6

Process Selection
and Facility Layout
 Learning Outcomes
§ Explain the strategic importance of process selection.
§ Explain the influence that process selection has on an
organization.
§ Describe the basic processing types.
§ Discuss automated approaches to processing.
§ Explain the need for management of technology.

6-2
 Learning Outcomes
§ List some reasons for redesign of layouts.
§ Describe the basic layout types.
§ List the main advantages and disadvantages of
product layouts and process layouts.
§ Solve simple line-balancing problems.
§ Develop simple process layouts.

6-3
 Introduction
Processes convert inputs into outputs;
They are at the core of operations management

§ Process selection
§ Deciding on the way production of goods or services
will be organized
§ Major implications
§ Capacity planning
§ Layout of facilities
§ Equipment
§ Design of work systems

6-4
Methods of production
 Process Selection and System Design
Figure 6.1

Facilities and
Forecasting Capacity Equipment
Planning

Product and Layout

Service Design

Process
Technological Selection Work
Change Design

6-6
 Process Strategy
• Key aspects of process strategy
– Capital intensive – equipment/labor
– Process flexibility
– Technology
– Adjust to changes
– Design
– Volume
– technology

6-7
 Technology
§ Technology: The application of scientific
discoveries to the development and
improvement of products and services and
operations processes.
§ Technology innovation: The discovery and
development of new or improved products,
services, or processes for producing or
providing them.

6-8
 Kinds of Technology
§ Operations management is primarily
concerned with three kinds of technology:
§ Product and service technology
§ Process technology
§ Information technology
§ All three have a major impact on:
§ Costs
§ Productivity
§ Competitiveness

6-9
 Technology Competitive
Advantage
§ Innovations in
§ Products and services
§ Cell phones
§ PDAs
§ Wireless computing
§ Processing technology
§ Increasing productivity
§ Increasing quality
§ Lowering costs

6-10
 Technology Acquisition
§ Technology can have benefits but …
§ Technology risks include:
§ What technology will and will not do
§ Technical issues
§ Economic issues
§ Initial costs, space, cash flow, maintenance
§ Consultants and/or skilled employees
§ Integration cost, time resources
§ Training, safety, job loss

6-11
6-12
 Process Selection

§ Variety Batch
§ How much project
§ Flexibility
Job Shop Repetitive
§ What degree
§ Volume
§ Expected output Continuous

6-13
 Process Types
§ Project: only 1
§ Job shop
§ Small scale
§ Batch
§ Moderate volume
§ Repetitive/assembly line
§ High volumes of standardized goods or
services
§ Continuous
§ Very high volumes of non-discrete goods
6-14
 Product and Service
Figure 6.2 Processes
Process Type
Job Shop Appliance repair Ineffective
Emergency
room
Batch Commercial
baking
Classroom
Lecture
Repetitive Automotive
assembly
Automatic
carwash
Continuous Ineffective Steel Production
Water purification
(flow)

6-15
 Product – Process Matrix
Figure 6.2 (cont’d)

Dimension
Job variety Very High Moderate Low Very low
Process Very High Moderate Low Very low
flexibility

Unit cost Very High Moderate Low Very low

Volume of Very High Low High Very low
output

6-16
Product and Process Profiling
§ Process selection can involve substantial
investment in
§ Equipment
§ Layout of facilities
§ Product profiling: Linking key product or service
requirements to process capabilities
§ Key dimensions
§ Range of products or services
§ Expected order sizes
§ Pricing strategies
§ Expected schedule changes
§ Order winning requirements
6-17
 Automation
§ Automation: Machinery that has sensing
and control devices that enables it to
operate
§ Fixed automation
§ Programmable automation

6-18
 Automation
• Computer-aided design and
manufacturing systems (CAD/CAM)
• Numerically controlled (NC) machines
• Robot
• Manufacturing cell
• Flexible manufacturing systems(FMS)
• Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)

6-19
 Facilities Layout
§ Layout: the configuration of
departments, work centers, and
equipment, with particular emphasis on
movement of work (customers or
materials) through the system
§ Product layouts
§ Process layouts
§ Fixed-Position layout
§ Combination layouts

6-20
How airplanes are made…
Boeing 737
 Objective of Layout Design
1. Facilitate attainment of product or service quality
2. Use workers and space efficiently
3. Avoid bottlenecks
4. Minimize unnecessary material handling costs
5. Eliminate unnecessary movement of workers or
materials
6. Minimize production time or customer service time
7. Design for safety

6-23
 Importance of Layout
Decisions
§ Requires substantial investments of
money and effort
§ Involves long-term commitments
§ Has significant impact on cost and
efficiency of short-term operations

6-24
The Need for Layout Decisions

Inefficient operations
For Example: Changes in the design
High Cost of products or services
Bottlenecks

Accidents
The introduction of new
products or services

Safety hazards

6-25
 The Need for Layout Design
(Cont’d)
Changes in
environmental Changes in volume of
or other legal output or mix of
requirements products

Morale problems
Changes in methods
and equipment

6-26
 Basic Layout Types

§ Product layouts
§ Process layouts
§ Fixed-Position layout
§ Combination layouts

6-27
 Basic Layout Types
§ Product layout
§ Layout that uses standardized processing
operations to achieve smooth, rapid, high-
volume flow
§ Process layout
§ Layout that can handle varied processing
requirements
§ Fixed Position layout
§ Layout in which the product or project
remains stationary, and workers, materials,
and equipment are moved as needed

6-28
 Product Layout
Figure 6.4

Raw Finished
Station Station Station Station
materials 1 2 3 4 item
or customer
Material Material Material Material
and/or and/or and/or and/or
labor labor labor labor

Used for Repetitive or Continuous Processing

6-29
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

6-30
 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

6-31
 A U-Shaped Production Line
Figure 6.6

In 1 2 3 4

Workers

Out 10 9 8 7

6-32
 Process Layout
Figure 6.7
Process Layout
(functional)

Dept. A Dept. C Dept. E

Dept. B Dept. D Dept. F

Used for Intermittent processing

Job Shop or Batch Processes

6-33
 Product Layout
Figure 6.7 (cont’d)
Product Layout
(sequential)

Work Work Work

Station 1 Station 2 Station 3

Used for Repetitive Processing

Repetitive or Continuous Processes

6-34
 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

6-35
 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

6-36
 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
6-37
 Cellular Layouts

§ Cellular Production
§ Layout in which machines are grouped into
a cell that can process items that have
similar processing requirements
§ Group Technology
§ The grouping into part families of items with
similar design or manufacturing
characteristics

6-38
 Functional vs. Cellular Layouts
Table 6.3
Dimension Functional Cellular
Number of moves many few
between departments
Travel distances longer shorter
Travel paths variable fixed
Job waiting times greater shorter
Throughput time higher lower
Amount of work in higher lower
process
Supervision difficulty higher lower
Scheduling complexity higher lower
Equipment utilization lower higher

6-39
 Service Layouts
§ Warehouse and storage layouts
§ Retail layouts
§ Office layouts
§ Service layouts must be aesthetically
pleasing as well as functional

6-40
 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.

6-41
 Cycle Time

Cycle time is the maximum time

allowed at each workstation to
complete its set of tasks on a unit.

6-42
 Determine Maximum Output
OT
Output rate =
CT

OT = operating time per day

D = Desired output rate

Desired
OT
Desired CT = cycle time = = TAKT TIME
D
6-43
Determine the Minimum Number
of Workstations Required

( å t)
N=
CT

å t = sum of task time

6-44
 Precedence Diagram
Precedence diagram: Tool used in line balancing to display elemental
tasks and sequence requirements
0.1 min. 1.0 min.
A Simple Precedence
a b Diagram

c d e

0.7 min. 0.5 min. 0.2 min.

TASK TIME: the time set in an incentive

wage system as proper for the performance
of an operation by a worker

TAKT TIME (desired cycle time): is the rate at which you

need to complete a product to meet customer demand

6-45
Discussion
0.1 min. 1.0 min.
Working hour: 8 hours/day
a b

c d e

0.7 min. 0.5 min. 0.2 min.

Q1: 1 worker
à How many units of product A can be produced in one day?
à What arrangement of machines and personnel can be?

Q2: Demand = 480 units/day

à What will you do?

6-46
 Example 1: Assembly Line
Balancing
§ Arrange tasks shown in Figure 6.10
into three workstations.
§ Use a cycle time of 1.0 minute
§ Assign tasks in order of the most number
of followers

6-47
 0.1 min.
Example
1.0 min.
1 Solution
A Simple
a b Precedence
Diagram
c d e
0.7 min. 0.5 0.2 min.
min. Revised
Time Assign Time Station
Workstation Remaining Eligible Task Remaining Idle Time
1 1.0 a, c a 0.9
0.9 C, b c 0.2
0.2 b - 0.2
2 1.0 b b 0.0 0.0
3 1.0 d d 0.5
0.5 e e 0.3 0.3
0.3 - - 0.5

6-48
Calculate Percent Idle Time

Idle time per cycle

Percent idle time =
(N)(CT)

Efficiency = 1 – Percent idle time

6-49
 Line Balancing Rules
Some Heuristic (intuitive) Rules:

§ Assign tasks in order of most following

tasks.
§ Count the number of tasks that follow
§ Assign tasks in order of greatest
positional weight.
§ Positional weight is the sum of each task’s
time and the times of all following tasks.

6-50
 Example 2

0.2 0.2 0.3

a b e

0.8 0.6
c d f g h
1.0 0.4 0.3

6-51
 Solution to Example 2

Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4

a b e
f g h
c d

6-52
 Bottleneck Workstation
Example: A job has four tasks; task times are 1 minute, 1 minute, 2
minutes, and 1 minute.
The cycle time for the line would be 2 minutes, and the output rate would
be 30 units per hour

30/hr. 30/hr. 30/hr. 30/hr.

1 min. 1 min. 2 min. 1 min.

Bottleneck

6-53
 Parallel Workstations

30/hr. 2 min. 30/hr.

60/hr. 60/hr.
1 min. 1 min. 1 min.
30/hr.
2 min. 30/hr.

Parallel Workstations

Using parallel stations for the third task would result in a cycle time of
1 minute because the output rate at the parallel stations would be
equal to that of a single station and allow an output rate for the line of
60 units per hour

6-54
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

6-55
Example 3: Interdepartmental Work Flows
for Assigned Departments
Figure 6.13
30

170 10
1 3 2
0

A B C

6-56
 Process Layout
Milling

Assembly
Grinding
& Test

Drilling Plating
Process Layout - work travels
to dedicated process centers

6-57
 Functional Layout

222 222 222

111 Drill Grind
Mill

22
444 3333

222
444

1111 2222 Assembly

33
33

44
111 333
33

44
333
33

4
111
333
3

111
Heat 111 Gear
333 Lathes treat cutting 444

6-58
 Cellular Manufacturing Layout

Heat Gear
-1111 Lathe Mill Drill -1111
treat cut

Heat
222222222 Mill Drill Grind - 2222

Assembly
treat

Heat
3333333333 Lathe Mill Grind - 3333
treat

44444444444444 Mill Drill Gear - 4444

cut

6-59
6-60
 TAKT = Desire cycle time
= 60/33.33 = 1.8
N = 6/1.8 =3.33
à 4 workstations
à E = (1 – (1.2/4x1.8))100
à E = 83.333%

W Time Eligibl Assigned Revised Idle time

remaining e task remaining
time
1 1.8 a a 0.4
0.4 b - 0.4 0.4
2 1.8 b b 1.3
1.3 c, d, e E 0.5
0.5 C, d, - 0.5 0.5
3 1.8 C, d D 1.1
1.1 C, g C 0.5
0.5 G, f f 0 0
4 1.8 G G 0.8
0.8 h H 0.3 0.3
1.2
6-61