Meaning of plant layout

Plant layout can be defined as the process of determining a spatial location for a collection of
physical production facilities suitable to manufacture a product or provide a service. It is
concerned with arranging
 all the manufacturing and servicing departments in the factory site
 the machinery within these departments
 the layout of individual work places
Before the production facilities are set up, it is necessary to study how best the plant layout can
be arranged to minimize the bottlenecks in the production process

Principles of plant layout

(i) Principle of Minimum Movement:

Materials and labour should be moved over minimum distances; saving cost and time of transportation
and material handling.

(ii) Principle of Space Utilization:

All available cubic space should be effectively utilized – both horizontally and vertically.

(iii) Principle of Flexibility:

Layout should be flexible enough to be adaptable to changes required by expansion or technological

development.

(iv) Principle of Interdependence:

Interdependent operations and processes should be located in close proximity to each other; to
minimize product travel.

(v) Principle of Overall Integration:

All the plant facilities and services should be fully integrated into a single operating unit; to minimize
cost of production.

(vi) Principle of Safety:

There should be in-built provision in the design of layout, to provide for comfort and safety of workers.

(vii) Principle of Smooth Flow:

The layout should be so designed as to reduce work bottlenecks and facilitate uninterrupted flow of
work throughout the plant.

(viii) Principle of Economy:

The layout should aim at effecting economy in terms of investment in fixed assets.

(ix) Principle of Supervision:

A good layout should facilitate effective supervision over workers.

(x) Principle of Satisfaction:

A good layout should boost up employee morale, by providing them with maximum work satisfaction.

Role of plant layout

Plant layout affects both the productivity and the profitability of a company. Hence, it is as important as any major
corporate decision. The cost of the product and the 'supply-demand ratio is directly affected by the plant layout. It is
the plant layout that makes the arrangement of a company' physical facilities conducive for the efficient and
effective use of its equipment, material,' people, and energy. A good and effective plant layout minimizes the
material handling efforts and costs.

Types of plant layout

Product layout A large ratio of Q/P justifies a continuous mass production. In the product layout, to meet the
mass production requirements, production facilities and auxiliary services are located based on the process derails of
the given product to be manufactured. The logical sequence in the production process forms the basis for the
arrangement machinery under this layout. This facilitates a high degree of automation to minimise fatigue and error.
This layout is followed only by such industries where the product decisions are finalised and may not' change at
least in the near future. It is because a change in the product will call for a change in the plant layout.

Process or functional layout In the case of small ratio of QJP, jobbing, or small-lot production, machines and
services of like types are located together as work centres in one area of the plant. If the equipment is arranged as
per the nature or types of the given set of products operations' major it is called process layout. Here, all the lathes
will be placed in a section or department, all the bore machines are placed in another section, all drilling machines
are put in another section, and so on.

Fixed layout Here, the manufacturing facilities are fixed in their position. They cannot be shifted from one place
to another place; this type of layout is used in case of large projects such as building ships, manufacture of aircrafts,
heavy pressure vessels, and automobiles, construction of oil rigs, and the like. All spare parts, tools, equipment, and
men are brought to this point for further assembly and processing operations on this fixed manufacturing .facility.
Job-shop production

 It is characterized by producing one or few products as per the customer specifications with in
the time, cost and at the good quality

 General purpose of machines and facilities are used

 Skilled operators who can take up each job as a challenge because of uniqueness

 Detailed planning and scheduling is essential

Characteristics

 The Job-shop production system is followed when there is:

 High variety of products and low volume.
 Use of general purpose machines and facilities.
 Highly skilled operators who can take up each job as a challenge because of uniqueness.
 Large inventory of materials, tools, parts.
 Detailed planning is essential for sequencing the requirements of each
product, capacities for each work centre and order priorities.
BATCH PRODUCTION

Batch production is defined by American Production and Inventory Control Society

(APICS) “as a form of manufacturing in which the job passes through the
functional departments in lots or batches and each lot may have a different
routing.” It is characterised by the manufacture of limited number of products
produced at regular intervals and stocked awaiting sales.

Characteristics
 Batch production system is used under the following circumstances:
 When there is shorter production runs.
 When plant and machinery are flexible.
  When plant and machinery set up is used for the production of item in
a batch and change of set up is required for processing the next batch.
 When manufacturing lead time and cost are lower as compared to job order production.

MASS PRODUCTION

Manufacture of discrete parts or assemblies using a continuous process are called

mass production. This production system is justified by very large volume of
production. The machines are arranged in a line or product layout. Product and
process standardisation exists and all outputs follow the same path.
Characteristics
 Mass production is used under the following circumstances:
 Standardisation of product and process sequence.
 Dedicated special purpose machines having higher production capacities and output rates.
 Large volume of products.
 Shorter cycle time of production.
 Lower in process inventory.
 Perfectly balanced production lines.
 Flow of materials, components and parts is continuous and without any back tracking.
 Production planning and control is easy.
 Material handling can be completely automatic.
CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION

Production facilities are arranged as per the sequence of production operations

from the first operations to the finished product. The items are made to flow
through the sequence of operations through material handling devices such as
conveyors, transfer devices, etc.
Characteristics
 Continuous production is used under the following circumstances:
 Dedicated plant and equipment with zero flexibility.
 Material handling is fully automated.
 Process follows a predetermined sequence of operations.
 Component materials cannot be readily identified with final product.
 Planning and scheduling is a routine action.
Work study refers to both method study and time study
Method study
Definition
The systematic recording and critical examination of existing and. proposed ways of doing work as a
means of developing and applying easier and more effective methods, and reducing costs.

Objectives
The objectives of method study can be :

 1. The improvement of processes and procedures.

2. The improvement of factory, shop and workplace layout.

3. The improvement of the design of plant and equipment.

4. Economy in human effort and the reduction of unnecessary fatigue.

5. Improvements in the use of materials, machines and manpower.

6. The development of a better physical working environment.

7. Improvement of quality of the products.

Procedure for Method Study

The steps are: 1. Select 2. Record 3. Critical Examination 4. Develop 5. Install 6. Maintain.

Select:

Select the work worth studying and define the objectives to be achieved. An objective may be to
reduce the manufacturing cost, or to reduce bottlenecks or to reduce fatigue incurred by the workers in
order to increase their efficiency.

Record:

Record all the relevant information pertaining to the existing method (if any) in details and in the form
of a chart to obtain a clearer picture about the same.

Critical Examination:

Examine the recorded events critically and in sequence. Critical examination involves answer to a
number of questions. An activity can be eliminated, simplified or combined with another.

The basic questions are:

Purpose. – What is done?

Person. – Who does it?

Place. – Where it is done?

Means. – How is it done?

Sequence. – When is it done?

The above-mentioned five basic questions, individually are further subjected to enquiries like.

Why:

Why is it necessary, why he does it, why it is done there, why is it done by that method and why is it
done at that time?

Alternative Ways of Doing:

What else could be done, who else could do it, where else it could be done, how else it could be done
and when else it could be done.

Best Method of Doing:

What should be done, who should do it, where it should be done, how it should be done, and when it
should be done.

Step # 4. Develop:

Develop the best method as resulted from critical examination and record it.

The developed method should be:

(i) Practical and feasible,

(ii) Safe and effective,

(iii) Economical, and

(iv) Acceptable to design, production control, quality control and sales departments.

Step # 5. Install:

Install the (best) developed method or the improved method. Installation involves three phases,
namely-planning, arranging and implementing. During first two stages the programme of installation
(phase-wise) and a time table, are planned and the necessary arrangements of resources, equipment,
tools and instructions to workers, over-time, etc., are made.
The implementation or actual installation involves the introduction of developed method as standard
practice. Problems associated with the developed method should be carefully studied and remedied, if
necessary. Installation phase is complete as soon as the new method starts working smoothly and
satisfactorily and gives encouraging results (like saving in time, scrap reduction, etc.)

Step # 6. Maintain:

Maintain the new method, i.e., ensure the proper functioning of the installed method by periodic
checks and verifications. The purpose of checks and reviews is to find if the method being practised is
the same or it has deviated from the authorized one.

Reasons for deviation if any should be explored and the necessary changes may be made in the
procedure being practiced so that it reverts to the authorized one. Views of the workers, supervisors
and other persons related with the authorized method can be of much help in exploring further
improvements.

Time Study:
Time study may be defined as “the art of observing and recording the time required to do each detailed
element of an industrial activity/operation.”

Objectives of Time Study:

(1) Target time for each job can be scientifically estimated. With this estimate realistic schedules and
manpower requirements can be prepared.

(2) Sound comparison of alternative methods is possible by comparing their basic times.

(3) Useful wage incentive schemes can be formulated on the basis of target times.

(4) In can lead to proper balancing of the work distribution.

(5) It can help to analyse the activities for performing a job with the view to eliminate or reduce
unnecessary or repetitive operations so that human effort can be minimized.

(6) To standardise the efficient method of performing operations.

(7) To standardise conditions for efficient performance.

(8) To determine man and machines ratio for effective and efficient utilisation of both.

(9) To provide information and basis for production planning and scheduling activities.

Basic Procedure for Time Study:

The following steps are essential for carrying out the time study of any process in order to determine
standard time:

1. Select the job for study and define the objective of the study. This needs statement of the use of
results, precision required and the desired level of confidence in the estimated time standards.

2. Analyse the operation to determine if the standard method and conditions exist and the worker is
properly trained. The method study or training of operator should be completed before starting time
study if need be.

3. Select the operator to be studied if more than one can perform the task.

4. Record the information about the standard method, operator, operation, product machine, quality
required and working conditions.

5. Divide the operation into reasonably small elements.

6. Time the operator for each of the elements. Estimate the total number of observations to be taken.

7. Collect and record the data of required number of cycles by way of timing and rating the operator.

8. For each element of operation note the representative watch time and calculate the normal time as
follows: Normal Time = Observed time x Rating Factors

Calculate normal time for the whole job by adding normal time of various elements.

9. Determine standard time by adding allowances to normal time of operation. Some allowances such
as personal allowance (20%), fatigue allowance (5%) preparation allowance (5%) are generally used or
these can be taken from the company’s policy book or by conducting an independent study.

Thus standard time = Normal time + Allowances