Flow

The heart of plant layout and

the beginning of the material
handling plan.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 1

 Flow

Flow is the continuous movement of material through

the manufacturing processes and on to the customer.
Material flow
Supplier 1

Primary components

M
Supplier 2 M M Wholesalers Retailers Customers
M

Manufacturers

Supplier n
Information flow

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 2

 Flow

If an operation with perfect flow could be established,

it will nearly eliminate all waste associated with:
(1) Inventory,
(2) Storage space,
(3) Transportation,
(4) Waiting.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 3

 The Impact of Flow

Exceptional flow leads to:

(1) Lower inventories

(2) Better quality
(3) Less floor space
(4) Better communication
(5) Quicker responses to problems
(6) Faster throughput

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 4

 Two Basic Types of Flow

Process orientation layout

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 5

 Two Basic Types of Flow

Product orientation layout

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 6

 Process-oriented layout
and product-oriented layout

In product-oriented layout:

1. Material flow will be much smoother.

2. The distance material has to travel will be much shorter.

3. There is less confusion about which process sequence to use,
or when and where finished material should be transferred
into next station.
4. One concern with the product-oriented layout is the restriction
of the machine capacity. Instead of using one fast, flexible,
expensive machine that can produce many different parts,
cheaper machines that can be used solely for one part are
acquired.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 7

Versatile Versus Dedicated
Equipment

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 8

 Flow

The following lean practices merit strong consideration:

(1) Pull system

(2) One-piece flow
(3) Cellular operation
(4) Product orientation layout
(5) Balanced operations

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 9

 Cellular operation

Operations must be tied together in work cell.

U cell: the best use of floor space

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 10

 Flow Analysis Techniques

Flow analysis determines the path that every

part takes through the plant, which minimizes

(1) distance traveled (measured in feet),

(2) backtracking,
(3) cross traffic,
(4) cost of production.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 11

 Flow Analysis Techniques

Flow analysis will assist the manufacturing facilities

designer in the selection of the most effective arrangement
of machines, facilities, workstations, and departments.

If you improve the product flow, you will automatically

increase profitability.

A core principle of lean manufacturing is the product-

oriented flow layout.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 12

 Flow routing

To establish the best arrangement of equipment,

following four techniques are used:

1. A string diagram
2. A multi-column process chart
3. A from-to chart
4. A process chart

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 13

 Flow routing

Example 1: 5 part-8 workstation layout.

5 parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5;
8 workstations: R, A, B, C, D, E, F, S.

R: receiving station
S: shipping end

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 14

 String diagram

Upper lines: jumping;

Lower lines: backtracking.

Efficiency = 35/67 = 52%

Where is the number 35 from?

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 15
 String diagram

C-D: four paths

B-D: two paths
A-C: four paths
Efficiency = 35/67 = 52%
D-S: three paths ,
Where is the number 35 from?
Ch-5 Flow Analysis 16
 Improved string diagram

Efficiency = 35/57 = 61%

How efficiency can you make this
layout?
Ch-5 Flow Analysis 17
 Multi-column process chart

It uses the same routing information as used in

string diagram, but in different view.
Ch-5 Flow Analysis 18
 From-To Chart

The from-to chart is the most exact technique of the three.

We can develop an efficiency that considers the
importance of the parts. Up until now, we have considered
each part as equal in importance, but the quantity and
weight of each part was recorded and should be
considered.
(Example 1 continued)

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 19

 From-To Chart

From-To Chart of Part 1 with an equal

importance value of 1.

The routing of
Part 1:
RABDCFS

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 20

 From-To Chart

From-To Chart Alphabetical Layout for all 5 parts

considering the importance values.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 21

 From-To Chart
(Original)
From-To Chart Alphabetical Layout for all 5 parts
considering the importance values and penalty points.

Upper triangle matrix:

P.P. = Importance value
X forward step(s)
Lower triangle matrix:
P.P. = IV X (2 FS)
Ch-5 Flow Analysis 22
 From-To Chart
(Original)

From-To Chart Alphabetical Layout for all 5 parts

considering the importance values and penalty points.

Upper triangle matrix:

P.P. = Importance value
X forward step(s)
Lower triangle matrix:
P.P. = IV X (2 FS)

Efficiency =
283/1077.5 = 26%

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 23

 From-To Chart
(Improved)
From-To Chart Alphabetical Layout for all 5 parts
considering the importance values and penalty points.

Upper triangle matrix:

P.P. = Importance value
X forward step(s)
Lower triangle matrix:
P.P. = IV X (2 FS)
Ch-5 Flow Analysis 24
 From-To Chart
(Improved)

From-To Chart Alphabetical Layout for all 5 parts

considering the importance values and penalty points.

Upper triangle matrix:

P.P. = Importance value
X forward step(s)
Lower triangle matrix:
P.P. = IV X (2 FS)

Efficiency =
283/548 = 51.6%

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 25

 Flow Diagram

The flow diagrams show the path traveled by each part from
receiving to stores to fabrication of each part to subassembly to final
assembly to packout to warehousing to shipping. These paths are
drawn on a layout of the plant.
The flow diagram will point out problems with such factors as cross
traffic, backtracking, and distance traveled.

Cross traffic:
Where flow lines cross. Cross traffic is undesirable and a
better layout would have less intersection paths. Anywhere traffic
crosses is a problem because of congestion and safety
considerations.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 26

 Flow Diagram
One part Toolbox

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 27

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 28
Ch-5 Flow Analysis 29
Ch-5 Flow Analysis 30
 Where Can One-piece Flow Processing Be
Applied?

A, B, C, D are workstations, and the bar indicates the cycle time.

The dash line shows takt time for the processes.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 31

 Where Can One-piece Flow Processing Be
Applied?

1. The largest cycle time in the line should be less than takt time.
2. The line should be balanced (The cycle times should be even).

Figure-13 shows re-

balanced cycle times for the
line. To balance the line,
process D is taken off form the
line.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 32

 Balancing Concerns

Bottlenecks: overloaded work stations (large cycle time

stations) that do not have enough capacity for the
prescribed load.
Bottlenecks dictate throughput.
Time saved at a non-bottleneck saves the system
nothing.
Using a non-bottleneck 100% of the time does not
produce 100% utilization.
The capacity of the system depends on the capacity of
the bottleneck.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 33

 Managing Bottlenecks

Establish time buffer before each bottleneck.

Control the rate of material feeding the

bottleneck (gate operation).

Do everything to increase capacity of bottleneck.

Adjust loads, change schedule. Loads that can

be split, should be.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 34

 Push or Pull?

In a push system, the traditional manufacturing, items

from one workstation are pushed onto the succeeding
workstation indiscriminately, regardless if that plant is
ready to process the items or not.

The material movement is scheduled by plan.

That plan is made some time before and based
on forecasting.
This is a production-oriented approach.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 35

 Push or Pull?

A push system
Ch-5 Flow Analysis 36
 Push or Pull?

The main advantages of push system are:

(a) It spreads overhead cost and continuous

utilization of people and equipment.
(b) It allows for the development of well-integrated
production plant.
(c) It is most familiar to the employees.
(d) It has the flexibility to produce various product
types.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 37

 Push or Pull?

The following problems may occur in push

system:

(1) High inventories (or WIP)

(2) Potential quality problem
(3) High floor space
(4) Poor communication
(5) Slow responses to problems
(6) Over production or shortage
(7) Queuing or starvation

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 38

 Push or Pull?

In a pull system:
production is triggered by the demand at the final stage. At
each intermediate stage, it is triggered by its succeeding
stage(s)this process is carried all the way from the final
stage to the beginning stage. Thus, the production is
controlled (i.e., pulled) by demand of the succeeding stage.

The JIT (Just-in-time) system is easily implemented.

Kanban is usually a tool for pull production system.
Lean manufacturing likes pull badly.
It is a customer-oriented approach.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 39

 Push or Pull?

A pull system
Ch-5 Flow Analysis 40
 Push or Pull?

The main advantages of the pull system are:

(a) It is relatively inexpensive as it does not require
a comprehensive entourage of employees and
information processing equipment to be functional.
(b) Inventory is not perpetual.
(c) The production model reflects the actual
production better.
(d) The approach leads itself to a very simple
control mechanism, best known as kanban system. The
workers working in a kanban controlled production line
only need to follow the simple rule: No kanban, no
production.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 41

 Push or Pull?

The disadvantages of the pull system are:

(1) People and equipment may not be fully in use

at all times.
(2) No detailed plans.
(3) People are unfamiliar with a pull system.
(4) It does not maintain the same level of flexibility
as push system.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 42

 Push or Pull?

Spearman and Zazanis (1992) examined the behavior

of push and pull production systems. After comparisons,
they included three conjectures:

(1) pull systems had less congestion.

(2) pull systems were inherently easier to control.
(3) the benefits of a pull environment owed more to
the fact that WIP was bounded than to the practice of
pulling everywhere.

Ch-5 Flow Analysis 43