Human related issues in manufacturing cell design, implementation, and operation: a review and survey

The application of cellular manufacturing in batch-type environments is a well-known manufacturing strategy that typically improves manufacturing efficiency by utilizing the philosophy of group technology. It is also important that for the successful implementation of cellular manufacturing, that one focuses both on technical issues (cell formation and design) and human issues. Unfortunately, human issues are typically not examined as rigorously as often as technical issues. This paper presents an overview and evaluation of the diverse range of human issues involved in cellular manufacturing based on an extensive literature review. Further, a survey to determine the importance of eight different human issues in cellular manufacturing was administered to a sample of academics, managers, and workers involved in cellular design and implementation results are presented and discussed.