(n) The process of identifying items with similar design or manufacturing characteristics. Items with similar characteristics are grouped into part families.

When a factory floor and the products made there are being converted from functionally oriented manufacture (qv) to group oriented manufacture (qv), it may be thought necessary (*) to employ a methodology to find which products should be assigned to which group flow lines. Group technology is just such a methodology, and employs formal methods for describing similarities in manufacturing requirements and simulating the capacity loads on potential group flow lines. (* Richard Schonberger has criticised the use of complex and elaborate methods for determining the arrangement of plant and products, and advocates the simple use of routings data to make rapid progress, followed by straightforward, pragmatic action to iron out any difficulties encountered.)

An engineering and manufacturing philosophy which identifies "sameness" of parts, equipment, or processes. it provides for the rapid retrieval of existing designs and anticipates a cellular type production equipment layout.

a coding and classification system used in CAD for combining similar, often-used parts into families. This allows them to be retrieved, processed, and eventually fabricated, in an efficient, economical batch mode.

See Part Classification.