Layout Planning

Refers to the configuration of departments, work centers and equipment with particular emphasis on movement of work (customers or materials) through the system. Actual physical arrangement of people, equipment and space. Goal is to allow workers and equipment to operate most effectively.

Layout decisions are important for three basic reasons: 1. They require substantial investment of money and effort, 2. They involve long term commitments, which makes mistakes difficult to overcome, and 3. They have a significant impact on cost and efficiency of operations.

Strategic Issues
Facilitating the flow of materials and information Increasing the efficient utilization of labor and equipment Increasing customer convenience and sales at a retail store Reducing hazards to workers Improving employee morale, and Improving communication

Process Layout
Best for low volume, high variety production Groups workstations or departments according to function Most common when same operation must intermittently produce many different products or serve different customers Demand levels are too low or unpredictable Designed to process items or provide services that involve a variety of processing requirements Equipment arranged by type rather than by processing sequence

Layout of a Job Shop

Grinding Forging Lathes

Painting

Welding

Drills

Office

Milling machines

Foundry

Product Layouts
Product layouts are used to achieve a smooth and rapid flow of large volumes of goods or customers through a system. Best for repetitive, continuous production Resources dedicated to individual products or tasks Workstations or departments are arranged in a linear path

Process Layout
Advantages 1. Resources are relatively general purpose and less capital intensive 2. Less vulnerable to changes in product mix or new marketing strategies 3. Equipment utilization is higher. 4. Employee supervision can be more specialized. Disadvantages 1. Processing rate tends to be slower. 2. Productive time is lost in changing from one product to another. 3. More space and capital are tied up in inventory.

Main Advantages of Product Layout

A high rate of output Low unit cost due to high volume Labor specialization reduces training costs and time Low material handling cost per unit A high utilization of labor and equipment Routing and scheduling, established in the initial design of the system, do not require much attention once the system is operating

Fixed- Position Layouts

Used in large construction projects (buildings, power plants, dams), shipbuilding, assembling locomotives, and production of large aircraft and space mission rockets. In this arrangement, the product is fixed in place; workers along with their tools and equipment, come to the product to work on it. Minimizes the number of times that the product must be moved and often is the only feasible solution.

Hybrid Layout
A flow strategy that combines elements of both a product and a process. Some portions of the facility are arranged in a process layout and others are arranged in product layout. Used in facilities having both fabrication and assembly operations.

Trips between departments

Depart ment 1.burr, grind 2.NC 3. shipping 4. Lathes 5. Tool crib 1 -2 20 3 4 20 5 6 80

10
15

75
90 70