LAYOUT DECISIONS
PRODUCT LAYOUT
PROCESS LAYOUT
HYBRID LAYOUT
FIXED POSITION LAYOUT
LAYOUT
• Layout deals with the arrangement of work
areas and equipments inside the plant or
service facility. The basic theme behind the
arrangement of work areas is to produce the
product economically, to provide the
service effectively, and to provide a safe
and good physical environment for the
users that is, the workers and customers
Benefits of good layout
1. Ease of working, maximum safety and minimum
health hazards for people
2. Minimum handling of materials
3. Minimum damage and spoilage of materials
4. Reduced congestion of materials, machinery and
men
5. Flexibility with regard to changing production
conditions
Basic Principles of Layout:
1. The total movement of materials should
be minimum
2. The arrangement of the work area should
have as much congruence as possible with
the flow of materials within the plant
3. The layout should ensure adequate safety
and healthy working conditions for the
employees
Principles (Cont.)
• A good layout should take into consideration all
the three dimensions of space available.
• The layout should be adaptable or flexible
enough so as to allow for probable changes in
the future.
• It should consider MH system
Costs associated with layout decisions:
1. Cost of movement of materials
2. Cost of space
3. Cost of production delays
4. Cost of spoilage of materials
5. Cost of customer dissatisfaction due to poor
service quality
6. Costs of labor dissatisfaction and health risks
Basic Layout Types
• Product layout
– Layout that uses standardized processing
operations to achieve smooth, rapid, high-volume
flow
• Process layout
– Layout that can handle varied processing
requirements
• Fixed Position layout
– Layout in which the product or project remains
stationary, and workers, materials, and equipment
are moved as needed
Product layout
Raw matl. Fabrication
Rec- storage line-part B
eiving Fabrication Planer
line-part A
Finished Lathe
goods Drill
Small number
storage Mill of
Mill high volume
Drill products
Grinder
Mill
Assembly line Automatic
Product-Oriented Layout
1 3 Operations
4
2 5
Belt
Conveyor
Office
Product Layout
Raw Finished
Station Station
Station Station
Station Station
Station
materials 1 22 33 44 item
or customer
Material Material Material Material
and/or and/or and/or and/or
labor labor labor labor
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
• Fairly routine 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
Process Layout
Process Layout
(functional)
Dept. A Dept. C Dept. E
Dept. B Dept. D Dept. F
Used for Intermittent processing
Job Shop or Batch Processes
Machine shop process layout
Receiving Grin-
Mills ders
Raw matl. Large number
of
storage Assem- low volume
bly products
Drills
Planers
Finished
Inspec- goods
Lathes Automatics tion storage
Part A
Part B
Process-Oriented Layout
Table Saws Office
© 1995
Corel Corp.
Drill Presses
Tool Room
© 1995 Corel Corp.
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
Cellular Layouts
• Cellular Production
– Layout in which machines are grouped into a
cell that can process items that have similar
processing requirements
• Group Technology
– The grouping into part families of items with
similar design or manufacturing characteristics
Work Cell Floor Plan
Saws Drills Office
Work Cell
Tool Room
Work Cell Advantages
Increases:
Equipment
utilization
Reduces:
Employee
Inventory participation
Floor space Quality
Direct labor costs
One Worker,
Multiple Machines
Machine
2
Machine
Machine 3
1
Materials in
Finished
goods out
Machine
Machine 4
5
Cellular Layout
(Work Cells)
• Special case of process-oriented layout
• Consists of different machines brought
together to make a product
• May be temporary or permanent
• Example: Assembly line set up to produce
3000 identical parts in a
job shop
Fixed Position Layouts
• Fixed Position Layout: Layout in which the
product or project remains stationary, and
workers, materials, and equipment are
moved as needed.
• Nature of the product dictates this type of
layout-nature, size and bulk
• Large construction projects
Functional vs. Cellular Layouts
Dimension Functional Cellular
Number of moves many few
between departments
Travel distances longer shorter
Travel paths variable fixed
Job waiting times greater shorter
Throughput time higher lower
Amount of work in higher lower
process
Supervision difficulty higher lower
Scheduling complexity higher lower
Equipment utilization lower higher
Before Group Technology
Jumbled flows in a job shop without GT cells
Lathing Milling Drilling
L L M M D D
D D
L L M M
Grinding
L L M M
G G
L L Assembly
G G
A A
Receiving and A A G G
shipping
Applied Group Technology
Line flows in a job shop with three GT cells
L L M D G Assembly
area
Cell 1 Cell 2 A A
Receiving L M G G
Cell 3
L M D
Shipping
Designing
Flexible-Flow Layouts
• Step 1: Gather information
– Space requirements by center
– Available space
– Closeness factors: which centers need to be located close to one
another.
• Closeness matrix: A table that gives a measure of the
relative importance of each pair of centers being located
close together.
• Step 2: Develop a Block plan: A plan that allocates space
and indicates placement of each department.
• Step 3: Design a detailed layout.
Gather Information
Example 8.1 Office of Budget Management
Space Requirements Current Block Plan
Department Area Needed (ft2)
3 6 4
1. Administration 3,500
2. Social services 2,600 100'
3. Institutions 2,400
4. Accounting 1,600 1 2 5
5. Education 1,500
6. Internal audit 3,400
150'
Total 15,000
3 6 4
Closeness Matrix
100'
1 2 5
150'
Example 8.1 Office of Budget Management
Trips between Departments
Department 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Administration — 3 6 5 6 10
2. Social services — 8 1 1
3. Institutions — 3 9
4. Accounting — 2
5. Education — 1
6. Internal audit —
Departments 1 and 6 have the most interaction.
Departments 3 and 5 have the next highest.
Departments 2 and 3 have next priority.
3 6 4
Proposed Block Plan
100'
1 2 5
150'
First put departments 1 and 6 close together
Next put departments 3 and 5 close together
Then put departments 2 and 3 close together
6 2 3
100'
1 4 5
150'
Applying the
Weighted- Distance Method
• Weighted-distance method: A mathematical model
used to evaluate flexible-flow layouts based on proximity
factors.
• Euclidean distance is the straight-line distance, or
shortest possible path, between two points.
• Rectilinear distance: The distance between two points
with a series of 90 degree turns, as along city blocks.
Distance Measures
Euclidian Distance
dAB = (xA – xB)2 + (yA – yB)2
Rectilinear Distance
dAB = |xA – xB| + |yA – yB|
Application 8.1
What is the distance between (20,10) and (80,60)?
Euclidian Distance
dAB = (20 – 80)2 + (10 – 60)2
= 78.1
Rectilinear Distance
dAB = |20 – 80| + |10 – 60| = 110
Calculating the WD Score
Example 8.2 Load Distance Analysis
Current Plan Proposed Plan
Dept Closeness Distance Distance
Pair Factor, w d wd Score d wd Score
1,2 3 1 3 2 6
1,3 6 1 6 3 18
1,4 5 3 15 1 5
1,5 6 2 12 2 12
1,6 10 2 20 1 10
2,3 8 2 16 1 8
2,4 1 2 2 1 1
2,5 1 1 1 2 2
3,4 3 2 6 2 6
3,5 9 3 27 1 9
4,5 2 1 2 1 2
5,6 1 2 2 3 3
ld = 112 ld = 82
© 2007 Pearson Education
First Proposed Plan
Excel Solver
evaluation of
solution
Second Proposed Plan
Excel Solver
improved solution
Application 8.2
Application 8.2
Application 8.2
Other Decision Support Tools
• Automated layout design program (ALDEP):
A computer software package that constructs a
good layout from scratch, adding one department
at a time.
• Computerized relative allocation of facilities
technique (CRAFT): A heuristic method that
begins with the closeness matrix and an initial
block layout, and makes a series of paired
exchanges of departments to find a better block
plan.
Warehouse Layout
• Design balances space (cube)
utilization & handling cost
• Similar to process layout
– Items moved between dock
& various storage areas
• Optimum layout depends on
• Variety of items
stored
• No. items picked
© 1995 Corel Corp.
Warehouse Flow
Receiving Shipping
Warehouse Layout
Try to organize storage in such a way that order pickers
can move through the product in a logical and timely
manner.
Warehouse Layout
• Fastest near the front
• Fastest within easy reach
• Bulk storage vs. Single item picking
• Serpentine vs. oval picking order
• Restocking: frequency, safety stock