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Group technology has become an important and viable approach to manufacturing systems, and provides significant benefits in inventory management, production process flow, throughput efficiency, tooling, and purchasing. It focuses on classification systems as the main approach, as opposed to production flow analysis. Many firms try to use a code such as a GT code as a means of both classifying and identifying components. This article points to some of the pitfalls that accompany this practice, and advocates the use of independent systems—one for identification and others for classification; thus, separating these two functions.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the classification and coding system developed for the rapid prototyping (RP) industry.

The similarities among RP part geometries and processes are identified and related for the development of rapid prototyping coding system (RPCS).

RPCS forms a base for developing “prototyping philosophy” to take advantage of parts similarities in determination of optimal build orientation and optimization of part building cost.

Most of the examples are limited to parts built by fused deposition modelling process. But, the concept is applicable to any existing RP process.

RPCS implementation is suitable in industries where variety of RP parts are in use.

This is the first attempt towards development of a formal coding system for the RP industry.

A BODY known as the Local Government Personnel and Management Services Group has been moved to issue a short paper commenting on the Bains Report issued by the Bains Committee to which the Group submitted evidence.

Presents the similarity coefficient method for group technology to alleviate the part family formation problem in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). Part families are formed in FMS in order to take advantage of part similarities in design and manufacture. Parts coding and classification analysis (PCA) has constituted the bulk of part family formation techniques in practice. Using shape‐based features for grouping is very labour intensive at the coding and classification stages. As a means of alleviating the latter problem, presents an approach for converting the weighted codes of the PCA to similarity coefficient measures. Uses a clustering algorithm to identify the part families. Presents a numerical example that compares the single and average linkage clustering technologies. An experimental investigation of the two methods showed that the average linkage clustering (ALC) performs better than the single linkage clustering (SLC) technology in minimizing intercellular materials handling costs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) as a measure of attachment state of mind in adults with intellectual disabilities. The AAP is a free response picture system method of assessing patterns of adult attachment with established validity and reliability in community and clinical samples.

The paper reports on five cases of adults with intellectual disabilities who were administered the AAP as part of routine clinical work. The AAP administration procedure was modified to take account of the participants’ intellectual disabilities.

It was possible to code and classify each AAP using the established coding and classification system. The authors coded four cases blind to each other ' s classification; they agreed on classifications for three cases and reached consensus on the fourth. The AAP analysis showed strong correspondence with case history material.

The AAP demonstrates the potential to assess attachment state of mind in adults with intellectual disabilities and is the first developmental measure of attachment status that has shown potential in this population. The paper discusses clinical application of the AAP and directions for future research.

In this article the properties of relational database management systems (DBMSs) are discussed. It is shown how they can be used as an effective tool for performing the function of primary‐key‐coding schemes for classifying product families in the application of group technology. The attributes of the relational DBMS are demonstrated and compared to traditional coding schemes.

The paper looks first at the various types of classification and coding methods used in group technology. A discussion is provided on the pros and cons of classification and its relevance and significance to the establishment of cellular manufacturing. Secondly, the formation of production cells is examined. Some of the factors considered include the optimum cell size, the effect of numerically‐controlled machines, and quality assurance. The introduction of GT (group technology) cells imposes a marked change in the role of the foreman and working relationship of the operators. The social aspect of GT is discussed against the background of current motivational theories and results from surveys are presented.

The transition from the standard industrial classification (SIC) system to the North American industrial classification system (NAICS) will not be rapid, but its effects will be profound for business researchers and information professionals. Most government agencies are already in the midst of this six‐year transition and, although private information producers are not compelled to switch from SIC to NAICS, most are planning to do so. The far‐reaching impact of NAICS on business information will affect libraries of all types. This article describes the challenges and costs associated with this change and makes recommendations for materials and training.

The use of Statistical Process Control (SPC) techniques for monitoring manufacturing processes in mass production is relatively easy. In small‐batch manufacture, however, such techniques can be difficult to implement due to lack of sufficient data to establish control decisions for control charts. Most of the early proposed solutions emphasized the product rather than the process, whereas many of the recently developed approaches favoured monitoring the process and not the product. All such approaches suggest the use of data transformation. The aim is to normalize the differences in the process mean and the variability for different components. Once an appropriate transformation is made, then sample data related to different components can be plotted on the same chart using sample statistics of the transformed data. An important part of transformation is the determination of process parameters for the component. Several methods for determining such parameters have already been suggested in the literature. Presents an alternative method for estimating the process parameters, based on the Group Technology (GT) concept. Generally speaking, the methodology consists of four steps, i.e. Classification and Coding (C&C), family formation, retrieving data, and estimating the process parameters. Discusses the characteristics of a C&C system for SPC and presents the details of its structure. Finally, based on the proposed structure, uses a flowchart to explain the procedure along with a practical application.

DESPITE assurances from the Union most concerned that “every endeavour will be made to keep Montague Burton workers in employment” it seems inevitable that the massive redundancies announced a month ago will take place. Nor does it seems possible that these unfortunate people will readily find employment elsewhere — certainly not in the towns where they are living and working now. In every sense, it will mean a major upheaval for most of them.