Operations

Management
Layout Strategy
1

What is Facility Layout

Location

or arrangement of everything

within & around buildings

Determines

long-run efficiency of

operations
Helps

achieve a strategy that

supports differentiation, low cost or

quick response
2

Strategic Importance of
Layout
Proper layout enables:
Higher

utilization of space, equipment and

people
Improved

flow of information, materials, or

people
Improved

employee morale and safer working

conditions
Improved

customer/client interaction

Flexibility

to change--use small, movable or

modular equipment; etc

3

Layout Strategies
Office

layout

positions workers, their equipment, and

spaces/offices to provide for movement
of communication and information

Retail/service layout

allocates shelf space and responds to

customer behavior

Warehouse layout

addresses trade-offs between space

and material handling
4

Seven Layout Strategies

Fixed-position

layout

large bulky projects such as ships and

buildings

Process-oriented

layout

deals with low-volume, high-variety

production (job shop, intermittent
production)

Product-oriented layout

seeks the best personnel and machine use in

repetitive or continuous production, line
balancing
5

Office Layout
Design

positions people,
equipment, & offices for
maximum people and
information flow, comfort and
safety
Relationship chart used
Examples
Banks
Software company

Office Layout Floor Plan

Finance

Accounting
Fin.

Manager

Acct.

Brand X

Retail/Service Layout
Design

maximizes product
exposure to customers
Decision variables
Store flow pattern
Allocation of (shelf) space to products

Retail Layouts Some Rules of Thumb

Locate

high-draw items around the

periphery of the store
Use prominent locations such as the
first or last aisle for high-impulse and
high margin items
Distribute power items (items that
may dominate a shopping trip) to both
sides of an aisle, and disperse them to
increase the viewing of other items
Use end aisle locations because they
have a very high exposure rate
9

A Good Service Layout

Considers
Ambient

conditions - background

characteristics such as lighting, sound,

smell, and temperature.
Spatial

layout and functionality - which

involve customer circulation path planning

Signs,

Symbols, and Artifacts -

characteristics of building design that

carry significance
10

Warehouse Layout
Design

balances between space

utilization & handling cost

Similar

to process layout

Items moved between dock & various

storage areas

Optimum

layout depends on

Variety

of items stored

Number

of items picked
11

Fixed-Position Layout
Design

is for stationary project

Workers

and equipment come to site

Complicating

factors

Limited space at site

House, shipyard etc.

12

Process-Oriented Layout
Design

places departments with large

flows of material or people together

Department

areas having similar

processes located in close proximity

e.g., All x-ray machines in same area

Supports

process-focused strategy i.e.

product differentiation stategy

13

Emergency Room Layout

Triage room

Patient A broken leg

ry

E.R. Admissions
Su
rge

Patient B heart
problems

Labs
Ra
dio
log
y

E.R. beds

Pharmacy

Billing/exit
14

Product-Oriented Layout
Facility

organized around product

Design minimizes line imbalance

Delay between work stations

Types:

Fabrication line; assembly line

15

Steps in Developing a
Process-Oriented Layout
1
2
3
4
5
6

Construct a from-to matrix

Determine space requirements for each
department
Develop an initial schematic diagram
Determine the cost of this layout
By trial-and-error (or more sophisticated
means), try to improve the initial layout
Prepare a detailed plan that evaluates
factors in addition to transportation cost

Cost of Process-Oriented
Layout
n

Minimize cost X ij C ij
i 1 j1

where n total number of work centers

or departments
i, j individual departments
X ij number of loads moved from
department i to department j
C ij cost to move a load between
department i and department j

Interdepartmental Flow
of Parts
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
6

50

100

20

30

50

10

20

100

50

0
0

Interdepartmental Flow
Graph Showing Number
100
of Weekly Loads
1

50

30
20

50

10
50

20

100

Possible Layout 1
Room 1

Room 2

Room 2

Assembly

Printing

Machine Shop

Department

Department

Department

(1)

(2)

(3)

Receiving

Shipping

Testing

Department

Department

Department

(4)

Room 4

(5)

Room 5
60

(6)

Room 6

40

Interdepartmental Flow
Graph Showing Number
30
of Weekly Loads
2 2
2
1

50

100

20

50

20

100

10
4

50

Possible Layout 3
Room 1

Room 2

Painting

Assembly

Machine Shop

Department

Department

Department

(2)

(1)

Room 2

(3)

Receiving

Shipping

Testing

Department

Department

Department

(4)

Room 4

(5)

Room 5
60

(6)

Room 6

40

Assembly Line Balancing

Analysis

of production lines
Nearly equally divides work between
workstations while meeting required
output
Objectives
Maximize efficiency
Minimize number of
work stations

Assembly Line Balancing

The General Procedure

Determine cycle time by taking the

demand (or production rate) per day and
dividing it into the productive time
available per day
Calculate the theoretical minimum number
of work stations by dividing total task time
by cycle time
Perform the line balance and assign
specific assembly tasks to each work
station

Assembly Line Balancing

Steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Determine tasks (operations)

Determine sequence
Draw precedence diagram
Estimate task times
Calculate cycle time
Calculate number of work stations
Assign tasks
Calculate efficiency

Precedence Diagram
Example
10
Min.
A

11

C
4

5
3

D
12

11

Assembly Line Balancing

Equations
Cycle time
Minimum
number of
work
stations
Efficiency

Production time available

Demand per day
Task times

Cycle time
Task times
(Actual
* (Cycle time)
number of
work stations)

Cycle time calc.

On

the basis of precedence diagram and

activity times given above, the firm
determines that there are 480
productive minutes of work available per
day. Furthermore, production schedule
requires that 40 units be completed as
output from the assembly line each day.
Cycle time:480/40=12 minutes per unit
Min no. of workstations:66/12=5.5 or 6

Six Station Solution

5
C

10

11

3
I

12

11