of
manufacturing and the equipment capabilities (not any group of process plans).

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When using a system, a specific process plan for a specific part can be generated without
any involvement of a process planner. The human role in running the system includes (i)
inputting the GT code of the given part design, and (ii) monitoring the function.

Components of Generative CAPP system

The various components of a generative system are,

o A part description, which identifies a series of component characteristics, including

geometric features, dimensions, tolerances and surface condition.
o A subsystem to define the machining parameters for example using look – up tables
and analytical results for cutting parameters.
o A subsystem to select and sequence individual operations.
o Decision logic is used to associate appropriate operations with feautures of a
component, and heuristics and algorithms are used to calculate operation steps,
times and sequences.
o A database of available machines and tooling.
o A report generator which prepares the process plan report.

Advantages of Generative CAPP

The generative CAPP has the following advantages:

o It can generate consistent process plans rapidly.

o New components can be planned as easily as existing components.
o It has potential for integrating with an automated manufacturing facility to provide
detailed control information.

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