Central focus (main objectives) of manufacturing facility layouts
a) To
minimize the cost of processing, transporting, and storing materials throughout
the production system.
·
To achieve objectives with least capital
investment (minimum spending on machines and equipment. Capital investment should be minimal when finalizing different models of facility layout.)
·
To conform to site and building constraints (an example of constraints is space)
·
To provide enough production capacity
·
To allow high labor, machine, and space
utilization and productivity (Optimum space utilization reduces the time in material and people movement and promotes safety).
·
To provide for volume and product flexibility (ability to produce greater quantity and variety of goods)
·
To allow for ease of supervision
·
To allow for ease of maintenance
·
To reduce material‑handling costs
b)
To provide space for restrooms, cafeterias, and
other personal‑care needs of employees (focus is on well-being of employees)
·
To provide for employee safety and health
A model facility layout should be able to provide an ideal relationship between raw material, equipment, manpower and final product at minimal cost under safe and comfortable environment. An efficient and effective facility layout can cover following objectives:
- To provide optimum space to organize equipment and facilitate movement of goods and to create safe and comfortable work environment.
- To promote order in production towards a single objective
- To reduce movement of workers, raw material and equipment
- To promote safety of plant as well as its workers
- To facilitate extension or change in the layout to accommodate new product line or technology upgradation
- To increase production capacity of the organization
An organization can achieve the above-mentioned objective by ensuring the following:
- Better training of the workers and supervisors.
- Creating awareness about of health hazard and safety standards
- Optimum utilization of workforce and equipment
- Encouraging empowerment and reducing administrative and other indirect work
Basic types of layouts
a)
Office layout – Grouping of workers, their
equipment, and spaces to provide comfort, safety and movement of
information. Typically in state of flux
due to frequent technological changes.
b) Process layout – For producing a variety of custom products in relatively small batches. Typically use general purpose machines that can be changed over rapidly to new operations for different product design.
The process layout groups together workers or departments that perform similar tasks. Goods in process (goods not yet finished) move from one workstation to another. At each position, workers use specialized equipment to perform a particular step in the production process. To better understand how this layout works, we’ll look at the production process at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. Let’s say that you just placed an order for a personalized teddy bear—a “hiker bear” with khaki shorts, a white T-shirt with your name embroidered on it, faux-leather hiking boots, and a nylon backpack with sleeping bag. Your bear begins at the fur-cutting workstation, where its honey-brown “fur” coat is cut. It then moves to the stuffing and sewing workstation to get its insides and have its sides stitched together. Next, it moves to the dressing station, where it’s outfitted with all the cool clothes and gear that you ordered. Finally, it winds up in the shipping station and starts its journey to your house.
c) Product layout -For producing a few standardized products in relatively large quantities. Typically use specialized machines that are set up once to perform a specific operation for a long period of time on one product.
In a product layout, high-volume goods are produced efficiently by people, equipment, or departments arranged in an assembly line—that is, a series of workstations at which already-made parts are assembled. Just Born, a candy maker located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, makes a product called Marshmallow Peeps on an assembly line. First, the ingredients are combined and whipped in huge kettles. Then, sugar is added for color. At the next workstation, the mixture—colored warm marshmallow—is poured into baby-chick–shaped molds carried on conveyor belts. The conveyor-belt parade of candy pieces then moves forward to stations where workers add eyes or other details. When the finished candy reaches the packaging area, it’s wrapped for shipment to stores around the world.
Both product and process layouts arrange work by function. At the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, for example, the cutting function is performed in one place, the stuffing-and-sewing function in another place, and the dressing function in a third place. If you’re a cutter, you cut all day; if you’re a sewer, you sew all day: that’s your function. The same is true for the production of Marshmallow Peeps at Just Born: if your function is to decorate peeps, you stand on an assembly line and decorate all day; if your function is packing, you pack all day.
d) Fixed-position layout – For working on a product that is very bulky, large, heavy, or fragile with workers, materials, and machines transported to and from the product.
e) Work Cells (Cellular manufacturing) layout- Machines are grouped into cells, and the cells function somewhat like a product layout island within a larger process layout. Cells are usually formed by taking production of parts from an existing job shop.
Arranging work by function, however, isn’t always efficient. Production lines can back up, inventories can build up, workers can get bored with repetitive jobs, and time can be wasted in transporting goods from one workstation to another. To counter some of these problems, many manufacturers have adopted a cellular layout, in which small teams of workers handle all aspects of building a component, a “family” of components, or even a finished product. Each team works in a small area, or cell, equipped with everything that it needs to function as a self-contained unit. Machines are sometimes configured in a U-shape, with people working inside the U. Because team members often share duties, they’re trained to perform several different jobs. Teams monitor both the quantity and the quality of their own output. This arrangement often results in faster completion time, lower inventory levels, improved quality, and better employee morale. Cellular manufacturing is used by large manufacturers, such as Boeing, Raytheon, and Pratt & Whitney, as well as by small companies, such as Little Enterprise, which makes components for robots.
b) Process layout – For producing a variety of custom products in relatively small batches. Typically use general purpose machines that can be changed over rapidly to new operations for different product design.
The process layout groups together workers or departments that perform similar tasks. Goods in process (goods not yet finished) move from one workstation to another. At each position, workers use specialized equipment to perform a particular step in the production process. To better understand how this layout works, we’ll look at the production process at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. Let’s say that you just placed an order for a personalized teddy bear—a “hiker bear” with khaki shorts, a white T-shirt with your name embroidered on it, faux-leather hiking boots, and a nylon backpack with sleeping bag. Your bear begins at the fur-cutting workstation, where its honey-brown “fur” coat is cut. It then moves to the stuffing and sewing workstation to get its insides and have its sides stitched together. Next, it moves to the dressing station, where it’s outfitted with all the cool clothes and gear that you ordered. Finally, it winds up in the shipping station and starts its journey to your house.
c) Product layout -For producing a few standardized products in relatively large quantities. Typically use specialized machines that are set up once to perform a specific operation for a long period of time on one product.
In a product layout, high-volume goods are produced efficiently by people, equipment, or departments arranged in an assembly line—that is, a series of workstations at which already-made parts are assembled. Just Born, a candy maker located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, makes a product called Marshmallow Peeps on an assembly line. First, the ingredients are combined and whipped in huge kettles. Then, sugar is added for color. At the next workstation, the mixture—colored warm marshmallow—is poured into baby-chick–shaped molds carried on conveyor belts. The conveyor-belt parade of candy pieces then moves forward to stations where workers add eyes or other details. When the finished candy reaches the packaging area, it’s wrapped for shipment to stores around the world.
Both product and process layouts arrange work by function. At the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, for example, the cutting function is performed in one place, the stuffing-and-sewing function in another place, and the dressing function in a third place. If you’re a cutter, you cut all day; if you’re a sewer, you sew all day: that’s your function. The same is true for the production of Marshmallow Peeps at Just Born: if your function is to decorate peeps, you stand on an assembly line and decorate all day; if your function is packing, you pack all day.
d) Fixed-position layout – For working on a product that is very bulky, large, heavy, or fragile with workers, materials, and machines transported to and from the product.
e) Work Cells (Cellular manufacturing) layout- Machines are grouped into cells, and the cells function somewhat like a product layout island within a larger process layout. Cells are usually formed by taking production of parts from an existing job shop.
Arranging work by function, however, isn’t always efficient. Production lines can back up, inventories can build up, workers can get bored with repetitive jobs, and time can be wasted in transporting goods from one workstation to another. To counter some of these problems, many manufacturers have adopted a cellular layout, in which small teams of workers handle all aspects of building a component, a “family” of components, or even a finished product. Each team works in a small area, or cell, equipped with everything that it needs to function as a self-contained unit. Machines are sometimes configured in a U-shape, with people working inside the U. Because team members often share duties, they’re trained to perform several different jobs. Teams monitor both the quantity and the quality of their own output. This arrangement often results in faster completion time, lower inventory levels, improved quality, and better employee morale. Cellular manufacturing is used by large manufacturers, such as Boeing, Raytheon, and Pratt & Whitney, as well as by small companies, such as Little Enterprise, which makes components for robots.
f)
Warehouse layout- Objective is to optimize
trade-offs between handling costs and costs associated with warehouse
space. Warehouse density tends to vary
inversely with the number of different items stored.
g)
Retail layout- Allocates shelf space and
responds to customer behavior. The main
objective is to maximize profitability per square foot of floor space. Sales and profitability vary directly with
customer exposure to products.
Objectives of facility layouts (more or less a repeat of earlier question)
- Provide enough production capacity and reduce materials handling costs.
- Conform to site and building constraints.
- Allow space for production machines and ease of movement among employees.
- Allow high labour, machine and space utilisation and productivity.
- Provide for volume and product flexibility.
- Provide spaces for restrooms, cafeterias, and other personal-care needs of employees.
- Provide for employee safety and health.
- Allow ease of supervision and maintenance.
- Achieve objectives with least capital investment.
A service company is interested in determining a
new layout to better serve its customers. They are planning to use the
closeness rating scale from 1 (necessary) to 6 (undesirable) to determine where
to locate the four departments.
What two departments should be located next to
each other based on their closeness ratings?
Departments A and D have a
closeness rating of 1
What two departments should NOT be located next
to each other based on their closeness ratings?
Departments A and C have a closeness
rating of 6
A large department store is about to move to a
new location in a shopping mall. Management wishes to design the new store
layout using operations sequence analysis.
Which departments should be located next to each
other?
Departments
A and D have the most hourly customer traffic between them (400 customers)
Which departments should be located farthest
from each other?
Departments
A and B have the least hourly customer traffic between them (100 customers)
Mansfield Manufacturing is adding a new wing to its building to manufacture a new product line with five models: A, B, C, D and E. The plant’s management is considering two alternative layouts.
What is the total travel distance in layout A and
Layout B for the five products respectively?
Total travel for
Layout A:
A: 20 + 50 =
70 feet
B: 20 + 50 =
70 feet
C: 40 + 50 =
90 feet
D: 20 + 50 + 50 =
120 feet
E: 20 + 30 + 50 =
100 feet
Total travel for
Layout B:
A: 50 + 20 =
70 feet
B: 30 + 50 =
80 feet
C: 50 + 10 =
60 feet
D: 50 + 20 + 50 =
120 feet
E: 50 + 40 + 10 =
100 feet
What is the total distance traveled in feet in a month using Layout A if the monthly volumes are fulfilled?
Total distance traveled for Layout A
A: 70(1,400) = 98,000
B: 70(200) = 14,000
C: 90(1,200)
=108,000
D: 120(300) = 36,000
E: 100(200) = 20,000
Total 276,000 feet What is the total distance traveled in feet in a month using Layout B if the monthly volumes are fulfilled?
Total
distances traveled for Layout B
A: 70(1,400) = 98,000
B: 80(200) = 16,000
C: 60(1,200) =
72,000
D:
120(300) = 36,000
E:
100(200) = 20,000
Total 242,000 feet
Of the two layouts, which layout should the
factory choose?
The factory should choose
Layout B because total distance traveled for Layout B is 34,000 feet
(276,000
– 242,000) less than Layout A.
You have many years of working experience as an Operations Manager. On your recent appointment, you are considering a totally new layout to increase efficiency at a new factory located at Seremban. (similar to earlier questions)
Describe
the objective of a layout strategy.
The
objective of layout strategy is to develop an effective and efficient layout
that will meet the firm’s competitive requirements.
Explain THREE (3) factors that you will consider when planning layout design in this new factory.
·
Improved flow of information, materials or
people.
·
Improved employee morale and safer working
conditions.
·
Improved customer/client interaction.
·
Flexibility.
