Facility Layout

Technical Note 5
Innovations at McDonald’s

 Indoor seating (1950s)

 Drive-through window (1970s)
 Adding breakfast to the menu
(1980s)
 Adding play areas (1990s)

Three out of the four are

layout decisions!
Facility Layout

Facility layout can be defined as the process by

which the placement of departments, workgroups
within departments, workstations, machines, and
stock-holding points within a facility are
determined.
Characteristics of a Good Layout
Layout Design Considerations
 Higher utilization of space, equipment,
and people
 Improved flow of information, materials,
or people
 Improved employee morale and safer
working conditions
 Improved customer/client interaction
 Flexibility
Basic Layout Formats
• Process Layout

• Product Layout

• Group Technology (Cellular) Layout

• Fixed-Position Layout
 Process-Oriented Layout
• Design places departments with large flows of
material or people together

• Dept. areas have similar processes, eg all lathes

in one area & all stamping machines in another

• Used with process-focused processes

© 1995 Corel Corp.

Layout Types

Grinding Forging Lathes

Painting Welding Drills

Milling
Office machines Foundry

(a) Process Layout

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
 Product-Oriented Layout

• Equipment is arranged according to the

steps by which the product is made.
• Used when batch size is large
• Types: Fabrication line; assembly line
• Examples

© 1984-1994 T/Maker Co.

 Layout Types

Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4

(b) Layout of a production line

 A U-Shaped
Figure 6.6 Production Line

In 1 2 3 4

Workers

Out 10 9 8 7
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
 Cellular Layout - Group Technology
(Work Cells)
• Groups dissimilar machines into work
centers (or cells) to work on similar products.
Group Technology
One Worker, Multiple Machines Machine
2
Machine
Machine 3
1

Materials in

Finished
goods out

Machine
Machine 4
5
Group Technology
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

(a) Jumbled flows in a job shop without GT cells

Group Technology

L L M D G Assembly
area
Cell 1 Cell 2 A A

Receiving L M G G

Cell 3

L M D
Shipping

(b) Line flows in a job shop with three GT cells

 Fixed-Position Layout

• Design is for stationary project

• Workers & equipment come to site
• Complicating factors
– Limited space at site © 1995
Corel Corp.

• Examples © 1995
Corel Corp.

© 1995 Corel Corp.

Fixed Position Layout
Question: What are our primary considerations for a
fixed position layout?

Answer: Arranging materials and equipment

concentrically around the production point in their
order of use.
Process Layout: Interdepartmental
Flow
• Given
– The flow (number of moves) to and from all
departments
– The cost of moving from one department to another
– The existing or planned physical layout of the plant
• Determine
– The “best” locations for each department, where
best means interdepartmental transportation, or
flow, costs
Process Layout Example
Arrange six departments in a factory to
minimize the material handling costs.
Each department is 20 x 20 feet and the
building is 60 feet long and 40 feet wide.
1. Construct a “from-to matrix”
2. Determine the space requirements
3. Develop an initial schematic diagram
4. Determine the cost of this layout
5. Try to improve the layout
6. Prepare a detailed plan
 Process Layout Example
Number of loads per week
Department Assembly Painting Machine Receiving Shipping Testing
(1) (2) Shop (3) (4) (5) (6)

Assembly (1) 50 100 0 0 20

Painting (2) 30 50 10 0

Machine Shop (3) 20 0 100

Receiving (4) 50 0

Shipping (5) 0

Testing (6)

Figure 9.4
 Process Layout Example
Room 1 Room 2 Room 3

Assembly Painting Machine Shop

Department Department Department
(1) (2) (3)

40’

Receiving Shipping Testing

Department Department Department
(4) (5) (6)

Figure 9.5 Room 4 Room 5 Room 6

60’
Process Layout Example
Interdepartmental Flow Graph
100

50 30
1 2 3
20 20
10
50 100

4 5 6
50
Figure 9.6
Process Layout Example
n n

Cost = ∑ ∑ Xij Cij

i=1 j=1

Cost = $50 + $200 + $40

(1 and 2) (1 and 3) (1 and 6)
+ $30 + $50 + $10
(2 and 3) (2 and 4) (2 and 5)
+ $40 + $100 + $50
(3 and 4) (3 and 6) (4 and 5)

= $570
 Process Layout Example
Room 1 Room 2 Room 3

Painting Assembly Machine Shop

Department Department Department
(2) (1) (3)

40’

Receiving Shipping Testing

Department Department Department
(4) (5) (6)

Figure 9.8 Room 4 Room 5 Room 6

60’
Process Layout Example
Interdepartmental Flow Graph
30

50 100
2 1 3

10
50 20 50 100

50
4 5 6

Figure 9.7
Process Layout Example
n n

Cost = ∑ ∑ Xij Cij

i=1 j=1

Cost = $50 + $100 + $20

(1 and 2) (1 and 3) (1 and 6)
+ $60 + $50 + $10
(2 and 3) (2 and 4) (2 and 5)
+ $40 + $100 + $50
(3 and 4) (3 and 6) (4 and 5)

= $480
Other considerations in Process
Layout
• For an 8 department problem, there are 8!
(or 40,320) possible arrangements.
• Factors other than material handling cost
are important.
• Shipping & Receiving dept cannot be in the
center
• Sewing cannot be adjacent to Painting
Computer Software
 Graphical approach only works for
small problems
 Computer programs are available to
solve bigger problems
 CRAFT (Computerized Relative
Allocation of Facilities Technique)
Process Layout:
Systematic Layout Planning
• Numerical flow of items between departments
– Can be impractical to obtain
– Does not account for the qualitative factors that
may be crucial to the placement decision
• Systematic Layout Planning
– Accounts for the importance of having each
department located next to every other
department
– Is also guided by trial and error
» Switching departments then checking the results of the
“closeness” score
Systematic Layout Planning
Systematic Layout Planning--Example:
Reasons for Closeness
Code Reason

1 Type of customer

2 Ease of supervision

3 Common personnel

4 Contact necessary

5 Share same price

6 Psychology

10
Systematic Layout Planning
Systematic Layout Planning
Systematic Layout Planning
 Product Layout
Input Data and Activities

Analysis
1. Flow of Materials 2. Activity Relationships

3. Relationship Diagram

4. Space Requirements 5. Space Available

6. Space Relationship Diagram

Search
7. Modifying Considerations 8. Practical Limitations

9. Develop Layout Alternatives

Selection
10. Evaluation
 Product-Oriented Layout

• Equipment is dedicated to a particular

product line
• Assembly lines are special case of
product layout

© 1984-1994 T/Maker Co.

Product Layout
• Assembly Lines
– A progressive paced assembly linked by some
sort of material handling device.
• Assembly Line Type Differences
– Material handling devices
– Line configuration
– Pacing (machine or human)
– Product mix
– Workstation characteristic
– Length of line
Product Layout: Key Terms
• Product Interval Time
– The time between products being completed (processed
through) at a single station (process step). Also cycle
time or takt time.
• Product Duration (Throughput) Time.
– The overall time required to entirely complete an
individual product.
• Assembly Line Balancing
– Assignment of tasks to workstations within a given cycle
time and with minimum idle worker time.
Assembly Line Balancing Steps
1. Specify the sequential relationships among tasks
using a precedence diagram.
2. Determine the required takt (T) time.
3. Determine the theoretical minimum number of
workstations (Nt) required to satisfy the takt time
constraint.
4. Select a primary rule by which tasks are to be
assigned to workstations and a secondary rule to
break ties.
Assembly Line Balancing Steps (cont’d)
5. Assign tasks, one at a time, to the first workstation
until the sum of the task times is equal to the takt
time. Continue assigning tasks to other
workstations until all tasks are assigned.
6. Evaluate the efficiency of the resulting assembly
line.
7. If efficiency is unsatisfactory, rebalance the line
using a different decision rule in step 4.
 Takt Time and Throughput Time
on an Assembly Line

Matching task time to takt time:

1. Split the task
2. Duplicate the station
3. Share the task
4. Use a more skilled worker
5. Work overtime
6. Redesign the product

Exhibit 8.9
Assembly Line Balancing Formulas

Production time per day

Takt time (T)=
Output per day (in units)

Sum of task times (S)

Number of workstations =
Takt time (T)
Sum of task times (S)
Efficiency =
Actual number of workstations (Na) × Takt time (T)
Assembly Steps and Times for Model J Wagon

Exhibit 8.10
Precedence Graph for Model J Wagon

Exhibit 8.11
A Balance Made According to
Largest Number of Following Tasks Rule

Exhibit 8.12a
Precedence Graph for Model J Wagon

Exhibit 8.12B
Efficiency Calculation

S
Efficiency =
NT
195
Efficiency = = 0.77, or 77%
( 5)( 50.4)

Exhibit 8.12C
 Flexible
Line
Layouts

Source: Robert W. Hall, Attaining Manufacturing Excellence

(Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin, 1987), p. 125. Exhibit 8.13
Improving Layouts by Moving to the
Cellular Manufacturing Concept

Source: Source: Barry Render and Jay Heizer, Principles of Operations Management,
2nd ed., © 1997. Reprinted by permission of Prentice Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, FIGURE 15–4
NJ. G.Dessler, 2003
Group Technology (Cellular) Layout
• Benefits
– Better human relations in small work teams.
– Improved operator expertise from the limited
number of parts and quick production cycle.
– Less work-in-process inventory and material
handling due to reduced number of production
stages.
– Faster production setup from faster tooling
changes.
Group Technology (GT) Layout
• Developing a GT Layout
– Grouping parts into families that follow a
common sequence of steps.
– Identifying dominant flow patterns of parts-
families for location of processes.
– Physically grouping machines and processes
into cells.
Facilities Layout for Services
• Goals of Service Facility Layouts
– Minimize travel time for workers and customers
– Maximize revenues from customers
• Types of Service Layouts
– Process layout—emergency rooms
– Product layout—cafeteria line
– Fixed-position layout—automobile repair shop
Facilities Layout for Services
• Servicescape
– The aspects of the physical surroundings in a
service operation that can affect a customer’s
perception of the service received.
– Ambient conditions
» Noise, lighting, and temperature
– Spatial layout and functionality
» Minimizing employee travel time and maximizing
revenue opportunities from customers
– Signs, symbols, and artifacts
» Objects that create positive images of the firm