POM

Module 4: Facility Layout

Unit 3: Designing Product Layouts

Overview:

In this Unit, you will learn how to design Product Layouts.

Module Objective:
After successful completion of this Unit, you should be able to:

• Design simple product layouts using the Line Balancing method.

Course Materials:
A. Handout: Designing Product Layouts

Design:
DESIGNING PRODUCT LAYOUTS USING LINE BALANCING

Objective

The major objective of Line Balancing is to find the number of workstations (workers)
and the tasks to be performed at each workstation so that a desired level of output is
achieved.

Factors to Consider

There are 3 major factors to consider when designing product layouts using Line
Balancing. These are:

1. Capacity: The design is effective if the desired output capacity is achieved.

2. Sequence: In assigning tasks to workstations, the sequence of tasks must be

considered; i.e., Which tasks must be done first, and which ones may follow?

3. Efficiency: The desired output capacity must be attained efficiently; i.e., using
the minimum input resources possible, e.g., labor, equipment.

Characteristics of a Good Product Layout Design

1. It meets the desired output capacity.

2. The sequence is technically feasible.

3. It is an efficient line.

Data Needed

1. Desired output capacity, OC. The number of units of the product that must be
manufactured over a certain time period; e.g. 100 units per shift.

2. Operating time, OT. The length of time that the production line will be in
operation over a certain time period; e.g., 480 minutes per shift.

3. The tasks that need to be done to complete the finished product.

4. The task times or the time required to finish each of the tasks.

5. The sequential or precedence requirements of the tasks, usually expressed

in terms of the immediate predecessor/s of each task.
EXERCISE

Shown below are the tasks, times, and precedence requirements for the work
required to assemble a portable video game. The company wants to produce 340 units
in a 460-minute shift.

TASK TASK TIME, mins IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR/S

A 0.3 –
B 0.6 –
C 0.4 –
D 0.8 A
E 0.7 B
F 0.3 C
G 0.9 D
H 0.1 F
I 0.3 H, E
J 0.4 G, I
ΣTt = 4.8

1. How many workstations should be set up in this production line?

2. Which tasks should be performed in each workstation?
3. Draw a diagram of the production line.
4. Calculate the efficiency of the production line.

Solution

Step 1. Capacity: Calculate the cycle time, CT:

Operating time 460 minutes

=CT = = 1.35mins/unit
Output capacity 360 units

Note: The cycle time of 1.35 mins means that, in order to produce 340 units in
460 mins, 1 unit of portable video game must come out of the production line
every 1.35 minutes; in other words, the maximum amount of time that each unit
of portable video game can stay in any workstation should not exceed 1.35
minutes.

Step 2. Efficiency: Calculate the theoretical minimum number of workstations, Nmin:

N=
min
∑=
Tt 4.8 min s
= 3.55 ≅ 4WS
CT 1.35 min s / WS

To be efficient, at least 4 workstations, theoretically, must be set up in this

production line.
Step 3. Sequence:

A. List the paths, based on the precedence requirements or the immediate

predecessor/s data. This step can either be fone forward or backward, though,
eventually, the same list of paths should result.

• If forward, observe that tasks A, B and C have no predecessor/s. This means

that the paths in our list will start only with A or B or C.

Start with the first task in the list: A

Notice that A is the immediate predecessor of, or is immediately followed by
D, thus, your initial list would be

A–D

D is immediately followed by G; so, your initial path would become

A–D–G

G is immediately followed by J; since no other task follows J, your first path

is now complete and would become

A–D–G–J

Since no other task follows A apart from D, you may now start listing the
next path that starts with B.

B is immediately followed by E, thus, your initial list for this path would be

B–E

E is immediately followed by I; so, this path would become

B–E–I

I is immediately followed by J; since no other task follows J, your second

path is now complete and would become

B–E–I–J

Since no other task follows B apart from E, you may now start listing the
next path that starts with C.

C is immediately followed by F, thus, your initial list for this path would be

C–F
 F is immediately followed by H; so, this path would become

C–F–H

H is immediately followed by I; so, this path would become

C–F–H–I

I is immediately followed by J; since no other task follows J, your third path

is now complete and would become

C–F–H–I–J

So, the there are 3 paths in this problem, namely:

A–D–G–J
B–E–I–J
C–F–H–I–J

B. Draw the precedence diagram. We will draw this diagram according to the
activity-on-node (A-O-N) method, wherein each task is represented by a node
and arrows connect the tasks in each path, showing the sequence by which these
tasks are to be performed.

• Let’s first draw the path with the most tasks: C – F – H – I – J

C F H I J

• Next, we draw the path that has the most common tasks with C – F – H – I – J;
this would be B – E – I – J

C F H I J

B E

• Lastly, we draw path A – D – G – J

A D G

C F H I J

B E
• We can now complete the precedence diagram by putting in the task times near
each task:

A D G
0.3 0.8 0.9

C F H I J
0.4 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.4

B E
0.6 0.7

C. Assign tasks to workstations. This can be done manually either of two ways: (1)
by clustering tasks for each workstation using the precedence diagram, or (2)
using heuristic rules.

• We will do the clustering method first. In assigning tasks to workstations using

this method, make sure that:

1. Each task is assigned only after its predecessor/s have been previously
assigned; and
2. The sum of the task times in each workstation does not exceed the cycle time,
which is 1.35 minutes, in this case.

• It helps if we would do the clustering from left to right of the diagram, prioritizing
the tasks that have no predecessor/s.

• Remember that we are supposed to have, theoretically, a minimum of 4

workstations in this production line. For Workstation 1, we may cluster tasks
A, B and C together, since the sum of their task times is only 1.3 minutes < the
cycle time of 1.35 minutes.

A D G
0.3 0.8 0.9

C F H I J
0.4 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.4

B E
0.6 0.7
• For Workstation 2, we may cluster tasks D, F and H together, since the
predecessor/s of D and F (A and C, respectively) have been already assigned and
that the sum of their task times is only 1.1 minutes < the cycle time of 1.35
minutes. In performing tasks F and H in Workstation 2, however, task F should
be done before H.

A D G
0.3 0.8 0.9

C F H I J
0.4 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.4

B E
0.6 0.7

• For Workstation 3, we may cluster tasks G and I together, since the

predecessor/s of G and I (D and H, respectively) have been already assigned and
that the sum of their task times is only 1.2 minutes < the cycle time of 1.35
minutes.

A D G
0.3 0.8 0.9

C F H I J
0.4 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.4

B E
0.6 0.7

• Lastly, for Workstation 4, we may cluster tasks E and J together, since the
predecessor/s of E and J (B for E; G and I for J) have been already assigned and
that the sum of their task times is only 1.1 minutes < the cycle time of 1.35
minutes. In performing tasks E and J in Workstation 4, however, task E should
be done before J.
 A D G
0.3 0.8 0.9

C F H I J
0.4 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.4

B E
0.6 0.7

There are other possible combinations of tasks that can be clustered, but they are up
to you to discover.

Step 4. Draw the diagram of the production line for portable video game:

Workstations 1 2 3 4

Tasks A B C D F H G I E J

Σ Task Times, mins 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.1

Step 5. Calculate the efficiency of the production line:

N min 3.55WS
=
Efficiency = =
x100 88.7%
N actual 4WS

Now, let’s assign the tasks to workstations using heuristics. Heuristics are arbitrary
rules used for quick decision making. Let’s apply the following heuristics.
Rule 1 – prioritize task with most followers.
Rule 2 – in case of ties, prioritize task with longer task time.
• Based on the precedence diagram, list the tasks from highest to lowest number of followers:

Task Number of followers

A 3 (D, G, J)

B 3 (E, I, J)

C 4 (F, H, I, J)

D 2 (G, J)

E 2 (I, J)

F 3 (H, I, J)

G 1 (J)

H 2 (I, J)

I 1 (J)

J 0

• Set up a table like this:

Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

• Based on Rule 1, assign Task C to Workstation 1, since it has the most followers; as you do, monitor
the running total of task times in WS 1.
 Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C 0.4

• You may still add more tasks to WS 1, since 0.4 is still < 1.35. The candidates are Tasks A, B, and F,
with 3 followers each. Based on Rule 2, prioritize Task B.

Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C, B 0.4+0.6 = 1.0

• You may still add more tasks to WS 1, since 1.0 is still < 1.35. The candidates are Tasks A and F, with
3 followers each, but also with equal task times. In this case, you may break the tie arbitrarily, you may
prioritize Task A.

Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C, B, A 0.4+0.6+0.3 = 1.3

• Since there’s no more task that could be added to WS 1 without exceeding 1.35 mins, and without
violating Rule 1, start assigning tasks to WS 2. Based on Rule 1, assign Task F to WS 2.
 Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C, B, A 0.4+0.6+0.3 = 1.3

2 F 0.3

• You may still add more tasks to WS 2, since 0.3 is still < 1.35. The candidates are Tasks D, E and H,
with 2 followers each. Based on Rule 2, prioritize Task D.

Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C, B, A 0.4+0.6+0.3 = 1.3

2 F, D 0.3+0.8 = 1.1

• You may still add more tasks to WS 2, since 1.1 is still < 1.35. The candidates are Tasks E and H, with
2 followers each. Based on Rule 2, Task E should be prioritized, but if we do so, the sum of task times
in WS 2 would exceed the cycle time of 1.35 mins; so we bypass Task E and assign Task H instead.

Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C, B, A 0.4+0.6+0.3 = 1.3

2 F, D, H 0.3+0.8+0.1 = 1.2

• Since there’s no more task that could be added to WS 2 without exceeding 1.35 mins, and without
violating Rule 1, start assigning tasks to WS 3. Based on Rule 1, assign Task E to WS 3.
 Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C, B, A 0.4+0.6+0.3 = 1.3

2 F, D, H 0.3+0.8+0.1 = 1.2

3 E 0.7

• You may still add more tasks to WS 3, since 0.7 is still < 1.35. The candidates are Tasks G and I, with
1 follower each. Based on Rule 2, Task G should be prioritized, but if we do so, the sum of task times
in WS 3 would exceed the cycle time of 1.35 mins; so we bypass Task G and assign Task I instead.

Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C, B, A 0.4+0.6+0.3 = 1.3

2 F, D, H 0.3+0.8+0.1 = 1.2

3 E, I 0.7+0.3 = 1.0

• Since there’s no more task that could be added to WS 3 without exceeding 1.35 mins, and without
violating Rule 1, start assigning tasks to WS 4. Based on Rule 1, assign Task G to WS 4.

Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C, B, A 0.4+0.6+0.3 = 1.3

2 F, D, H 0.3+0.8+0.1 = 1.2

3 E, I 0.7+0.3 = 1.0

4 G 0.9

• You may still add more tasks to WS 4, since 0.9 is still < 1.35. The remaining candidate is Task J, with
task time of 0.4 mins. The cycle time of 1.35 mins will not be exceeded even if we assign Task J to WS
4. So,
 Workstation Task ΣTask time ≤ 1.35 mins

1 C, B, A 0.4+0.6+0.3 = 1.3

2 F, D, H 0.3+0.8+0.1 = 1.2

3 E, I 0.7+0.3 = 1.0

4 G, J 0.9+0.4 = 1.3

• Eureka! We’ve found another way to assign the tasks to the workstations.

• Draw the diagram of the production line for portable video game:

Workstations 1 2 3 4

Tasks C B A F D H E I G J

Σ Task Times, mins 1.3 1.2 1.0 1.3

Activities/Assessments:
Activity 11

Shown below are the tasks, times, and precedence requirements for the work required
to assemble a copier machine. Production time per day = 480 minutes. Desired output
per day = 40 units.

TASK TASK TIME, mins IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR/S

A 10 –
B 11 A
C 5 B
D 4 B
E 12 A
F 3 C, D
G 7 F
H 11 E
I 3 G, H
ΣTt = 66

1. What’s the cycle time for this production line?

2. What’s the theoretical minimum number of workstations that should be set up?
3. List the paths for this problem.
4. Draw the precedence diagram for this problem.
5. How many workstations should be set up in this production line?
6. Which tasks should be performed in each workstation?
7. Draw the diagram of the production line.
8. Calculate the efficiency of the production line.

Note: You may use either clustering or heuristics in assigning tasks to workstations