ANUFACTURING in mechanical engineering enterprises is M characterised by fundamental changes both inside and outside the l11 organisation . Inside the organisation, account must be taken of increasing cost pressures in wages, materials, energy and stocks, all of which necessitate making the most effective use possible of manufacturing capacity. Outside the organisation, changes in consumer demand take place. These stem from increasing domestic and foreign competition which result in an increase in the volume of deliveries, a proliferation of products and a related shortening of product life-cycles. These give rise to wider component ranges involving smaller quantities which, because of increasingly necessary changes in materials and despite higher stocks, still lead to longer throughput times. These trends impose a continuous pressure on businesses to take steps to rationalise both organisational and technical procedures. When considering the introduction of new technology and raw materials or the re-organisation of labour-intensive manufacturing plants, considerable weight has been given up to now to the automation of production processes. As shown in Fig. 1, which is an analysis of working hours of manufacturing units, successful rationalisation has been achieved already in this way; this has brought a relatively high and cost-effective utilisation of the manufacturing facilities related to the l21 planned operating time .