diff --git a/app/models/org.rb b/app/models/org.rb
index 8739d7f..914df61 100644
--- a/app/models/org.rb
+++ b/app/models/org.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 class Org < ActiveRecord::Base
   include GlobalHelpers
+  include FlagShihTzu
   extend Dragonfly::Model::Validations
+
   ##
   # Associations
-  belongs_to :organisation_type
+  belongs_to :organisation_type   # depricated, but cannot be removed until migration run
   belongs_to :language
   has_many :guidance_groups
   has_many :templates
@@ -31,7 +33,16 @@
   validates_property :format, of: :logo, in: ['jpeg', 'png', 'gif','jpg','bmp']
   validates_size_of :logo, maximum: 500.kilobytes
 
-
+  ##
+  # Define Bit Field values
+  # Column org_type
+  has_flags 1 => :institution,
+            2 => :funder,
+            3 => :organisation,
+            4 => :research_institute,
+            5 => :project,
+            6 => :school,
+            column: 'org_type'
 
 
 
diff --git a/db/migrate/20161212152020_replacing_organisation_types_with_bitflags.rb b/db/migrate/20161212152020_replacing_organisation_types_with_bitflags.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..16be879
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20161212152020_replacing_organisation_types_with_bitflags.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+class ReplacingOrganisationTypesWithBitflags < ActiveRecord::Migration
+  # requires flag_shih_tzu for bitfields
+  def change
+    # add org_type field to orgs
+    change_table :orgs do |t|
+      t.integer :org_type, null: false, default: 0      # flag_shih_tzu-managed bitfield
+      # Effective booleans which will be stored on the flags column:
+      # t.boolean :Organisation
+      # t.boolean :Funder
+      # t.boolean :Institution
+      # t.boolean :Reaserch_Institution
+      # t.boolean :School
+      # t.boolean :Project
+    end
+    # migrate old org_type data to bitfield
+    Org.includes(:organisation_type).all.each do |org|
+      unless org.organisation_type.nil?
+        case org.organisation_type.name
+          when "Organisation"
+            org.organisation = true
+          when "Funder"
+            org.funder = true
+          when "Project"
+            org.project = true
+          when "School"
+            org.school = true
+          when "Institution"
+            org.institution = true
+          when "Research Institute"
+            org.research_institute = true
+        end
+        org.save!
+      end
+    end
+    # remove organisation_type_id field from orgs
+    remove_column :orgs, :organisation_type_id
+    # remove organisation_type table
+    drop_table :organisation_types
+  end
+end