Work design: The act of specifying the contents and methods of job.

Advantages of Work design:

For management:

1. Simplifies training
2. High productivity
3. Low wage costs

For labor:

1. Low education
2. Minimum responsibilities
3. Little mental effort needed

Disadvantages of Work design:

For management:

1. Difficult to motive quality

2. Worker dissatisfaction possibly absenteeism
3. High turnover
4. Poor attention to quality

For labor:

1. Monotonous work
2. Limited opportunities for advancement
3. Little control over work
4. Little opportunity for self-fulfillment

Factors considering due to work design:

1. Temperature & humidity

2. Ventilation
3. Illumination
4. Noise & vibration
 5. Work breaks
6. Safety
7. Cause of accidents
8. Ethical issues

Layout design: A layout is a plan of an operation arranged of facilities including personnel, operating
equipment, storage space, material handling equipment and all other supporting services along with the design of
best structure to contain all these facilities.

Layout problem:

1. Change in the production design or introduction of the new product

2. Changes in the volume of demand for the company’s product
3. Increasing frequency of accidents because of existing layout
4. Plant & machinery becomes outdated and is to be replaced by new one
5. Poor working environment affecting worker efficiency & productivity
6. Minimizing the cost through effective facilities location

Objectives of layout design:

1. To design a physical arrangement that meets the required output & quantity
2. Streamline flow of materials
3. Facilitate the manufacturing process
4. Maintain high turnover of in process inventory
5. Minimize material handling
6. Effective utilization of men, equipment and space
7. Flexibility of manufacturing operations and arrangements
8. Provide for employee convenience, safety and comfort
9. Better utilization of cubic space

Principles of layout:

1. Principle of integration
2. Principle of minimum distance
3. Principle of cubic space utilization
4. Principle of flow
5. Principle of maximum flexibility
6. Principle of safety & security and satisfaction
7. Principle of minimum handling
Factors influencing layout:

1. Types of production- Engineering , Process

2. Production system – Job Shop, Batch, Mass
3. Scale of production
4. Availability of the total area
5. Arrangement of material handling system
6. Types of building -- Single storey or multi-storey
7. Types of production facilities – Dedicated or general purpose

Types of manufacturing systems:

1. Make to stock: “Off the shelf”

2. Make to order

Types of Production:

1. Job Type Production: It is characterized by manufacturing one or few quantities f products

designed & produced as per customer requirements within prefixed time & cost. It has low
volume & high variety.

Characteristics of Job shop production:

a. High variety & low volume

b. General purpose machine & equipment use for performing wide range of operations
c. Flow of materials is discontinuous with different types of workstation
d. Manufacturing cycle time is more
e. Highly skilled manpower is needed
f. Highly competent and qualified supervisors are required
g. Very large work in process inventory
h. Flexible material handling system with wide range of movements
i. Difficulties in planning, controlling, coordination, scheduling due to numerous components

2. Batch production: It produces limited number of products at regular intervals and stocked at
warehouses awaiting for sales.
 Characteristics of Batch production:

a. Short production runs

b. Plant & machines are set up for limited number of parts
c. More number to set ups
d. High skill workforce needed
e. Less amount of supervision needed compared to job shop production
f. Plant & machineries are flexible
g. Manufacturing cycle time comparatively less than job shop
h. Large WIP inventory
i. Flexible material handling system

3. Repetitive (Mass) Production: It has high volume & low variety. The manufacturers produced
several products & stocked at warehouse as finished goods awaiting for dispatch.

Characteristics of Mass Production:

a. Material flow is continuous

b. Special machines are used
c. Mechanized system for material handling
d. Lower skill manpower & supervisor needed
e. Less flexibility of machines & equipment
f. Shorter cycle time
g. Higher inventory of raw materials
Job Shop
h. Low WIP inventory High

Fig: Types of manufacturing system Batch

Types of Layout:
Variety

Low Mass

Low Volume High

 1. Process (Functional) Layout: It is used for batch production. All machines performing similar
operations at a nearest location in process layout e.g., sleeve join, neck join, side seam etc. are
grouped in the factory will be clustered in like groups.

Operation 1 Operation 2 Assembly

Operation Operation Shipping

4 5 Inspection & Print
Receiving &Embo.

Fig: Process Layout

Advantages:
a. Flexibility in equipment & personnel
b. Lower investment on account of machines & lower cost of general purpose of machines
c. Higher utilization of production facilities
d. Greater flexibilities of machines & equipment
e. Job is challenging & interesting due to variation
f. Supervisors will become highly knowledgeable

Disadvantages:

a. Backtracking & long movements of material handling so that reducing the efficiency of
handling
b. Material handling is mechanized which adds cost
c. Process time is prolonged which increase investment of inventories & reduce inventory
turnover
 d. Difficulties in production planning & control
e. More space is required
f. Lower productivity due to number of set ups
2. Product (Line) Layout: The machines are arranged in sequences as required by the product. It
has efficient flow of material with lower cost per unit also more production. Special purpose
machine are used for performing quickly reliably operation. The equipment are closely placed
along the sequence of operations processed e.g. shoulder join, neck join, sleeve join, side seam.

Package
Operation 1 Operation 2 Operation 3 Assembly Inspection
dispatch

Fig: Product layout

Advantages:
a. Reduce handling cost due to straight line flow of materials
b. Perfect line balancing which eliminate idle time & bottleneck operations
c. Manufacturing cycle time is short
d. Simplified production, planning & control
e. Small amount of WIP inventory
f. Unskilled worker can learn & manage the production

Disadvantages:

a. Lack of flexibility
b. Large capital investment
c. Dedicated & special purpose machines needed
d. Breakdown of any one machine in the sequence may result in stoppage of production.

3. Combination Layout: This called hybrid layout due to combination of product & process layout.
4. Fixed Position Layout: This also called project type layout. The materials or components remain
in fixed location and tools, machinery, men other materials are brought to this location. This
type of layout needed for heavy identical products.
 Advantages:
a. Upgrades skill of operators
b. Helps in job enlargements
c. Greater flexibility
d. Lower capital cost
e. Worker identity with the products

Materials Flow Pattern:The pattern of material flow is important for the layout because good layout
aims at minimizing flow of materials. The flow pattern of materials helps to minimize the bottlenecks,
backtracking, rushing and ensures the good supervision and control.

Types of material flow: The material flow types depends on availability of floor space-

1. Horizontal flow system

2. Vertical flow system

Characteristics of different flow pattern:

1. Straight line (I-shape):

a. Shortest route and roads at both side
b. Plant area are long & narrow width
c. Unsuitable for longer production lines

2. U – shape:
a. Less difficulty in returning empty containers
b. Suitable for longer production lines
c. Require square like floor area
d. One side road link will be required

3. Serpentine (Inverted S – shape):

a. Requires roads at both sides
b. Suitable for longer production lines
c. Difficult to return empty containers
d. Require square like floor area
4. Comb or Dendrite arrangement:
Fig: Straight Line or I - Shape

Fig: U - Shape
Fig: Convoluted or Serpentine Shape
Main Assembly line

Fig: Comb or Dendrite arrangement

Figure: Flow Pattern

Symptoms of Bad Layout:

1. Long material flow lines & backtracking (re-handling).

2. Poor utilization of space
3. Congestion movement of material & men
4. Large amount of WIP
5. Long production cycle
6. Excessive handling of materials
7. More frequent accidents
8. Difficult to supervise and control
9. Spoilage of products during handling
10. Production line bottlenecks

Layout Procedure:

1. Collect the details information of product, process etc., and record the data systematically
2. Analysis the data using various techniques of analysis
3. Select a general flow of pattern for the materials
4. Design the individual workstation
5. Assembling the individual layout into total layout
6. Coordinate with plan for material handling
7. Complete the layout
8. Convert the layout into floor plans that is to be used by the plant engineer for installation of
equipment