Facility Layout

Prepared by: Jonathan Desenganio

 refers to the configuration of departments, work centers, and equipment, with
Layout particular emphasis on movement of work (customers or materials) through
the system

Importance for 3 basic reasons:

1. They require substantial investments of money and effort
2. They involve long-term commitments, which makes mistakes difficult
to overcome
3. They have a significant impact on the cost and efficiency of
operations
 Objective of Layout Design
to facilitate a smooth flow of work, material, and information through
the system
Movement
Quality Efficiency Inventory

To facilitate To use workers

To avoid To minimize To eliminate
attainment of product and space
or service quality bottlenecks material unnecessary
efficiently
handling costs. movements of
workers or materials
Objective of Layout Design
to facilitate a smooth flow of work, material, and information through
the system
time

To minimize production To design for safety

time or customer service
time
The need for layout decisions
• Inefficient operations
• For example: High Cost Bottlenecks
• Changes in the design of products or services
• The introduction of new products or services
• Accidents; safety hazards
• Changes in environmental or other legal requirements
• Changes in volume of output or mix of products
• Changes in methods and equipment
• Morale problems
BASIC LAYOUT TYPES
• Product layout
• A 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
• Combination layout
• A layout that combines these three basic layout types
PRODUCT VS PROCESS LAYOUT
Process Layout
(functional)
Used for Intermittent Processing
Job Shop and Batch Process
Product Layout
(sequential)
Used for Repetitive Processing
Repetitive and Continuous Process
FIXED POSITION LAYOUT
DESIGNING PRODUCT LAYOUTS
• Line Balancing
- process of assigning tasks to workstations in such a way
that the workstations have approximately equal time
requirements.

• Cycle Time
- the maximum time allowed at each workstation to
complete its set of tasks on a unit.
Some of
Advantages and
Disadvantages
Advantages of Product Layout
1. A high rate of output.
2. Low unit cost due to high volume. The high cost of specialized equipment is
spread over many units.
3. Labor specialization, which reduces training costs and time, and results in a
wide span of supervision.
4. Low material-handling cost per unit. Material handling is simplified because
units follow the same sequence of operations. Material handling is often
automated.
5. A high utilization of labor and equipment.
6. The establishment of routing and scheduling in the initial design of the system.
These activities do not require much attention once the system is operating.
7. Fairly routine accounting, purchasing, and inventory control.
Disadvantages of Product Layout
1. The intensive division of labor usually creates dull, repetitive
jobs that provide little opportunity for advancement and may
lead to morale problems and to repetitive stress injuries.
2. Poorly skilled workers may exhibit little interest in maintaining
equipment or in the quality of output.
3. The system is fairly inflexible in response to changes in the
volume of output or changes in product or process design.
Disadvantages of Product Layout
4. The system is highly susceptible to shutdowns caused by equipment
breakdowns or excessive absenteeism because workstations are
highly interdependent.
5. Preventive maintenance, the capacity for quick repairs, and spare-
parts inventories are necessary expenses.
6. Incentive plans tied to individual output are impractical since they
would cause variations among outputs of individual workers, which
would adversely affect the smooth flow of work through the
system.
Advantages of Process Layout
1. The systems can handle a variety of processing
requirements.
2. The systems are not particularly vulnerable to equipment
failures.
3. General-purpose equipment is often less costly than the
specialized equipment used in product layouts and is easier
and less costly to maintain.
4. It is possible to use individual incentive systems.
Disadvantages of Process Layout
1. In-process inventory costs can be high if batch processing is used in manufacturing
systems.
2. Routing and scheduling pose continual challenges.
3. Equipment utilization rates are low.
4. Material handling is slow and inefficient, and more costly per unit than in product
layouts.
5. Job complexities often reduce the span of supervision and result in higher
supervisory costs than with product layouts.
6. Special attention necessary for each product or customer (e.g., routing, scheduling,
machine setups) and low volumes result in higher unit costs than with product
layouts.
7. Accounting, inventory control, and purchasing are much more involved than with
product layouts.
 QUESTIONS?
SUGGESTION?
FEEDBACK?
THANKYOU