6-1 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Selection
and Facility Layout
6-2 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
6-3 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
6-4 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Strategy

• Key aspects of process strategy

– Capital intensive – equipment/labor
– Process flexibility
– Adjust to changes
– Design
– Volume
– technology
6-5 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Selection

• How much variety in product or services will the system need to

handle?

• What degree of equipment flexibility will be needed?

• What is the expected volume of output?

6-6 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Selection

• Variety
• How much Batch
• Flexibility
• What degree
• Volume Job Shop Repetitive
• Expected output

Continuous
6-7 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Types

• Job shop
• Small scale
• Batch
• Moderate volume
• Repetitive/assembly line
• High volumes of standardized goods or services
• Continuous
• Very high volumes of non-discrete goods
6-8 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Types of Processing

Job Shop Batch Repetitive Continuous

Description Customized Semi- Standardized Highly
goods or Standardized goods or standardized
services goods or services goods or
services services

Advantages Able to handle Flexibility Low unit cost, Very efficient ,

wide variety of high volume, very high
work efficient volume

Disadvantages Slow, high cost Moderate cost Low flexibility, Very rigid lack of
per unit, per unit, high cost of variety , costly
complex moderate downtime to change , very
planning and scheduling high cost of
scheduling complexity down time
6-9 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Product – Process Matrix

Process Type
Job Shop Appliance repair
Emergency
room
Batch Commercial
bakery
Classroom
Lecture
Repetitive Automotive
assembly
Automatic
carwash
Continuous Oil refinery
Water purification
(flow)
6-10 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Choice Affects

Activity/Function Job Shop Batch Repetitive Continuous Projects

Cost Estimation Difficult Somewhat Routine Routine Simple to

routine Complex
Cost Per Unit High Moderate Low Low Very High

Equipment used General Purpose General Purpose Special Purpose Special Purpose Varied

Fixed Costs Low Moderate High Very High Varied

Variable Costs High Moderate Low Very Low High

Labor Skills High Moderate Low Low to High Low to High

Marketing Promote Promote Promote Promote Promote

capabilities Capabilities , Standardized Standardized Capabilities
semi goods/services goods/services
standardized
products/services
Scheduling Complex Moderately Routine Routine Complex, Subject
complex to Change
Work-in-process High High Low Low Varied
Inventory
6-11 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Automation

• Automation: Machinery that has sensing and control devices that enables
it to operate
• Fixed automation
• Programmable automation
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: Changes in the design
High Cost of products or services
Bottlenecks

Accidents
The introduction of new
products or services

Safety hazards
6-15 Process Selection and Facility Layout

The Need for Layout Design (Cont’d)

Changes in
environmental Changes in volume of
or other legal output or mix of
requirements 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
• 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
6-18 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Product Layout

Raw
Station Station Station Station Finished
materials 1 2 3 4 item
or customer
Material Material Material Material
and/or and/or and/or and/or
labor labor labor labor

Used for Repetitive or Continuous Processing

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

Process Layout

Process Layout
(functional)

Dept. A Dept. C Dept. E

Dept. B Dept. D Dept. F

Used for Intermittent processing

Job Shop or Batch
6-22 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Product Layout

Product Layout
(sequential)

Work Work Work

Station 1 Station 2 Station 3

Used for Repetitive Processing

Repetitive or Continuous
6-23 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
6-24 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
6-25 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
6-26 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Other Service Layouts

• Warehouse and storage layouts
• Retail layouts
• Office layouts
6-27 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.
6-28 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.
6-29 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Determine Maximum Output

OT
Output capacity =
CT

O T  operating tim e per day

D = Desired output rate

OT
CT = cycle tim e =
D
6-30 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Determine the Minimum Number

of Workstations Required

(D)( t)
N =
OT

 t = sum of task times

6-31 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Precedence Diagram

Precedence diagram: Tool used in line balancing to display

elemental tasks and sequence requirements
0.1 min. 1.0 min.
A Simple Precedence
a b Diagram

c d e
0.7 min. 0.5 min. 0.2 min.
6-32 Process Selection and Facility Layout

Calculate Percent Idle Time

Idle time per cycle

Percent idle time =
(N)(CT)

Efficiency = 1 – Percent idle time

6-33 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 task’s time and the times of all
following tasks.
6-34 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