Group technology and cellular manufacturing have renovated the method of manufacturing of mid-volume, mid-variety products. Many researchers have compared the performances of cellular manufacturing systems with those systems using process layouts. Such studies have brought out the merits and de-merits of both the systems and have helped in determining the suitable system for a given demand environment. They also give valuable information about the effect of factors like batch size, setup time, demand fluctuations, etc., on the performance of a manufacturing system and help in organising a selected system for better results. Previous studies suggest that the advantages of cellular manufacturing systems diminish in unstable demand. But the performance of adaptive cellular designs, which are suitable for dynamic demands, has not been tested. The best way to analyse the performance of manufacturing systems is by using simulation. This study compares, using simulation, the performance of an adaptive cellular layout with a process layout in dynamic demand. It is found that the adaptive cell design outperforms the process layout in average work-in-process inventory, average manufacturing lead-time and average waiting time of jobs. He has around 20 years of teaching experience and the courses taught includes subjects such as production planning and control, inventory and supply chain management, and group technology and FMS. Also, he has developed several exercises to gain better insight for the students in the area of manufacturing management. He has around 50 publications in international journals and conferences. His research interest includes probabilistic and deterministic modelling of cellular manufacturing systems, and modelling of problems in operations management -material requirement planning, scheduling, facility layout planning, inventory control, supply chain management, lean manufacturing, and manpower planning -annualised hours.

This paper describes a new and evolving laboratory programme for the first and second years of the three-year Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and computer engineering at The University of the West Indies.It contains examples of exercises, which incorporate MATLAB and PSpice, and associated equipment built locally.