LAYOUTS

PRODUCT & PROCESS

LAYOUTS:
IMPACT ON
OPERATIONS

Productions & Operations Management

Facility Layout Definition
■ A facility layout is an arrangement of everything
needed for production of goods or delivery of
services. A facility is an entity that facilitates the
performance of any job. It may be a machine tool, a
work centre, a manufacturing cell, a machine shop,
a department, a warehouse, etc. (Heragu, 1997).
■The layout design generally
depends on the products variety
and the production volumes. Four Quantity Product
Layouts
types of organization are referred Fixed
to, namely fixed product layout, Position
Layouts
Mixed Layouts Process Layouts
Number of Different Products
process layout, product layout and
cellular layout (Dilworth, 1996).
Objectives of Plant Layout
■ The main objective consists of organizing equipment
and working areas in the most efficient way, and at
the same time satisfactory and safe for the personnel
doing the work.
❑ Sense of Unity
■ The feeling of being a unit pursuing the same objective.
❑ Minimum Movement of people, material and
resources.
❑ Safety
■ In the movement of materials and personnel work flow.
❑ Flexibility
■ In designing the plant layout taking into account the changes
over short and medium terms in the production process and
manufacturing volumes.
 Product Layouts
2

◻ Part of the manufacturing process which

allows for the repetitive assembly of highly
standardized products.
◻ When a manufacturing operation utilized
product layout, production work can be layout
in a straight line
with labor and equipment subdivided in a
smooth line.

Productions & Operations Management

 Example
3

◻ Fora garment manufacturer,stations for

sewing cloth, sewing on buttons, inspecting
seams, wrapping finished garments and
boxing them up would all be located within
close proximity for an individual clothing item,
allowing individual garments to pass from one
station to another quickly.

Productions & Operations Management

 Flow
4

Turning Milling Drilling

Operations Machines Machines

Package Inspection Assembly

Dispatch

Productions & Operations Management

 Advantages
5

◻ Easy production
◻ Handling cost reduces
◻ Less in-process inventory
◻ Less supervision
◻ Efficient space utilization
◻ Higher productivity/Cycle time is short

Productions & Operations Management

 Disadvantages
6

◻ Expensive
◻ Breakdown(stops entire process if breaks
down)
◻ Lack of flexibility
◻ Output quantity fixed, no alterations possible
◻ Specialized superiors not present

Productions & Operations Management

 Impact on Operations
7

◻ Mass production
◻ Heavy financial back-up
◻ Less employees(if no. of products are less)
◻ Cycle time less
◻ Product specialization

Productions & Operations Management

 Process Layout
8

◻ A process layout is a type of facility layout in

which the floor plan is arranged with similar
processes or machines located together.

Productions & Operations Management

 Example
9

◻ Again using the garment manufacturing

example, a process layout would group
multiple sewing stations together for different
clothing items in one area, then locate
inspection, wrapping and packaging stations
for different items together in different areas.

Productions & Operations Management

 Flow
10

Milling
Inspection Assembly
Machines

Grinding &
Welding Shipping
Inspection

Productions & Operations Management

 Advantages
1
1

◻ Capital investment lower

◻ Specialization
◻ Efficient utilization of production facility
◻ Effective supervision

Productions & Operations Management

 Disadvantages
12

◻ Complexity
◻ Greater floor area
◻ Larger stock of raw materials
◻ Handling cost increases

Productions & Operations Management

 Impact on Operations
13

◻ Possibility of change in the process

◻ Cost effective as space utilization
◻ Complexity
◻ Cycle time is more
◻ Process specialization

Productions & Operations Management

 Difference
14

Product Layout Process Layout

Multiple products can be produced

Single product can be produced
simultaneously

Cycle time is less Cycle time is more

Expensive Relatively cheaper

Lower space requirements Higher space requirements

Product specialization Process specialization

Productions & Operations Management