ABSTRACT
Production Flow Analysis (PFA) is a systematic methodology for the comprehensive design of a factory that originally relied on manual methods for machine grouping, part family formation, cell formation, and layout design. If viewed in a larger context, PFA can also be used to implement the principles of Design For Flow and plan a new layout for any work system within a factory. When applied to a single factory, PFA is typically implemented in four stages: Factory Flow Analysis (FFA), Group Analysis (GA), Line Analysis (LA), and Tooling Analysis (TA). FFA may often be redundant for a factory that essentially is a single machine shop, forge shop, or fabrication shop. In TA, the principles of GA and LA are integrated with attributes of the parts, such as their shape, size, material, tooling, fixturing, etc. at a single machine.
