(Christianson, 2000) discusses the introduction of manufacturing cells in the furniture
industry. Further more (Allegri, 1984) pointed out that facility layout design and cellular
manufacturing significantly affects the total manufacturing cost and performance of
manufacturing systems. The problem faced in applying cellular manufacturing in the furniture
industry is how to deal with this high variety / low volume (HV/LV) environment. (Stockton
et al., 1995) points out many reasons why the traditional approach of identifying and adopting
group technology cells is inadequate for HV/LV producers such as the furniture industry.