FACILITY LAYOUT

The ‘layout’ of an operation means how its transformed resources and transforming
resources are positioned relative to each other, and how tasks are allocated to
transforming resources.

(Transforming resources are managers, employees, machinery and equipment . . . The transformed
resources are the materials and information)

Because the layout decision can be difficult and expensive, operations managers
are reluctant to do it too often. Therefore layout must carefully focus on objectives
that the layout should be trying to achieve. Supporting objectives generally involve
the following:

1. To facilitate quality improvements in products or services.

2. To use workers and space efficiently.
3. To avoid bottlenecks.
4. To minimize material handling costs.
5. To eliminate unnecessary movements of workers or materials.
6. To minimize production time or customer service time.
7. To design for safety.

Characteristics of a Good Layout:

Following are the characteristics of a well designed layout.
Inherent safety. Process and layout should be designed in such a way that it may
pose no danger to the workers. And should not be handled to unauthorised.
Length of flow. This usually means minimizing the distance travelled by transformed
resources.
Clarity of flow. All flow of materials and customers should be well sign-posted, clear
and evident to staff and customers.
Staff conditions. Staff should be located away from noisy or unpleasant parts of the
operation.
Management coordination. Staff should be located in such a way that supervisors can
easily communicate and coordinate with them.
Accessibility. All machines and facilities should be accessible for proper cleaning and
maintenance.
Use of space. All layouts should use space appropriately. This usually means
minimizing the space used, but sometimes can mean achieving an impression of
spacious luxury, as in the entrance lobby of a high-class hotel.
Long-term flexibility. A good layout will have been devised with the possible future
expansion needs of the operation in mind.
 TYPES OF LAYOUTS
Most practical layouts are derived from only four basic layout types. These are;
Product Layout, Process Layout, Fixed Position Layout & Cellular Layout. Details
of each are given below.

1. Product Layout:
Product layout involves locating the transforming resources entirely for the
convenience of the transformed resources.

Each product, piece of information or customer (transformed resource) follows a

prearranged route in which the sequence of activities that are required matches the
sequence in which the machinery (transforming resource) have been located.

The transformed resources ‘flow’ as in a ‘line’ through the process. This is why this
type of layout is sometimes called line layout or Assembly Line. (Assembly   line:  
Standardized  layout  arranged  according  to  a  fixed  sequence  of  assembly  tasks.)

This layout allow highly standardized repetitive processing. High level of

standardization is used to produce identical products. The product flows through
the transforming resources, which are mostly stationary. Cars and other smaller
products are examples.

The main advantages of product layouts are;

1. A high rate of output.
2. Low unit cost due to high volume.
3. Labor specialization, which reduces training costs and time.
4. Low material-handling cost per unit.
5. A high utilization of labor and equipment.
6. Fairly routine accounting, purchasing, and inventory control.

The primary disadvantages of product layouts include the following;

1. The intensive division of labor usually creates dull, repetitive jobs.
2. Poorly skilled workers may exhibit little interest in maintaining equipment.
3. The system is fairly inflexible in response to changes.
4. The system can easily be shut down even if one machine stops working
because all components are highly interdependent.
5. Incentive plans tied to individual output are impractical.
6. Preventive maintenance, the capacity for quick repairs, and spare-parts
inventories are necessary expenses.

U-Shaped Layouts: Although a straight production line is mostly employed, but a

U-shaped line has a number of advantages. Specially that it allows better
coordination and communication among workers. For example a drive through.

2. Process Layout: (Functional Layout)

Process layouts are designed to process items that involve a variety of processing
requirements. Customized tasks that are performed requires frequent adjustments
to equipment. This causes a discontinuous work flow (i.e. intermittent processing).
Functional layout conforms to the needs and convenience of the functions
performed by the transforming resources within the processes. This is why it is also
called functional layout. This layout is composed of departments or other functional
groupings in which similar kinds of activities are performed Hospitals and Auto
workshop are its examples.

This layout allow customization through intermittent processing Items that require
customization are moved in lots or batches to the departments in a sequence that
varies from job to job.

Process layouts are quite common in service environments. Examples include

hospitals, colleges and universities, banks e.t.c.

The advantages of process layouts include the following;

1. The systems can handle a variety of processing requirements.
2. The systems do not shut down just because one component stops working.
3. General-purpose equipment is often less costly than the specialized
equipment used in product layouts and is easier and less costly to maintain.
4. It is possible to use individual incentive systems.

The disadvantages of process layouts include the following;

1. In-process-inventory-costs can be high if batch processing is used in
manufacturing systems.
2. Routing and scheduling pose continual challenges.
3. Equipment utilization rates are low.
4. Material handling is slow and inefficient, and more costly per unit than in
product layouts.
5. Special attention necessary for each product or customer
6. Accounting, inventory control, and purchasing are much more involved than
with product layouts.

3. Fixed Position Layout:

In fixed-position layouts, the item being worked on remains stationary, and
workers, materials, and equipment are moved about as needed.

Due to the size and weight or the product, it is not easy to move the product
through assembly line, therefore, product is kept stationary, and transforming
resources move around it. For example, while constructing a bridge, a road, a large
ship, workers and material are moved to the site. Similarly, a surgery of a heart
patient. The patient is not moved due to the delicate nature of the operation, the
surgeons and nurses etc. move around the patient.

Advantages of Fixed-Position Layout:

1. Easy for product which are difficult to move.
2. Flexibility for changes in design, operation sequence etc.
3. It’s very cost effective

Disadvantages of Fixed-Position Layout

1. It can cause material handling problem
2. The span of control can be narrow and co-ordination difficult.
3. Space for many fixed-position layouts, the work area may be crowded so that
little storage space is available.

4. Cellular Layouts:
Cellular layouts are the organized and miniature versions of the product layout. In
this layout, workstations are organized in cells according to the particular needs of
transformed resources. Transformed resources enter one cell and their particular
needs are fulfilled there before they enter the next cell.

One example of this kind of layout is a departmental store where customer enter
one area (Cell) which contains all products of one kind only. For example food,
once they leave that area, the next cell may be dedicated to clothes.
Advantages of Cellular Layout:
1. Minimal work in process
2. Reduces space requirement and lead time
3. Productivity and quality improvement
4. Increased flexibility

Disadvantages of Cellular Layout:

1. Proper work and overall production time
2. Work in progress and work movement
3. Overall cost

COMBINATIONS OF LAYOUTS: Although these three are the basic types of

layouts, but we can also see situations in which a these are used in combination
with each other. For example, a superstore uses process layout, but at the cash
counter, products move on a conveyer belt, that is an example of product layout.
Another example is demonstrated in the figure below.

DETAILED DESIGN OF DIFFERENT LAYOUTS

DETAILED DESIGN IN PRODUCT LAYOUT:

The nature of the product layout design decision is a little different from the other
layout types. Rather than ‘where to place what’, product layout is concerned more
with ‘what to place where’. Locations are decided first and then work tasks are
allocated to each location.

For example, it is determined that four work stations are needed to make computer
cases. Then decisions will be made about, which of the tasks are associated with
which of the work stations.

The main product layout decisions are as follows:

o What cycle time is needed?
o How many stages are needed?
o How should the task-time variation be dealt with?
o Line Balancing?
Cycle time is the time between completed products. For example, if a bank takes 15
minutes to process 1 customer, its cycle time is 15 minutes.

Number of Stages depend on the work content. When work content is large, more
stages will be required to complete the work within cycle time.

Task Time variation refers to the variation in cycle time. If ideally, the decided time
is 15 minutes, it may take 17 or 18 minutes for some customers. There is a variation
of 2 to 3 minutes.

Line balancing is the process of assigning tasks to workstations in such a way that
the workstations have approximately equal time requirements. (Please see lecture
notes for example)

DETAILED DESIGN IN PROCESS/FUNCTIONAL LAYOUT:

Detailed design in functional layouts is mostly very complicated because resources
have to be arranged for the convenience of functions being performed. These
functions can vary to a large degree for different operations.

For example, there can be six ways to arrange an operation that contains 3 work
stations and there can be 120 ways to arrange an operation that contains 5 work
centers. It is computed by Factorial N (N!).

N! = N × (N − 1) × (N − 2) × . . . × (1)

The main product layout decisions are as follows:

o The area required by each work centre.
o The constraints on the shape of the area allocated to each work centre.
o The degree and direction of flow between each work centre.
o The location: being close together or close to some fixed point in the layout.

(Please consult lecture notes for example, the following figure shall be helpful to
understand that example)
 Figure 6.5

DETAILED DESIGN IN CELLULAR LAYOUT:

The Following Figure shows how a functional layout has been divided into four
cells, each of which has the resources to process a ‘family’ of products.

Please consult lecture notes for example. The following figure shall be helpful to
understand that.
DETAILED DESIGN IN FIXED POSITION LAYOUT:
In fixed-position arrangements the location of resources will be determined, not on
the basis of the flow of transformed resources, but on the convenience of
transforming resources themselves. The detailed layout of some fixed-position
layouts, such as building sites, can become very complicated, especially if the
planned schedule of activities is changed frequently. Although there are techniques
which help to locate resources on fixed-position layouts, they are not widely used.