Facility Layout Designing
Compiled by Dr. Rinki Rola
6-1
Facilities Layout
• Layout: the configuration of departments,
stores, work centers, and equipment,
products with particular emphasis on
movement of work (customers, workers or
materials) through the system.
6-2
Importance of Layout Decisions
• Requires substantial investments of money and
effort
• Involves long-term commitments
• Has significant impact on cost and efficiency of
operations.
6-3
Objectives of Facility Layout
• Minimize material-handling costs
• Utilize space efficiently
• Utilize labor efficiently
• Eliminate bottlenecks
• Facilitate communication and interaction
• Reduce manufacturing cycle time
• Reduce customer service time
• Eliminate wasted or redundant movement
Objectives of Facility Layout
• Facilitate entry, exit, and placement of
material, products, and people
• Incorporate safety and security measures
• Promote product and service quality
• Encourage proper maintenance activities
• Provide a visual control of activities
• Provide flexibility to adapt to changing
conditions
Basic Layouts
• Process layouts
– group similar activities together according to process
or function they perform
• Product layouts
– arrange activities in line according to sequence of
operations for a particular product or service
• Fixed-position layouts
– are used for projects in which product cannot be
moved
Basic Layout Types
6-7
Process Layout
▪ A Process Layout (also called a job shop or functional
layout) is a format in which similar equipment or
functions are grouped together, such as all lathes in
one area and all stamping machines in another.
▪ A part being worked on then travels, according to the
established sequence of operations from area to
area.
▪ Ex: Hospitals where areas are dedicated to particular
types of medical care such as maternity wards and
intensive care units.
6-8
Process Layout
Process Layout
(functional)
Grindin Forging Lathe
Dept. A Dept. C Dept. E g s
Paintin Weldin Drill
Dept. B Dept. D Dept. F g g s
Millin
Offic machine Foundr
g
Used for Intermittent processing e s y
Job Shop or Batch Processes
6-9
Manufacturing 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
6-11
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
• Special attention for each product or customer
• Accounting and purchasing are more involved
6-12
Product Layout
• A Product Layout (also called a flow shop
layout) is one in which equipment or work
processes are arranged according to the
progressive steps by which the product is
made.
• The path for each part is, in effect, a straight
line.
• Production line for shoes, chemical plants, and
car washes are product layout.
6-13
Product Layout
Raw Stati Stati Stati
Station Finished
materials 1
on on on item
or customer 2 3 4
Material Material Material Material
and/or and/or and/or and/or
labor labor labor labor
Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4
Used for Repetitive or Continuous Processing
6-14
A Product Layout
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
• Routing accounting and purchasing
6-16
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
6-17
Fixed Position Layouts
• Fixed Position Layout: Layout in which the product
or project remains stationary, and workers,
materials, and equipment are moved as needed.
• Nature of the product dictates this type of layout
– Weight
– Size
– Bulk
• Large construction projects
6-18
Fixed Position Layouts
Designing Process Layouts
Information Requirements:
1. List of departments
2. Projection of work flows
3. Distance between locations
4. Amount of money to be invested
5. List of special considerations
6. Location of key utilities
6-20
A U-Shaped Production Line
In 1 2 3 4
Workers
Out 10 9 8 7
6-21
Cellular Layout
HM
VM
1. Identify families of
parts with similar Worker 3
flow paths VM
2. Group machines L
into cells based on
part families
3. Arrange cells so Worker 2
material movement G
is minimized L
4. Locate large shared
machines at point Final inspection
of use
Finished part
S Worker 1
In Out
6-22
Process Layout in Services
Women’s
dresses Shoes Housewares
Women’s Cosmetics and Children’s
Sarees jewelry department
Women’s Entry and display Men’s
sportswear area department
Designing Service Layouts
• Must be both attractive and functional
• Free flow layouts
– encourage browsing, increase impulse purchasing, are
flexible and visually appealing
• Grid layouts
– encourage customer familiarity, are low cost, easy to clean
and secure, and good for repeat customers
• Loop and Spine layouts
– both increase customer sightlines and exposure to products,
while encouraging customer to circulate through the entire
store
Types of Store Layouts
Free flow
6-26
Grid
6-27
Loop Floor
6-28
Spine
6-29
Design Product Layouts: Line
Balancing
Line Balancing is the process of assigning
tasks to workstations in such a way that the
workstations have approximately
equal time requirements.
6-30
Assembly Line Balancing Concept
Question: Suppose you load work into the three work
stations below such that each will take the corresponding
number of minutes as shown. What is the cycle time of
this line?
Station 1 Station 2 Station 3
Minutes
per Unit 6 7 3
Answer: The cycle time of the line is always determined by
the work station taking the longest time. In this problem, the
cycle time of the line is 7 minutes. There is also going to be
idle time at the other two work stations.
6-31
Line Balancing Process
1. Draw and label a precedence diagram.
2. Calculate the desired cycle time required for the line.
3. Calculate the theoretical minimum number of workstations.
4. Group elements into workstations, recognizing cycle time and
precedence constraints.
5. Calculate the efficiency of the line.
6. Stop if theoretical minimum number of workstations on an
acceptable efficiency level reached. If not, go back to step 4.
6-32
Designing Product Layouts
• Objective
– Balance the assembly line
• Line balancing
– tries to equalize the amount of work at each
workstation
• Precedence requirements
– physical restrictions on the order in which
operations are performed
• Cycle time
– maximum amount of time a product is allowed to
spend at each workstation
Cycle Time Example
Produce 120 units in an 8-hour day
production time available
Cd = desired units of output
Cd =
Cd =
Cycle Time Example
Produce 120 units in an 8-hour day
production time available
Cd = desired units of output
(8 hours x 60 minutes / hour)
Cd = (120 units)
480
Cd = 120 = 4 minutes
Flow Time vs Cycle Time
• Cycle time = max time spent at any station
• Flow time = time to complete all stations
1 2 3
4 minutes 4 minutes 4 minutes
Flow time = 4 + 4 + 4 = 12 minutes
Cycle time = max (4, 4, 4) = 4 minutes
Efficiency of Line and Balance Delay
j j
Efficiency Min# of workstations
∑
i = 1 ti
∑
i = 1 ti
E= nCa N= Cd
where
ti = completion time for element
i
j = number of work elements
n = actual number of
workstations j
Ca = actual cycle time
Balance delay
Cd = desired cycle time
total idle time of line = nCa -
∑
i=1 t
i
Line Balancing Procedure
1. Draw and label a precedence diagram
2. Calculate desired cycle time required for line
3. Calculate theoretical minimum number of workstations
4. Group elements into workstations, recognizing cycle time
and precedence constraints
5. Calculate efficiency of line
6. Determine if theoretical minimum number of workstations
or an acceptable efficiency level has been reached. If not, go
back to step 4.
Line Balancing
Work Element PrecedenceTime (Min)
A Press out sheet of fruit — 0.1
B Cut into strips A 0.2
C Outline fun shapes A 0.4
D Roll up and package B, C 0.3
0.2
B
0.1 A D 0.3
C
0.4
Line Balancing
Work Element PrecedenceTime (Min)
A Press out sheet of fruit — 0.1
B Cut into strips A 0.2
C Outline fun shapes A 0.4
D Roll up and package B, C 0.3
Cd =
N=
Line Balancing
Work Element PrecedenceTime (Min)
A Press out sheet of fruit — 0.1
B Cut into strips A 0.2
C Outline fun shapes A 0.4
D Roll up and package B, C 0.3
40 hours x 60 minutes / hour 2400
Cd = = = 0.4 minute
6,000 units 6000
0.1 + 0.2 + 0.3 + 0.4 1.0
N= = = 2.5 3 workstations
0.4 0.4
Line Balancing
Remaining Remaining
Workstation Element Time Elements
1
2
3
0.2
B
0.3
0.1 A D
C
0.4
Line Balancing
Remaining Remaining
Workstation Element Time Elements
1 A 0.3 B, C
B 0.1 C, D
2 C 0.0 D
3 D 0.1 none
0.2
B Cd = 0.4
0.3 N = 2.5
0.1 A D
C
0.4
Line Balancing
Work Work Work
station 1 station 2 station 3
Cd = 0.4
N = 2.5
A, B C D
0.3 0.4 0.3
minute minute minute
E=
Line Balancing
Work Work Work
station 1 station 2 station 3
Cd = 0.4
N = 2.5
A, B C D
0.3 0.4 0.3
minute minute minute
0.1 + 0.2 + 0.3 + 0.4 1.0
E= = = 0.833 = 83.3%
3(0.4) 1.2
