What is a Manufacturing Cell?

A manufacturing cell is a grouping of machines on the production floor. This grouping is designed to promote high levels of product quality by having a few people handle several processing steps within a compressed area. This arrangement can save a substantial amount of floor space, and minimizes the transport of goods within a facility. Manufacturing cells are a central component of the lean manufacturing environment, and are especially useful for the processing of small batches, and situations in which the process flow needs to be reconfigured on short notice.

Disadvantages of Manufacturing Cells

The main disadvantage of manufacturing cells is that the same machines may be needed within several different cells. This results in increased capital expenditures so that several of the machines can be acquired and installed in the designated cells. In addition, this results in more machines requiring maintenance, which requires more staff time, and possibly even the hiring of additional maintenance technicians to service them.