FACILITIES LAYOUT

OBJECTIVE:
To understand the basic options for processing work and how processes and layout are linked.

Facilities Layout
Layout: the configuration of departments, work centers, and equipment, with particular emphasis on movement of work (customers or materials) through the system

Importance of Layout Decisions

Requires substantial investments of money and effort Involves long-term commitments Has significant impact on cost and efficiency of short-term operations

The Need for Layout Decisions

Inefficient operations
For Example:

High Cost Bottlenecks

Changes in the design of products or services

Accidents
The introduction of new products or services

Safety hazards

The Need for Layout Design (Contd)

Changes in environmental or other legal requirements Changes in volume of output or mix of products Morale problems

Changes in methods and equipment

Basic Layout Types

Product layouts Process layouts Fixed-Position layout Combination layouts

Basic Layout Types

1. Product layout

Layout that uses standardized processing operations to achieve smooth, rapid, high-volume flow

Product Line Standardized layout arranged according to a fixed sequence of production tasks.

Assembly Line Standardized layout arranged according to a fixed sequence of assembly tasks.

Product Layout
Figure 6.4

Raw materials or customer

Material and/or labor

Station 1 Material and/or labor

Station 2
Material and/or labor

Station 3
Material and/or labor

Station 4

Finished item

Used for Repetitive or Continuous Processing

Advantages of Product Layout

High rate of output Low unit cost Labor specialization Low material handling cost High utilization of labor and equipment Established routing and scheduling Routing accounting and purchasing

Disadvantages of Product Layout

Creates dull, repetitive jobs Poorly skilled workers may not maintain equipment or quality of output Fairly inflexible to changes in volume Highly susceptible to shutdowns Needs preventive maintenance Individual incentive plans are impractical

U-shaped Layouts

Basic Layout Types

2. Process Layouts - Layouts that can handle varied processing requirements.

Process Layout
Figure 6.7

Process Layout (functional)

Dept. A Dept. B Dept. C Dept. D Dept. E Dept. F

Used for Intermittent processing Job Shop or Batch

Advantages of Process Layouts

Can handle a variety of processing requirements Not particularly vulnerable to equipment failures Equipment used is less costly Possible to use individual incentive plans

Disadvantages of Process Layouts

In-process inventory costs can be high Challenging routing and scheduling Equipment utilization rates are low Material handling slow and inefficient Complexities often reduce span of supervision Special attention for each product or customer Accounting and purchasing are more involved

Basic Layout Types

3. Fixed-Position Layouts - Layout in which the product or project remains stationary, and workers, materials, and equipment are moved as needed. Combination Layout

Cellular Layouts
Cellular Manufacturing

Layout in which machines are grouped into a cell that can process items that have similar processing requirements

Better human relations. Cells consist of a few workers who form a small work team; a team turns out complete units of work. Improved operator expertise. Workers see only a limited number of different parts in a finite production cycle, so repetition means quick learning. Less in-process inventory and material handling. A cell combines several production stages, so fewer parts travel through the shop. Faster production setup. Fewer jobs mean reduced tooling and hence faster tooling changes.

Group Technology

The grouping into part families of items with similar design or manufacturing characteristics

A group of parts with similar manufacturing process requirements but different design attributes.

Primary Methods for Accomplishing conversion to GT and Cellular Manufacturing

1. Visual Inspection 2. Examination of Design and Production 3. Production Flow Analysis
(Manufacturing perspective)

Design Product Layouts: Line Balancing

Line Balancing is the process of assigning tasks to workstations in such a way that the workstations have approximately equal time requirements.

Precedence Diagram
Figure 6.10

Precedence diagram: Tool used in line balancing to display elemental tasks and sequence requirements
0.1 min. 1.0 min.

a c
0.7 min.

b d
0.5 min.

A Simple Precedence Diagram

e
0.2 min.

Cycle Time

Cycle time is the maximum time allowed at each workstation to complete its set of tasks on a unit.

Determine Maximum Output

OT O utput capacity = CT O T operating tim e per day D = Desired output rate OT CT = cycle tim e = D