Production planning and control

Input-transformation-output process

All operations deliver goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs. On the
table we can see this general process. The transformed inputs are usually a mix of: materials,
information, customers (operations that process customers might change for example their
physical properties for example hairdressers). The transforming resources are the facilities
(buildings, equipment, plant etc.) and the staff (the operating people). The output of the
process are usually a mix of tangible products and intangible services.

Characteristics of operations process

One differentiating system is the 4Vs

 The volume of their output

 The variety of their output
 The variation in the demand for their output
 The degree of visibility which customers have of the creation of their output
Process selection and facility layout

Process selection refers to the organization of the transformation process, so the way
the inputs will circulate and get transformed into outputs. It has implications for the capacity
planning, layout of the facilities, equipment and design of the work systems.

 Process types

Process type is demand driven, and it’s dependent on the variety and the volume of
production. As we can see on the table, different variations in these two elements lead to a
different process type. As the variety decreases, and the volume increases we see a higher
standardization of the products and a decreasing of flexibility and agility.
Job shop is characterized by low or very low volume and high variety. (ex. Emergency
room, custom paintings and car mechanic)
Bach production is moderate both in volume and variety. (ex. Bakery, non-fast food
restaurant and university).
 Repetitive production is high in volume and low in variety. (ex. Assembly line, fast food
and a car wash).
Continuous is very high volumes and very low variety. (ex. Oil mining and water
treatment).

 Process layout (resource organization)

Layout refers to the configuration of departments, work centers, and equipment, with
the basic objective of facilitating the smooth flow of work, movement of the material and
information (aka inputs) through the system.
o Product layout

Product layouts are used to achieve a smooth and fast flow of large volumes of goods
through the system. It is usually used for repetitive processing, and it’s possible by the highly
standardized goods.

We can see on the graph that it that the entire process revolves around the product.
Some advantages of this layout would be: high rate of output, low unit cost, and low
material handling cost.
Also some disadvantages are: that poorly skilled workers may not maintain equipment or
quality of output, needs preventive maintenance and it’s highly susceptible to shutdowns.
 o Process/Functional layout

Here the machinery is grouped by functionality, since the high variety of

processing requirements the workers may need to go form cell 5 to cell 1 and then cell 9, this
causes a discontinuous workflow. It is used by non-repetitive processing needs, usually
jobshops.
Some advantages of this layout are: that it can handle a variety of processing
requirements, equipment used is less costly and not as vulnerable to equipment failures.

The disadvantages are: that in-process inventory cost is high, the routing and scheduling
is challangeing and the material handling is slow and inefficient.
 o Fixed-position layout
In the case of fixed-position layout, the item that is being worked on remains
stationary due to size, bulk or some other factor makes it undesirable or very difficult to
move the product, so everything is brought to the product (workers, materials and
equipment).
Examples for this would be: firefighting, road-building, home-building and
drilling for oil.
o Combination layout
The first three basic layout types are ideal models, which may be altered to satisfy the
needs of a particular situation. For example supermarkets are essentially process layouts, but
we can see the fixet-path material-handling device.
o Cellular layout
 Here the workstations are grouped in cells, the grouping is determined by the
operations needed to perform work for a set of similar items that require similar processing. It
is created by use of group technology, which means the grouping into part families of items
with similar design or manufacturing characteristics.