Facility Design
Facility layout: Arrangement of machines,
storage areas, and/or work areas usually within
the confines of a physical structure, such as a
retail store, an office, a warehouse, or a
manufacturing facility.
Factors that influence layout
Volume, weight of items to be produced.
Nature of the service to be provided.
Cost of the building to house the operation.
The product mix that must have a facility.
The fragility of the product or component.
A Good Layout ...
Reduces bottlenecks in moving people or
material.
Minimizes materials-handling costs.
Reduces hazards to personnel.
Utilizes labor efficiently.
Increases morale.
Utilizes available space effectively and
efficiently.
Provides flexibility.
Provides ease of supervision.
Facilitates coordination and face-to-face
communication where appropriate.
Principles of Layout
The Principle of Minimum Travel
Principle of Sequence
Principle of Usage
Principle of Compactness
Principle of Safety and Satisfaction
Principle of Flexibility
Principle of Minimum Investment
Types of Layout
Four basics types of layout
Process Layout
Product layout
Fixed layout
Group layout
Flow-Line Layout/ Product
layout
Applicable to both manufacturing and non
manufacturing operations.
Arrange machines and/or workers in accordance
with the sequence of operations for a given
product or service.
Advantages of flow-line layout
Reduces materials handling cost.
Reduces transit times.
Simplifies production planning and control systems.
Simplifies tasks, enabling unskilled workers to learn
task quickly.
o Assembly line such as automobile factory
Suitable for
Assembly line automobile factory
Low variety, high volume production
system
For standardized products , which have
quite stable demand in near future
Product
Layout
Figure 6.4
Raw
materials
or customer
Station
1
Station
Station
22
Station
Station
33
Material
Material
Material
Material
and/or
labor
and/or
labor
and/or
labor
and/or
labor
Station
Station
44
Used for Repetitive or Continuous Processing
Finished
item
An Assembly Line (Product
Layout)
Racks containing
headlight subassembly
Workstation 1
Car
1
Conveyor
Racks containing
backlight subassembly
Workstation 2
Car
2
Racks containing
steering wheels
sub-assembly
Workstation 3
Car
3
A U-Shaped Production Line
In
4
5
Workers
6
Out
10
Advantages & Disadvantages of
Product Layout
Lesser supervision
& labor training
costs (as labor is
trained only for a
specialized task)
A high
output rate
and, thus,
low cost of
item per unit
Advantages
Easier material
handling and
lesser inventory
costs
Maintenance cost
is fairly high to
ensure smooth
running of the line
High
efficiency of
labor &
equipment
Product
Layout
Disadvantages
Inflexible to design
changes in products
or processes (the
changes in line are
usually expensive)
No need of routing or
scheduling once the line
is operational (as it is
already done during the
design of the line)
Monotonous repetitive
tasks lead to frustration
on part of workers
Breakdown of a
machine or high
absenteeism of workers
leads to halt in
production
Disadvantages of flow-line layout
Lack of process flexibility.
Lack of flexibility in timing: the product can not flow
through the line faster than the slowest task can be
accomplished unless that task is performed at several
stations.
Large investments: special-purpose equipment and
duplication is required to offset lack of flexibility in
timing.
Dependence of the whole on each part: a breakdown of
one machine or absence of enough operators to staff all
work stations may stop the entire line.
Worker fatigue: workers may become bored by the
endless repetition of simple tasks.
Process Layout /Functional
layout
Grouping together of machines and/or workers doing
similar tasks. (Job shop)
Suitable when different products are produced in lots or
batches
Process layout is generally found in service setups.
Examples : Hospitals, Maruti service station, Banks
Advantages
Flexibility: equipment and personnel can be used where they
are needed.
Smaller investment in equipment: duplication is not
necessary unless volume is large.
Expertise: supervisors for each department become highly.
knowledgeable about their functions
Diversity of tasks: changing work assignments make work
more satisfying for people who prefer variety.
Process Layout of an Automobile Service
Station
Final
Inspectio Underbod
y Repairs
n
Engine
Repairs
Paint
Booth
Car
washing &
cleaning
Office
Spare
Oil
Parts Replacemen
Store
t
Wheel
Alignme
nt
Electrical
Repairs
Interiors,
Door
Repairs,
etc.
Dents
Repair
Advantages & Disadvantages of
Process Layout
Work-In-Process
(WIP) Inventory
is usually high in
batch processing
Material handling is
time consuming as
no fixed route is
there
Maintenance cost
is low because of
low cost general
purpose machines
A low output rate
and, thus, high
cost of item per
unit
Routing &
scheduling is
tedious and time
consuming for
different products
Disadvantages
Process
Layout
Advantages
The system is flexible
to design changes in
products or processes
in comparison to
product layout
High cost of
supervision because of
special treatment to
every product to be
processed
The system promotes
creativity on part of
workers due to variety
of tasks performed by
them
Breakdown of a
machine does not
lead to halt in
production as
substitute machines
are kept ready for
such situations
Disadvantages
Lack of process efficiency: backtracking and long
movements may occur in the handling of materials.
Lack of efficiency in timing: workers must wait between
tasks.
Complication of production planning and control.
Cost: workers must have broad skills and must be paid
higher wages than assembly line workers.
Lowered productivity: because each job is different it
requires different setups and operator training.
Low output rate and thus high cost per unit
Work in process inventory is usually high in batch
processing
Fixed Position Layout
Manufacturing and non-manufacturing
operations of bulky or fragile products, e.g.,
ships and planes.
Move machines and/or workers to the site;
products normally remains in one location for its
entire manufacturing period.
Advantages of fixed position layout
Reduces movement of work items; minimizes damage
or cost of moving.
More continuity of the assigned work force (since the
item does not go from one department to another). This
reduces the problems of re-planning and instructing
people each time a new type of activity is to begin.
Disadvantages of fixed position layout
Since the same workers are involved in more
operations, skilled and versatile workers are required.
The necessary combination of skills may be difficult to
find and high pay levels may be necessary.
Movement of people and equipment to and from the
work site may be expensive.
Equipment utilization may be low because the
equipment may be left at a location where it will be
needed again in a few days rather than moved to
another location where it would be productive.
Group Technology
Layout
Definition of Group Technology
Group technology is the technique of
identifying and bringing together related
or similar parts in a production process
in order to utilize the inherent economy
of flow production methods.
Lathe
machines
Fitting shop
Foundry
Drilling
machines
Paint shop
Welding
shop
Lathe
Drilling Fitting Welding Paint
Foundry Lathe Fitting
Lathe
Foundry
Fitting
Drilling
Drilling
Paint
Welding
Welding
Group Technology layout is also called
manufacturing cell layout.
Example:
Telco, Jamshedpur, has different machine
shops and dye shops whose output is finally
fed into the assembly line.
Hence, the processing of each member of a
given family would be similar
Manufacturing Cell
Cellular manufacturing is the physical
division of the manufacturing facilities
into production cells.
Each cell is designed to produce a part
family. A part family is a set of parts that
require similar machinery, tooling, machine
operations, and/or jigs and fixtures.
The parts within the family normally go from
raw material to finished parts within a single
cell.
Advantages/Disadvantag
es
Advantages
Reduction of necessary control
Reduced material handling
Reduced set-up time
Reduced tooling
Reduced in-process inventory
Reduced expediting
Increase operator expertise
Disadvantages
Reduced shop flexibility
Possible reduced machine utilization
Possible extended job flow times
Implementation Issues
Reorganization - machine layout need reorganization
every so often.
Work cell supervision - supervisors must be expert in
several field (milling, turning, grinding, etc.) represented
in the cell.
Shop floor control / production planning - cell concept
leads to unbalanced workload on machines.
Service Facility layout
1.
2.
Service facility layout should provide easy
entrance to service facilities from free ways and
busy thoroughfares
Based on different degree of customer care
contact, there are two types of service facilities
layout
Totally designed around customers receiving
and servicing functions (banks)
Designed around the technologies , processing
of physical materials and production efficiency
(hospitals)
Computer Packages
CRAFT (Computerized Relative Allocation of Facilities
Techniques) attempts to minimize materials-handling cost
by calculating cost, pair-wise interchanging departments,
calculating more costs until a good solution is obtained.
ALDEP (Automated Layout Design Program) and
CORELAP (Computerized Relationship Layout Planning)
attempt to maximize a nearness rating within the facility
dimension constraints.
PREP (Plant Re-layout and Evaluation Package)
analyzes multilevel structures and is based on actual
footage traveled by materials-handling equipment.
Systematic Layout
planning
Product Layout
1. Flow of Materials
2. Activity Relationships
Analysis
Input Data and Activities
3. Relationship Diagram
4. Space Requirements
5. Space Available
7. Modifying Considerations
8. Practical Limitations
Search
6. Space Relationship Diagram
10. Evaluation
Selection
9. Develop Layout Alternatives
