- the efficiency of the manufacturing activities will make a major contribution to the firm’s short- and long-run economic profitability.
- Greater emphasis on improved quality, decreased inventories, and increased productivity
encourages the design of manufacturing facilities that are integrated, flexible, and responsive.
Key Factors Influencing Facility Layout and Material Handling
➢ Several key factors influence the effectiveness of facility layout and material handling:
Product mix and design changes: Facilities must adapt to shifts in product offerings.
Materials and processing technology: Advancements in materials and technologies
impact the design and flow of production.
Handling, storage, and control technology: Improvements in these areas can streamline operations.
Production volumes, schedules, and routings: Fluctuations require adaptable layouts.
Management philosophies: The approach to managing production (e.g., lean
manufacturing) influences layout decisions.
Historically, automation was seen as the solution to many manufacturing challenges. The concept of the "automatic factory" emerged, which is distinct from the "automated factory":
Automatic Factory
- is essentially a paperless factory
- every effort is made to ensure that unusual situations do not arise.
Automated Factory
- automation and mechanization are dominant
- factory personnel resolve unusual situations
Not all facilities planning efforts involving new production plants will result in automatic factory designs. To the contrary, it is likely that few will justify such levelsof automation, at least in the short run. Firms producing high-technology products may choose to subcontract component manufacturing and labor-intensive activities. They may focus only on high- technology design and processing activities that represent significant value-added contributions. External Factors Affecting Facility Planning
Volume of Production: Determines the scale and scope of the facility needed.
Variety of Production: A higher variety may require more flexible systems like job shops.
Value of Each Product: Affects the investment in automation and advanced technology.
➢ Each of these factors may lead to different types of manufacturing facilities
(e.g., job shop, production line, cellular manufacturing, etc.). ➢ Facilities development often involves an incremental approach to making the transition from a conventional or mechanized factory to an automated factory.
Incremental Approach to Automation
Transitioning to automated factories is commonly done in phases, especially when capital
investment is limited. While this gradual approach may delay full automation, it allows for strategic upgrades and can serve as a series of interim steps toward a fully integrated factory system.
Plant-Wide Control System
- acts as the “brain” and “circulation system” of a modern factory, integrating all automated hardware subsystems with an automated material handling system.
Software Requirements for Integration
For a successful integrated system, specialized control software must:
• Integrate material handling information with shop floor control data.
• Assign and schedule material handling resources efficiently. • Provide real-time control over material movements, storage, and retrieval.
The critical types of information needed to integrate a plant-wide material
handling system include:
➢ Identification and quantification of items flowing through the system
➢ Location of each item ➢ Current time relative to some master production schedule
Alternative routing paths and buffer storage
- are two methods that may protect the factory from catastrophic interruptions and delays.
Types of Manufacturing Systems
1. Fixed Automation System
➢ Transfer Line - materials flow from one workstation to the next in a sequential manner. - the production rate for the line is governed by the slowest operation. - A transfer line is one example of hard automation. - Transfer lines are often used for high-volume production and are highly automated. Advantages of Transfer Line
➢ High Production Rates
➢ Consistency and Quality ➢ Increased Efficiency ➢ Reduced Cycle Time ➢ Lower Labor Costs
Disadvantages of Transfer Line
➢ Very high equipment cost ➢ Inflexibility in the number of products manufactured ➢ Inflexibility in layout ➢ Large deviation in production rates in case of equipment failure in the line
➢ Dial Indexing Machine
- One particular implementation of the circular flow; - where the workstations and the input/output stations are arranged in a circular pattern.
Although they are not referred to as transfer lines, a number of production systems have characteristics that are similar to those of transfer lines. A few examples include:
➢ Automated assembly systems for automotive parts
➢ Chemical process production systems ➢ Beverage bottling and canning processes ➢ Heat treatment and surface treatment processes ➢ Steel fabrication processes
2. Flexible Manufacturing Systems
- The word “flexible” is associated with such a system since it is able to manufacture a large number of different part types. - Flexible manufacturing systems are designed for small-batch (low-volume) and high-variety conditions.
Components of Flexible Manufacturing System
1. processing equipment 2. material handling equipment 3. computer control equipment - The computer control equipment is used to track parts and manage the overall flexible manufacturing system.
In designing the material handling system for a flexible manufacturing system,
the following design requirements are recommended by Groover [11]:
➢ Random, independent movement of palletized parts between workstations
➢ Temporary storage or banking of parts ➢ Convenient access for loading and unloading ➢ Compatibility with computer control ➢ Provision for future expansion ➢ Adherence to all applicable industrial codes ➢ Access to machine tools ➢ Operation in shop environment Flexible manufacturing systems are used to cope with change. Specifically, the following changes are accommodated:
2. Process different part styles in a non-batch mode. 2. Accept changes in production schedule. 3. Respond gracefully to equipment malfunction and breakdowns in the system. 4. Accommodate the introduction of new part designs.
From these conditions, we can say that an automated system is not always flexible (e.g., transfer lines), and vice versa, that a flexible system need not be automated (manual assembly lines).
3. Single-Stage Multimachine Systems
- another alternative in automation in machining systems
- SSMS is described in terms of the resources involved.
1. Manufacturing configuration and machines
2. Parts 3. Tools 4. Part transporter 5. Tool carriers
- they are all automated systems, typically operating without manual intervention
4. Reduction Of Work In Process
➢ In this section, we focus on issues related to handling and storing operations in a
manufacturing environment. ➢ In-process handling includes the movement of material, tooling, and supplies to and from production units, as well as the handling that occurs at a workstation or machine center. ➢ The term in-process storage can include the storage of material, tooling, and supplies needed to support production.
Several rules of thumb can be used in designing in-process handling and storage systems. Among them are the following:
Handling less is best: suggests that handling should be eliminated if possible.
Grab, hold, and don’t turn loose: emphasizes the importance of maintaining physical control of material Eliminate, combine, and simplify: suggests the principles of work simplification and methods improvement are appropriate in designing in-process handling and storage systems. Moving and storing material incur costs: serves as a reminder that inventory levels should be kept as small as possible. Pre-position material. - Reduction in wasted time increases available machine time. - Reducing cycle time means that products are completed early - Control of work in process has been the focus of many manufacturing firms.
5. Just-In-Time Manufacturing
- The just-in-time (JIT) production system was developed more than four decades ago by Ohno Taiichi at the Toyota Motor Company in Japan. - JIT applies to all forms of manufacturing
Seven Waste in Manufacturing
1. Transportation 2. Inventory 3. Motion 4. Waiting 5. Over production 6. Over processing 7. Defects
“Just-in-time means having the right part at the right place in the right amount at the right time.”
Five Elements of JIT
1. Visibility 2. Simplicity 3. Flexibility 4. Standardization 5. Organization Kanban - is a card or any signal used to request or authorize production of parts - it contains information on the part, the processes used, identification of the storage area for the part, and the number of parts to produce.
JIT Impact on Facilities Design
➢ Reduction of inventories ➢ Deliveries to points of use ➢ Quality at the source ➢ Better communication, line balancing, and multifunctional workers
Reduction of Inventories ➢ Space requirements are reduced ➢ Smaller loads are moved and stored ➢ Storage requirements are reduced
Deliveries to Points of Use
- If products are purchased and produced in smaller lots, they should be delivered to the points of use to avoid stockouts at the consuming processes. - Products can be delivered to the points of use if the building has multiple receiving docks and if a decentralized storage policy is used. Quality at the Source
- Every supplying process must regard the next consuming process as the ultimate customer and each consuming process must always be able to rely on receiving only good parts from its suppliers - To achieve the quality-at-the-source concept, the following could be required:
1. Proper packaging, stacking, and wrapping procedures for parts and boxes on pallets or containers 2. Efficient transportation, handling, and storage of parts 3. A production system, supported by teamwork, that allows the worker to per- form his or her operation without time pressure
Better Communication, Line Balancing, and Multifunctional Workers
- In many JIT manufacturing systems, U-shaped production lines are being used to promote better communication among workers, to use the multiple abilities of workers that allow them to perform different operations, and to easily balance to production line using visual aids and the team approach.
U-Shaped Flow Lines
- is a variation of the straight-line flow structure - It follows the concept of group technology, where parts of similar processing characteristics are grouped together for processing in a common area, or manufacturing cell. - unique in that it allows more efficient use of operators tending the machines, and it promotes better communication among workers.
Remarks
The lean manufacturing concept can be summarized as follows:
➢ Eliminate or minimize non-value-adding activities.
➢ Only produce what is demanded. ➢ Minimize the use of time and space resources. ➢ Manufacture in the shortest cycle time possible.
These concepts are consistent with the just-in-time manufacturing philosophy.
