6-1 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Selection and Facility Layout

Operations Management, Eighth Edition, by William J. Stevenson

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
6-2 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Selection and Facility Layout

Processes convert inputs into outputs
Process selection refers to deciding on the way
production of goods or services will be organized
It affects the entire organization and its ability to
achieve its mission and effective supply chain
system
 6-3 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Introduction
 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 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Selection and System Design

Facilities and
Forecasting Capacity Equipment
Planning

Product and Layout

Service Design

Process
Technological Selection Work
Change Design
6-5 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Strategy
◦ Key aspects help in process selection are –
◦ Capital Intensity – The mix of equipment and labor that will be
used by the organization

◦ Process Flexibility – The degree to which the system can be

adjusted to changes in processing requirements due to such factors
as changes in product or service design, changes in volume
processed and changes in technology

How much variety

in products or What degree of
What is the
services will the equipment
expected volume
system need to flexibility will be
of output
handle needed
6-6 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Type
 JOB SHOP
◦ A job shop usually operates on a relatively small scale. It is used
when a low volume of high variety goods or service will be
needed.
◦ Here processing is intermittent – work includes small jobs, each
with different processing requirements
◦ High flexibility using general purpose equipment and skilled
workers are important characteristics of a job shop

 Organization producing state of the art tools

 Hospital medical service
6-7 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Type (Contd.)

 BATCH
◦ Batch processing is used when a moderate volume of goods or services
is desired. Also it can handle a moderate variety in products or services
◦ The equipment need not be as flexible as in a job shop but processing
is still intermittent
◦ The skill level of workers does not need to be as high as in a job shop
because there is less variety in the jobs

 Bakeries which make bread, cakes, cookies in batches

 Plane carrying batches of people from airport to airport
 Concerts, television programs
6-8 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Type (Contd.)

 REPETITIVE
◦ When higher volumes of more standardized goods or services are
needed, repetitive processing is used. Standardized output means
only slight flexibility of equipment is needed
◦ The requirement of skilled workers is generally low

 Manufacturing plants producing pencils, television sets etc.

 Automatic carwash, cafeteria lines etc.
6-9 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Type (Contd.)

 CONTINUOUS FLOW
◦ When a very high volume of nondiscrete, highly standardized output
is desired, a continuous system is used
◦ These systems have almost no variety in output and hence no need
for equipment flexibility
◦ Highly specialized equipment can turn down the requirement of
expert worker

 Factory producing sugar, flour, steel, salt

 Internet service
6-10 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Type (Contd.)

 PROJECT
◦ A nonrepetitive set of activities directed toward a unique goal
within limited time frame
◦ A project is used for work that is nonroutine, with a unique set of
objectives to be accomplished in a limited time frame
◦ Equipment flexibility and worker skill can range from low to high

 Building a dam, making a motion picture,

 Launching a new product or service
6-11 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Product – Process Matrix

Process Type Job Shop Batch Repetitive Continuous
Job Shop Appliance repair Not
Emergency feasible
room
Batch Commercial
bakery
Classroom
Lecture
Repetitive Automotive
assembly
Automatic
carwash
Continuous Not Oil refinery
feasible Water purification
(flow)
6-12 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Product – Process Matrix

Dimension Job Shop Batch Repetitive Continuous

Job variety Very High Moderate/high Low Very low
Process Very High Moderate/high Low Very low
flexibility

Unit cost Very High Moderate/high Low Very low

Volume of Very Low Low High Very High
output

Measures:
Very High
Moderate
Low
Very Low
 6-13 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Automation
 Automation: Machinery that has sensing and control
devices that enables it to operate.
◦ Automation is frequently pushed as a strategy necessary for cost competitiveness
◦ Automation also offers a number of disadvantages over human labor
◦ Technology is very expensive, usually it requires high volumes of output to offset
high costs
◦ Automation is much less flexible. Once the process has been automated, there is
substantial reason for not changing it
 Careful planning is necessary to successfully integrate automation into a production
system
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Automation
• Computer-aided design and manufacturing systems
(CAD/CAM)
• Numerically controlled (NC) machines [it performs operations by
following mathematical processing instructions]
• Robot
• Manufacturing cell
• Flexible manufacturing systems(FMS) [it is a group of machines
designed to handle intermittent processing and produce similar products]
• Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)
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Types of Automation
 FIXED AUTOMATION
◦ It is the most rigid type automation. Sometimes referred as Detroit type
automation

◦ It uses high cost, specialized equipment for a fixed sequence of operations.

Low cost and high volume production are its primary advantages

◦ Minimal variety and the cost of making major changes in either product or
process are its primary limitations
6-16 Process Selection and Facility Layout

 PROGRAMMABLE AUTOMATION
◦ Programmable automation involves use of high cost, general purpose
equipment controlled by a computer program. The computer provides
both the sequence of operations and specific details about each operation

◦ It has the capability of economically producing a fairly wide variety of

low volume products in small batches

 Robot is a machine consisting of a mechanical arm, a power supply and

a controller. Robots can handle a wide variety of tasks including
welding, assembly, loading and unloading of machines, painting and
testing.
6-17 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Types of Automation (Contd.)

 FLEXIBLE AUTOMATION
◦ Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS): A FMS is a group of
machines that include supervisory computer control, automatic
material handling and robots. This system can produce a variety of
similar products. Systems can range from three or four machines to
more than a dozen
◦ It has the capability of reducing labor cost and maintain the quality
constantly
◦ It requires less capital investment and offers high flexibility than
fixed automation
◦ FMS helps to achieve both the flexibility of job shop processing
and productivity of repetitive process systems