Production-Oriented Cell Formation Methods and Performance Indicators: Taxonomic Review and Trends

Cellular manufacturing, one of the main tools of Lean Manufacturing, significantly improves material flow, which reduces the distance travelled by materials, inventory and cumulative lead times. In our study we focused on examination of the recent trends in cellular manufacturing research, and particularly the trends related to cell formation areas, objective criteria, performance measures, and development tools. The surveyed articles are organized by proposed classification scheme, and they are presented in synoptic graph diagrams. In the paper we also identify the best publication outlets for such research. Our survey on cell formation approaches identifies the major development features in cell manufacturing research area in leading journals between 2000 and 2011. Subsequently, the main findings are summarized and presented in the last part of the paper.