Facilities Planning In Production System Design

Facility Layout and design is an important component of a business’s overall operations, both in
terms of maximizing the effectiveness of the production process and meeting the needs of
employees. The basic objective of layout is to ensure a smooth flow of work, material, and
information through a system. The basic meaning of facility is the space in which a business’s
activities take place. The layout and design of that space impact greatly how the work is
done—the flow of work, materials, and information through the system. The key to good facility
layout and design is the integration of the needs of people (personnel and customers), materials
(raw, finishes, and in the process), and machinery in such a way that they create a single, well-
functioning system.

Table of Contents
FACTORS IN DETERMINING LAYOUT AND DESIGN
Types of Layouts
1. Product or Line Layout:
Advantages offered by Product Layout:
Limitations of Product Layout:
2. Process or Functional Layout:
Advantages of Process Layout:
Limitations of Process Layout:
3. Fixed Position Layout:
Advantages Offered by Fixed Position Layout:
Limitations of Fixed Position Layout:
4. Combination Type of Layout:

FACTORS IN DETERMINING LAYOUT AND DESIGN

Small business owners need to consider many operational factors when building or renovating a
facility for maximum layout effectiveness. These criteria include the following:

Ease of future expansion or change—Facilities should be designed so that they can be easily
expanded or adjusted to meet changing production needs. “Although redesigning a facility is a
major, expensive undertaking not to be done lightly, there is always the possibility that a redesign
will be necessary,” said Weiss and Gershon in their book Production and Operations Management.
“Therefore, any design should be flexible’¦. Flexible manufacturing systems most often are highly

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 Facilities Planning In Production System Design

automated facilities having intermediate-volume production of a variety of products. Their goal is

to minimize changeover or setup times for producing different products while still achieving close
to the assembly line (single-product) production rates.”
Flow of movement—The facility design should reflect a recognition of the importance of smooth
process flow. In the case of factory facilities, the editors of How to Run a Small Business state that
“ideally, the plan will show the raw materials entering your plant at one end and the finished
product emerging at the other. The flow need not be a straight line. Parallel flows, U-shaped
patterns, or even a zig-zag that ends up with the finished product back at the shipping and
receiving bays can be functional. However, backtracking is to be avoided in whatever pattern is
chosen. When parts and materials move against or across the overall flow, personnel and
paperwork become confused, parts become lost, and the attainment of coordination becomes
complicated.”
Materials handling—Small business owners should make certain that the facility layout makes it
possible to handle materials (products, equipment, containers, etc.) in an orderly, efficient—and
preferably simple—manner.
Output needs—The facility should be laid out in a way that is conducive to helping the business
meet its production needs.
Space utilization—This aspect of facility design includes everything from making sure that traffic
lanes are wide enough to make certain that inventory storage warehouses or rooms utilize as
much vertical space as possible.
Shipping and receiving—The J. K. Lasser Institute counseled small business owners to leave ample
room for this aspect of operations. “While space does tend to fill itself up, receiving and shipping
rarely get enough space for the work to be done effectively,” it said in How to Run a Small
Business.
Ease of communication and support—Facilities should be laid out so that communication within
various areas of the business and interactions with vendors and customers can be done in an easy
and effective manner. Similarly, support areas should be stationed in areas that help them to
serve operating areas.
Impact on employee morale and job satisfaction—Since countless studies have indicated that
employee morale has a major impact on productivity, Weiss and Gershon counsel owners and
managers to heed this factor when pondering facility design alternatives: “Some ways layout
design can increase morale are obvious, such as providing for light-colored walls, windows, space.
Other ways are less obvious and not directly related to the production process. Some examples
are including a cafeteria or even a gymnasium in the facility design. Again, though, there are costs

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 Facilities Planning In Production System Design

to be traded off. That is, does the increase in morale due to a cafeteria increase productivity to the
extent that the increased productivity covers the cost of building and staffing the cafeteria.”
Promotional value—If the business commonly receives visitors in the form of customers, vendors,
investors, etc., the small business owner may want to make sure that the facility layout is an
attractive one that further burnishes the company’s reputation. Design factors that can influence
the degree of attractiveness of a facility include not only the design of the production area itself
but the impact that it has on, for instance, ease of fulfilling maintenance/cleaning tasks.
Safety—The facility layout should enable the business to effectively operate in accordance with
Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines and other legal restrictions.

“Facility layout must be considered very carefully because we do not want to constantly redesign
the facility,” summarized Weiss and Gershon. “Some of the goals in designing the facility are to
ensure a minimum amount of materials handling, to avoid bottlenecks, to minimize machine
interference, to ensure high employee morale and safety, and to ensure flexibility. Essentially,
there are two distinct types of layout. The product layout is synonymous with the assembly line
and is oriented toward the products that are being made. The process layout is oriented around
the processes that are used to make the products. Generally, product layout is applicable for high-
volume repetitive operations, while process layout is applicable for low-volume custom-made
goods.”

Types of Layouts
Keeping in view the type of industry and volume of production, the type of layout to be
selected is to be decided from the following:

1. Product or Line Layout

2. Process or Functional Layout.

3. Fixed Position Layout.

4. Combination type of Layout.

1. Product or Line Layout:

If all the processing equipment and machines are arranged according to the sequence of

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 Facilities Planning In Production System Design

operations of the product, the layout is called a product type of layout. In this type of layout, only
one product of one type of product is produced in an operating area. This product must be
standardized and produced in large quantities in order to justify the product layout.

The raw material is supplied at one end of the line and goes from one operation to the next quite
rapidly with minimum work in process, storage, and material handling. Fig. 8.3 shows product
layout for two types of products A and B.

Advantages offered by Product Layout:

(i) Lowers total material handling costs.

(ii) There is less work in processes.

(iii) Better utilization of men and machines,

(iv) Less floor area is occupied by material in transit and for temporary storage.

(v) The greater simplicity of production control.

(vi) Total production time is also minimized.

Limitations of Product Layout:

(i) No flexibility which is generally required is obtained in this layout.

(ii) The manufacturing cost increases with a fall in the volume of production.

(iii) If one or two lines are running light, there is considerable machine idleness.

(iv) A single machine breaks down may shut down the whole production line.

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 Facilities Planning In Production System Design

(v) Specialized and strict supervision is essential.

2. Process or Functional Layout:

The process layout is particularly useful where the low volume of production is needed. If the
products are not standardized, the process layout is more low desirable, because it has creator
process flexibility than others. In this type of layout, the machines and not arranged according to
the sequence of operations but are arranged according to the nature or type of the operations.
This layout is commonly suitable for non-repetitive jobs.

The same type of operation facilities are grouped together such as lathes will be placed at one
place, all the drill machines are at another place and so on. See Fig. 8.4 for process layout.
Therefore, the process carried out in that area is according to the machine available in that area.

Advantages of Process Layout:

(i) There will be less duplication of machines. Thus, the total investment in equipment purchases
will be reduced.

(ii) It offers better and more efficient supervision through specialization at various levels.

(iii) There is greater flexibility in equipment and manpower thus load distribution is easily
controlled.

(iv) Better utilization of equipment available is possible.

(v) Break down of equipment can be easily handled by transferring work to another machine/work
station.

(vi) There will be better control of complicated or precision processes, especially where much

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 Facilities Planning In Production System Design

inspection is required.

Limitations of Process Layout:

(i) There are long material flow lines and hence the expensive handling is required.

(ii) Total production cycle time is more owing to long distances and waiting at various points.

(iii) Since more work is in a queue and waiting for further operation hence bottlenecks occur.

(iv) Generally, more floor area is required.

(v) Since work does not flow through definite lines, counting and scheduling are more tedious.

(vi) Specialization creates monotony and there will be difficult for the laid workers to find a job in
other industries.

3. Fixed Position Layout:

This type of layout is the least important for today’s manufacturing industries. In this type of
layout, the major component remains in a fixed location, other materials, parts, tools, machinery,
manpower, and other supporting equipment are brought to this location.

The major component or body of the product remains in a fixed position because it is too heavy or
too big and as such it is economical and convenient to bring the necessary tools and equipment to
work along with the manpower. This type of layout is used in the manufacture of boilers, hydraulic
and steam turbines and ships, etc.

Advantages Offered by Fixed Position Layout:

(i) Material movement is reduced

(ii) Capital investment is minimized.

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 Facilities Planning In Production System Design

(iii) The task is usually done by a gang of operators, hence continuity of operations is ensured

(iv) Production centers are independent of each other. Hence, effective planning and loading can
be made. Thus the total production cost will be reduced.

(v) It offers greater flexibility and allows a change in product design, product mix, and production
volume.

Limitations of Fixed Position Layout:

(i) Highly skilled manpower is required.

(ii) The movement of machines equipment’s to the production center may be time-consuming.

(iii) Complicated fixtures may be required for the positioning of jobs and tools. This may increase
the cost of production.

4. Combination Type of Layout:

Nowadays in the pure state, any one form of layouts discussed above is rarely found. Therefore,
generally, the layouts used in industries are the compromise of the above-mentioned layouts.
Every layout has got certain advantages and limitations. Therefore, industries would to like use
any type of layout as such.

Flexibility is a very important factory, so the layout should be such which can be molded according
to the requirements of the industry, without much investment. If the good features of all types of
layouts are connected, a compromise solution can be obtained which will be more economical and

flexible.

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