6-1

Process Selection and Facility Layout

Operations Management

William J. Stevenson

8th edition

6-2

Process Selection and Facility Layout

CHAPTER

Process Selection
and Facility Layout

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Operations Management, Eighth Edition, by William J. Stevenson

Copyright 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights

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

Figure 6.1

Forecasting

Capacity
Planning

Product and
Service Design

Technological
Change

Facilities and
Equipment

Layout
Process
Selection

Work
Design

6-5

Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Strategy
Key aspects of process strategy

Capital intensive equipment/labor

Process flexibility

Adjust to changes

Design

Volume

technology

6-6

Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Selection

Variety

Flexibility

Batch

How much
What degree

Volume

Expected output

Job Shop

Repetitive

Continuous

6-7

Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Types

Job shop

Batch

Moderate volume

Repetitive/assembly line

Small scale

High volumes of standardized goods or services

Continuous

Very high volumes of non-discrete goods

6-8

Process Selection and Facility Layout

Product Process Matrix

Figure 6.2
Process Type

Job Shop

Appliance repair
Emergency
room

Not
feasible
Commercial
bakery

Batch

Classroom
Lecture
Automotive
assembly

Repetitive

Automatic
carwash

Continuous
(flow)

Not
feasible

Oil refinery
Water purification

6-9

Process Selection and Facility Layout

Product Process Matrix

Figure 6.2 (contd)
Dimension
Job variety

Very High

Moderate

Low

Very low

Process
flexibility

Very High

Moderate

Low

Very low

Unit cost

Very High

Moderate

Low

Very low

Volume of
output

Very High

Low

High

Very low

6-10 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Automation

Automation: Machinery that has sensing and

control devices that enables it to operate
Fixed automation
Programmable automation

6-11 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Automation
Computer-aided design and
manufacturing systems (CAD/CAM)
Numerically controlled (NC) machines
Robot
Manufacturing cell
Flexible manufacturing systems(FMS)
Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)

6-12 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Facilities Layout

Layout: the configuration of departments,

work centers, and equipment, with particular
emphasis on movement of work (customers
or materials) through the system

6-13 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Importance of Layout Decisions

Requires substantial investments of money
and effort
Involves long-term commitments
Has significant impact on cost and efficiency
of short-term operations

6-14 Process Selection and Facility Layout

The Need for Layout Decisions

Inefficient operations
For Example:

High Cost
Bottlenecks

Changes in the design

of products or services

Accidents
The introduction of new
products or services

Safety hazards

6-15 Process Selection and Facility Layout

The Need for Layout Design (Contd)

Changes in
environmental
or other legal
requirements

Changes in volume of
output or mix of
products
Morale problems

Changes in methods
and equipment

6-16 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Basic Layout Types

Product layouts

Process layouts

Fixed-Position layout

Combination layouts

6-17 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Basic Layout Types

Product layout

Process layout

Layout that uses standardized processing

operations to achieve smooth, rapid, highvolume flow
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

6-18 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Product Layout
Figure 6.4

Raw
materials
or customer

Station
1

Station
Station
22

Station
Station
33

Material

Material

Material

Material

and/or
labor

and/or
labor

and/or
labor

and/or
labor

Station
Station
44

Used for Repetitive or Continuous Processing

Finished
item

6-19 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Advantages of Product Layout

High rate of output
Low unit cost
Labor specialization
Low material handling cost
High utilization of labor and equipment
Established routing and scheduling
Routing accounting and purchasing

6-20 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Disadvantages of Product Layout

Creates dull, repetitive jobs
Poorly skilled workers may not maintain
equipment or quality of output
Fairly inflexible to changes in volume
Highly susceptible to shutdowns
Needs preventive maintenance
Individual incentive plans are impractical

6-21 Process Selection and Facility Layout

A U-Shaped Production Line

Figure 6.6

In

4
5

Workers

6
Out

10

6-22 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Layout
Figure 6.7

Process Layout
(functional)
Dept. A

Dept. C

Dept. E

Dept. B

Dept. D

Dept. F

Used for Intermittent processing

Job Shop or Batch

6-23 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Product Layout
Figure 6.7 (contd)

Product Layout
(sequential)
Work
Station 1

Work
Station 2

Work
Station 3

Used for Repetitive Processing

Repetitive or Continuous

6-24 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Advantages of Process Layouts

Can handle a variety of processing
requirements
Not particularly vulnerable to equipment
failures
Equipment used is less costly
Possible to use individual incentive plans

6-25 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Disadvantages of Process Layouts

In-process inventory costs can be high
Challenging routing and scheduling
Equipment utilization rates are low
Material handling slow and inefficient
Complexities often reduce span of supervision
Special attention for each product or customer
Accounting and purchasing are more involved

6-26 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Cellular Layouts

Cellular Production

Layout in which machines are grouped into a

cell that can process items that have similar
processing requirements

Group Technology

The grouping into part families of items with

similar design or manufacturing characteristics

6-27 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Functional vs. Cellular Layouts

Table 6.3
Dimension

Functional

Cellular

Number of moves
between departments

many

few

Travel distances

longer

shorter

Travel paths

variable

fixed

Job waiting times

greater

shorter

Throughput time

higher

lower

Amount of work in
process

higher

lower

Supervision difficulty

higher

lower

Scheduling complexity

higher

lower

Equipment utilization

lower

higher

6-28 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Other Service Layouts

Warehouse and storage layouts
Retail layouts
Office layouts

6-29 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Design Product Layouts: Line

Balancing

Line Balancing is the process of assigning

tasks to workstations in such a way that
the workstations have approximately
equal time requirements.

6-30 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Cycle Time

Cycle time is the maximum time

allowed at each workstation to
complete its set of tasks on a unit.

6-31 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Determine Maximum Output

OT
OT
Output
capacity
=
Output capacity =
CT
CT
OT
OT operating
operating time
time per
per day
day
D
D == Desired
Desired output
output rate
rate
OT
OT
CT
CT == cycle
cycle time
time ==
D
D

6-32 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Determine the Minimum Number

of Workstations Required

N =

(D)( t)
OT

= sum of task times

6-33 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Precedence Diagram
Figure 6.10

Precedence diagram: Tool used in line balancing to

display elemental tasks and sequence requirements
0.1 min.

1.0 min.

b
c

0.7 min.

d
0.5 min.

A Simple Precedence
Diagram

e
0.2 min.

6-34 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Example 1: Assembly Line Balancing

Arrange tasks shown in Figure 6.10 into

three workstations.

Use a cycle time of 1.0 minute

Assign tasks in order of the most number of
followers

6-35 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Example 1 Solution

Eligible

Assign
Task

1.0
0.9
0.2

a, c
c
none

a
c
-

0.9
0.2

1.0

0.0

1.0
0.5
0.3

d
e
-

d
e
-

0.5
0.3

Workstation
1

Time
Remaining

Revised
Time
Remaining

Station
Idle Time

0.2
0.0
0.3
0.5

6-36 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Calculate Percent Idle Time

Idle time per cycle
Percent idle time =
(N)(CT)

Efficiency = 1 Percent idle time

6-37 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Line Balancing Rules

Some Heuristic (intuitive) Rules:

Assign tasks in order of most following

tasks.

Count the number of tasks that follow

Assign tasks in order of greatest positional

weight.

Positional weight is the sum of each tasks

time and the times of all following tasks.

6-38 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Example 2

0.2

0.2

0.3

0.8

0.6

1.0

0.4

0.3

6-39 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Solution to Example 2

Station 1

Station 2

Station 3

e
f

Station 4

6-40 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Parallel Workstations
1 min.

30/hr.

1 min.

30/hr.

2 min.

30/hr.

1 min.

30/hr.

Bottleneck
30/hr.
1 min.

60/hr.

1 min.

30/hr.

1 min.

1 min.
30/hr.
1 min.

Parallel Workstations

30/hr.

60/hr.

6-41 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Designing Process Layouts

Information Requirements:
1. List of departments
2. Projection of work flows
3. Distance between locations
4. Amount of money to be invested
5. List of special considerations
6. Location of key utilities

6-42 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Example 3: Interdepartmental Work Flows

for Assigned Departments

Figure 6.12

30
1

170

100

6-43 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Authors note:

The following three slides are not in the 8e,

but I like to use them for alternate examples.

6-44 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Layout
Milling
Assembly
& Test

Grinding

Drilling

Plating

Process Layout - work travels

to dedicated process centers

6-45 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Functional Layout

333

Lathes

1111 2222

Heat
treat

111

Grind

3333

Assembly

4
44
44

111

3
33
33
33
33

111 333

Drill

Mill

222
222
2

444

222
111
444

333
333

222

Gear
cutting

111
444

6-46 Process Selection and Facility Layout

-1111

Lathe

222222222

3333333333

Mill

Mill

Drill

Drill

Lathe Mill

44444444444444

Mill

Heat
treat

Gear
-1111
cut

Heat
treat

Grind - 2222

Heat
treat

Grind - 3333

Drill

Gear - 4444
cut

Assembly

Cellular Manufacturing Layout