FLOW, SPACE, AND

ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS
FLOW
lot sizes
unit load sizes
material handling equipment and
strategies
layout arrangement
building configuration.
SPACE
lot sizes housekeeping and
storage system organization policies
production equipment material handling
type equipment
size office
layout arrangement cafeteria
building configuration restroom design
ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS
material or personnel flow
environmental considerations
organizational structure
continuous improvement methodology
(teamwork activities)
control issues
process requirements
DEPARTMENTAL PLANNING
Planning department
production, support, administrative, service
areas
Production planning departments
collections of workstations to be grouped
together during the facilities layout process.
As a general rule, planning departments may
be determined by combining workstations that
perform "like" functions (similar products or
processes)
VOLUME-VARIETY IMPACT
Volume

Variety
If the Product is: The Type of Planning Method of Combining
Department Should Be Workstations into Planning
Departments

Standardized and has Production line, product Combine all workstations

a large stable demand department required to produce the
product

Physically large, Fixed materials location, Combine all workstations

awkward to move, and product department required to produce the
has a low sporadic product with the area required
demand for staging the product
Capable of being Product family, product Combine all workstations
grouped into families of department required to produce the family
similar parts that may of products
be produced by a
group of workstations
None of the above Process department Combine identical
workstations into initial
planning departments and
attempt to combine similar
initial planning departments
without obscuring important
relationships within
departments
MANUFACTURING CELLS
Product family or group technology departments
aggregate medium volume-variety parts into
families based on similar manufacturing
operations or design attributes.
The machines that are required to manufacture
the part family are grouped together to form a
"cell."
Manufacturing cells group machines,
employees, materials, tooling, and material
handling and storage equipment to produce
families of parts.
Classification
Production Flow Analysis
Clustering Methodologies
Mathematical Models
Heuristics
Genetic Algorithms, Simulated Annealing
Others
 DCA (Direct Clustering Algorithm)
Part-machine matrix
Chan&Milner – 1982 Machine#
Algorithm
Part# 1 2 3 4 5
 Step.1 Order the rows
and columns 1 1 1

 Step.2 Sort the 2 1

columns
3 1 1 1
 Step.3 Sort the rows
 Step.4 Form cells 4 1 1

5 1

6 1 1
Step.1 Ordering machine-part matrix

Machine#
#
Part# 1 2 3 4 5 of
Part# 5 4 3 2 1 1s
1 1 1
3 1 1 1 3
2 1 6 1 1 2

3 1 1 1 4 1 1 2
1 1 1 2
4 1 1
5 1 1
5 1
2 1 1
6 1 1 # of 1s 2 2 2 2 3
Step.2 Column-sorted machine-part
matrix

Previous Column-
Matrix sorted
# M-P #
of matrix of
Part# 5 4 3 2 1 1s Part# 5 4 2 3 1 1s
3 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 3
6 1 1 2 6 1 1 2
4 1 1 2 4 1 1 2
1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2
5 1 1 5 1 1
2 1 1 2 1 1
# of 1s 2 2 2 2 3 # of 1s 2 2 2 2 3
Step.3 Row-sorted machine-part matrix

Column- Row-
sorted sorted
M-P # M-P
matrix of matrix
Part# 5 4 2 3 1 1s Part# 5 4 2 3 1 #1
3 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 3
6 1 1 2 6 1 1 2
4 1 1 2 5 1 1
1 1 1 2 4 1 1 2
5 1 1 1 1 1 2
2 1 1 2 1 1
# of 1s 2 2 2 2 3 # of 1s 2 2 2 2 3
CELLULAR MANUFACTURING: Benefits
Just-In-Time (JIT)
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total Employee Involvement (TEI)
JIT Manufacturing Cells: small lots,
kanbans, standardized containers, simple
material handling systems, short set-ups,
decentralized storage areas, deliveries to
the points of use, horizontal organizational
structures, and total productive
maintenance
TQM principles in Manufacturing Cells

to satisfy customer needs

use process inspection
prevention measures
feedback and quick reaction
mechanisms (in process verification, quality
at the source, self-inspection, individual
responsibility, SPC, parameter design, design
for quality, permanent solution of problems,
and self-correction of errors)
Manufacturing cells: Benefits
Designed, controlled and operated by using
JIT, TQM, and TEI principles:
 Reduction of  Improvement of
 Inventories,  Productivity,
 Space,  Flexibility,
 Machine breakdowns  Inventory turnover,
 Rework  Quality,
 Paperwork,  Customer satisfaction,
 Warranty claims,  Employee satisfaction.
 Storage,  Simplification of
 Handling equipment,  Communication,
 Employee turnover,
 Absenteeism,  Handling,
 Cost,  Production scheduling
 Stockouts,
 Production leadtimes
ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS
Organizational relationships (org. chart)
Flow relationships (no. of moves per hour)
Control relationships
Environmental relationships
Process relationships
FLOW
Subject
Resources
Communications
 Subject
Flow process  Materials
 Parts
Flow of materials into  Supplies
a manufacturing Resources
facility  The [Link]. &
purchasing functions
 The vendors
 The transp.&[Link].
MATERIAL equipment
MANAGEMENT  The receiving, storage
SYSTEM and accounting
functions
Communications
 Production forecasts,
inventory records, etc.
Within a manufacturing facility
 Subject
 Materials, parts and supplies used in
MATERIAL production (within facility)
 Resources
FLOW  Production control & [Link].
 Manuf., Assembly, and Storage Dp.
 Material handling equipment
SYSTEM
 Warehouse
 Communication
 [Link], work order rel.
 Bar codes, route sheets, assmb. charts
 Warehouse records
Product planning department
Fixed materials location planning dept.
Product family planning departments
Process planning departmetns
Flow of products from a manufacturing
facility
Subject
Physical  Finished goods produced by a firm
Resources
 The customer
Distribution
 Sales and accounting dpts.
 Warehouses
Systems  [Link] and transp. equipment
 The distributors of the finished product
Communication
 Sales orders, packing lists, shipping
reports, shipping releases
 Invoices, bills of lading
MATERIAL
MANAGEMENT
+ LOGISTICS
MATERIAL FLOW
+
PHYSICAL SYSTEM
DISTRIBUTION
FLOW PATTERNS
Flow within workstations
Simultaneous
Symmetrical
Natural
Rhythmical
Habitual
Flow within product departments
Flow within process departments
General Flow Patterns
Flow within a facility
Flow within a facility
FLOW PLANNING
Effective flow
within a facility
within a department
within a workstation
Progressive movement of materials, information or
people
FLOW PLANNING
Principles of effective flow
 Maximize directed flow paths
 Minimize flow
 Minimize the cost of flow
FLOW PLANNING
 Work simplification approaches:
 Eliminating flow by planning for the delivery of
materials, information, or people directly to the point of
ultimate use and eliminate intermediate steps.
 Minimizing multiple flows by planning for the flow
between two consecutive points of use to take place in
as few movements as possible, preferably one.
 Combining flows and operations wherever possible by
planning for the movement of materials, information,
or people to be combined with a processing step.
FLOW PLANNING: Perspective
Minimize manual handling by minimizing:
walking,
manual travel distances, and
motions.
Eliminate manual handling by
mechanizing or automating flow to allow
workers to spend full time on their
assigned tasks
BACKTRACKING PENALTY
MEASURING FLOW
Quantitative
Pieces per hour
Moves per day
Kilograms per day
Tons per week
Qualitative
Necessity for closeness
 Large volumes of material, information, people:
Quantitative
 Little actual movement but significant communication
and organizational interrelations: Qualitative
QUANTITATIVE FLOW MEASUREMENT
Amount moved between departments
QUANTITATIVE FLOW MEASUREMENT
EXAMPLE 3.4
A firm produces three components. Components 1 and 2 have
the same size and weight and are equivalent with respect to
movement. Component 3 is almost twice as large and moving
two units of either component 1 or 2 is equivalent to moving 1
unit of component 3. The departments included in the facility
are A, B, C, D, and E. The quantities to be produced and the
component routings are as follows:

Component [Link]/day Routing

1 30 A-C-B-D-E
2 12 A-B-D-E
3 7 A-C-D-B-E
Ex.4.2 (Cont.) EXCEL
QUALITATIVE FLOW MEASUREMENT
Closeness relationships values
1. List all departments on the
relationship chart. Value Closeness
2. Conduct interviews or
surveys A Absolutely necessary
3. Define the criteria for
assigning closeness E Especially important
relationships
4. Establish the relationship Important
value and the reason for the I
value for all pairs of
departments. O Ordinary
5. Allow everyone having input
to the development of the Unimportant
relationship chart to U
have an opportunity to
evaluate and discuss Undesirable
changes in the chart. X
Qualitative Flow Measurement:
Relationship Chart
Qualitative Flow Measurement
Proximity requirements
Non-distance related solutions
SPACE REQUIREMENTS
True space requirements
A facility: the fixed assets required to
accomplish a specific objective.
A workstation
Space Requirements
Workstation
Equipment space
Equipment: Available from machinery data sheets
Machine travel: Floor area requirements
Machine maintenance
Plant services
The materials areas
Receiving and storing materials.
In-process materials.
Storing and shipping materials.
Storing and shipping waste and scrap.
Tools, fixtures, jigs, dies, and maintenance
materials.
Space requirements
Workstation
 The personnel area
The operator.
Material handling.
Operator ingress and
egress.
Department Specification
Aisle Allowance Estimates
Expressed as a percentage of the net area required for equipment,
material, and personnel.

If the largest load is Percentage is

Less than 0.60 m2 5-10

Between 0.60 m2 and 1.07 m2 10-20

Between 1.07 m2 and 1.61 m2 20-30

Greater than 1.61 m2 30-40

Example 4.3
Work Quantity Area sqft
station
Equip. Mater. Persl. Total
Turret 5 240 100 100 440
Lathe

Screw 6 280 240 120 640

mach.
Chucker 2 60 100 40 200

1280
Aisle Allowance 13% 167
Total Area Required 1447
 Recommended Aisle Widths
Type of flow Aisle Width (feet)
Tractors 12(x0,3=3,6m)
3-ton Forklift 11
Narrow aisle truck 9
Manual platform truck 5
Personnel 3

Personnel with doors opening into 6

the aisle from one side

Personnel with doors opening into 8

the aisle from two sides
Visual Management
Visual Control: To make line failures
visible to anyone
Kanban: Flow arrangement, “signals” or
“instruction cards”
Andon: Line stop alarm light