Process Layout

Chapter 8

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L
A

Layout Planning
Layout planning is planning that involves decisions
about the physical arrangement of economic activity
centers needed by a facilitys various processes.
Layout plans translate the broader decisions about the
competitive priorities, process strategy, quality, and capacity
of its processes into actual physical arrangements.

Economic activity center: Anything that consumes

space -- a person or a group of people, a customer
reception area, a teller window, a machine, a
workstation, a department, an aisle, or a storage
room.
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Layout Planning
Questions
Before a manager can make decisions
regarding physical arrangement, four
questions must be addressed.
1. What centers should the layout include?
2. How much space and capacity does
each center need?
3. How should each centers space be
configured?
4. Where should each center be located?
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Strategic Issues
Impact and Implications
Layout choices can help communicate an
organizations product plans and competitive
priorities.
Altering a layout can affect an organization and how
well it meets its competitive priorities in the following
ways:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Increasing customer satisfaction and sales at a retail store.

Facilitating the flow of materials and information.
Increasing the efficient utilization of labor and equipment.
Reducing hazards to workers.
Improving employee morale.
Improving communication.

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Types of Layouts
Flexible-flow (process) layout: A layout that
organizes resources (employees) and equipment by
function rather than by service or product.
Line-flow (product) layout: A layout in which
workstations or departments are arranged in a
linear path.
Hybrid layout: An arrangement in which some
portions of the facility have a flexible-flow and
others have a line-flow layout.
Fixed-position layout: An arrangement in which
service or manufacturing site is fixed in place;
employees along with their equipment, come to the
site to do their work.
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A Flexible Flow Layout

A job shop has a flexible-flow layout.

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Grinding

Forging

Lathes

Painting

Welding

Drills

Office

Milling
machines

Foundry

Line Flow Layout

A production line has a line-flow layout.

Station 1

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Station 2

Station 3

Station 4

Comparison Of
Product And Process
Layouts
PRODUCT LAYOUT
Sequential arrangement
of machines

PROCESS LAYOUT
Functional grouping
of machines

2. Type of Process

Continuous, mass
production, mainly
assembly

Intermittent, job shop

batch production,
mainly fabrication

3. Product

Standardized
made to stock

Varied,
made to order

4.
5.
6.
7.

Stable
High
Special purpose
Limited skills

Fluctuating
Low
General purpose
Varied skills

1. Description

Demand
Volume
Equipment
Workers

2000 by Prentice-Hall
Inc
2007 Pearson
Education
Russell/Taylor Oper Mgt 3/e

Ch 7 - 9

Comparison Of
Product And Process
Layouts
8. Inventory
9. Storage space
10. Material
handling
11. Aisles
12. Scheduling
13. Layout decision
14. Goal
15. Advantage

2000 by Prentice-Hall
Inc
2007 Pearson
Education
Russell/Taylor Oper Mgt 3/e

PRODUCT LAYOUT
Low in-process,
high finished goods
Small
Fixed path
(conveyor)
Narrow
Part of balancing
Line balancing
Equalize work at
each station
Efficiency

PROCESS LAYOUT
High in-process,
low finished goods
Large
Variable path
(forklift)
Wide
Dynamic
Machine location
Minimize material
handling cost
Flexibility

Ch 7 - 10

Performance Criteria

Customer satisfaction
Level of capital investment
Requirements for materials handling
Ease of stockpicking
Work environment and atmosphere
Ease of equipment maintenance
Employee and internal customer attitudes
Amount of flexibility needed
Customer convenience and levels of sales

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Creating Hybrid Layouts

Layout flexibility is the property of a facility to
remain desirable after significant changes occur or to
be easily and inexpensively adopted in response to
changes.
A One-worker, multiple-machines (OWMM) cell is
a one-person cell in which a worker operates several
different machines simultaneously to achieve a line
flow.
A Cell is two or more dissimilar workstations located
close together through which a limited number of
parts or models are processed with line flows.
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One Worker,
Multiple Machines
Machine
2
Machine
1

Machine
3

Materials in

Finished
goods out

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Machine
5

Machine
4

Group Technology (GT)

Group Technology (GT) is an option for
achieving line-flow layouts with low-volume
processes; this technique creates cells not
limited to just one worker and has a unique
way of selecting work to be done by the cell.
The GT method groups parts or products
with similar characteristics into families and
sets aside groups of machines for their
production.
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Before Group Technology

Jumbled flows in a job shop without GT cells
Lathing

Milling

Drilling

M
Grinding

Receiving and
shipping
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Assembly
A

Applied Group Technology

Line flows in a job shop with three GT cells

Assembly
area
A

Cell 2

Cell 1
Receiving

Cell 3
L

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Shipping

Classification and Coding

System

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Source: Organization for Industrial Research Inc.

Original Process
Layout
Assembly

2
1

A
2000 by Prentice-Hall
Inc
2007 Pearson
Education
Russell/Taylor Oper Mgt 3/e

10
3

12
11

Raw materials
Ch 7 - 34

Cellular Layout
Solution
Assembly

10

12
11

Cell1

Cell 2

Cell 3
7

2
Raw materials
2000 by Prentice-Hall
Inc
2007 Pearson
Education
Russell/Taylor Oper Mgt 3/e

3
A

5
B
Ch 7 - 37

Warehouse Layouts
Out-and-back Pattern
The most basic warehouse layout is the out-and-back pattern.
The numbers indicate storage areas for same or similar items.
Storage area

Dock

Aisle

Storage area
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Warehouse Layouts
Zone System
Zones

Zones

Control
station

Shipping
doors

Click to add title

Tractor
trailer

Tractor
trailer
Feeder
lines
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Feeder
lines

Overflow

Office Layouts
Most formal procedures for designing office layouts
try to maximize the proximity of workers whose jobs
require frequent interaction.
Privacy is another key factor in office design.
Four common office layouts:
1. Traditional layouts
2. Office landscaping (cubicles/movable partitions)
3. Activity settings
4. Electronic cottages (Telecommuting)
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Designing
Line-Flow Layouts
Line balancing is the assignment of work to
stations in a line so as to achieve the desired output
rate with the smallest number of workstations.
Work elements are the smallest units of work that
can be performed independently.
Immediate predecessors are work elements that
must be done before the next element can begin.
Precedence diagram allows one to visualize
immediate predecessors better; work elements are
denoted by circles, with the time required to perform
the work shown below each circle.
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Line Balancing
Example 8.3
Green Grass, Inc., a manufacturer of lawn & garden equipment,
is designing an assembly line to produce a new fertilizer spreader,
the Big Broadcaster. Using the following information, construct a
precedence diagram for the Big Broadcaster.

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Work
Element
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

Time Immediate
Description
(sec) Predecessor(s)
Bolt leg frame to hopper 40
None
Insert impeller shaft
30
A
Attach axle
50
A
Attach agitator
40
B
Attach drive wheel
6
B
Attach free wheel
25
C
Mount lower post
15
C
Attach controls
20
D, E
Mount nameplate
18
F, G

Total

Line Balancing
Green Grass, Inc.
D
B

244

40

30

F
25

50

I
G

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20
6

A
40

15

18

Desired Output and

Cycle Time
Desired output rate, r must be matched to the staffing or
production plan.

Cycle time, c is the maximum time allowed for

work on a unit at each station:
c= 1
r

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Theoretical Minimum
Theoretical minimum (TM ) is a benchmark or goal for the
smallest number of stations possible, where total time required
to assemble each unit (the sum of all work-element standard
times) is divided by the cycle time. It must be rounded up

Idle time is the total unproductive time for all

stations in the assembly of each unit.
Efficiency (%) is the ratio of productive time to
total time.
Balance Delay is the amount by which efficiency
falls short of 100%.
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Output Rate and Cycle Time

Example 8.4
Green Grass, Inc.
Desired output rate, r = 2400/week
Plant operates 40 hours/week
r = 2400/40 = 60 units/hour

Cycle time, c = 1/60

= 1 minute/unit
= 60 seconds/unit

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1
r

Calculations for
Example 8.4 continued
Theoretical minimum (TM ) - sum of all work-element
standard times divided by the cycle time.
TM = 244 seconds/60 seconds = 4.067
It must be rounded up to 5 stations
Cycle time: c = 1/60 = 1 minute/unit = 60 seconds/unit
Efficiency (%) - ratio of productive time to total time.
Efficiency = [244/5(60)]100 = 81.3%
Balance Delay - amount by which efficiency falls short of 100%.
(100 81.3) = 18.7%
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The goal is to cluster the work elements

into 5 workstations so that the number of
work-stations is minimized, and the cycle
time of 60 seconds is not violated. Here
we use the trial-and-error method to find
a solution, although commercial software
packages are also available.

Green Grass, Inc.

Line Balancing Solution

D
B
30
S3

S1
A

S2

40

40

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20
E

S4

F
25

50
c = 60 seconds/unit
TM = 5 stations
Efficiency = 81.3%

6
S5
I

G
15

18

Other Considerations
In addition to balancing a line, managers must also
consider four other options:
1. Pacing: The movement of product from one station
to the next as soon as the cycle time has elapsed.
2. Behavioral factors of workers.
3. Number of models produced: A mixed-model line
produces several items belonging to the same
family.
4. Cycle times depend on the desired output rate, and
efficiency varies considerably with the cycle time
selected. Thus exploring a range of cycle times
makes sense.
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Information for Network Construction

Name: Project Delta

Activity Description
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Predecessors

Contract signing
Questionnaire design
Target market ID
Survey sample
Develop presentation
Analyze results
Demographic analysis
Presentation to client

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None
A
A
B, C
B
D
C
E, F, G

Estimated Duration
5
5
6
13
6
4
9
2

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Construct a network activity diagram based on the following

information:
Activity
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

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Preceding activities
A
B, C
B
C, D
E
F
G, H

 2007 Pearson Education

 2007 Pearson Education