Facilities Layout Planning

Definition

Facilities layout describes the arrangement of equipment, storage areas, and work areas, usually within the confines of a physical structure, such as a retail store, an office, a warehouse, or a manufacturing facility.

Three Basic Types of Layout

1. Product Layouts 2. Process Layouts 3. Fixed-position Layouts

1. Product Layouts
Product layouts employ standardized processing operations to achieve smooth, rapid, and high volume flow.
WORKSTA TION 1 WORKSTA TION 6 WORKSTA TION 2 WORKSTA TION 5 WORKSTA TION 3 WORKSTA TION 4

2. Process Layout
Process layouts group similar equipment together according to the process they perform.
CUTTI NG PRINTI ASSEM BLY NG RECEI VING SHIPP ING PAC KING

3. Fixed-position Layouts
Fixed-position layouts place the products stationary, and workers, materials, and equipment are moved to the products.
MACH INE GROU P1 EMPLO YEE TEAM 1 STORA GE #1 MACH INE GROU P4 EMPLO YEE TEAM 4 STORA GE #4 MACH INE GROU

STORA GE #2 EMPLO YEE TEAM 2 MACH INE GROU P2

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Hybrid Layout
Hybrid layouts modify and/or integrate certain characteristics of the three basic layout types. 1. Cellular layouts group different machines into cells that process parts with similar shapes or processing requirements. 2. Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) An integration of several flexible cells making up a cellular layout, which is capable of producing a large variety of products.

Product Layouts Design

Line balancing is the procedure of assigning a set of tasks with approximately equal time requirements to different workstations.

Line Balancing
Cycle time is the maximum time a product spends at a workstation. Cycle time where OT = D = Operating time/day Desired output rate = CT = OT/D

Line Balancing
The Minimum Number of Workstations Nmin where Nmin 7t = (D7t)/OT

= =

Minimum number of workstations Sum of task times

Line Balancing
A percentage of idle time is the ratio of idle time per cycle to total time available per cycle. Percentage of idle time = Idle time per cycle (Nact x CT) where Nact = the actual number of workstations

Line Balancing
A precedence diagram shows the sequence of elemental tasks. Diagramming Conventions

A Node

A Task or an Activity

An Arrow

Process Sequence

Line Balancing
A heuristic method employs rules of thumb to reach a feasible, though not necessarily optimal, solution. Examples of Heuristic Methods 1. The longest task time heuristic 2. The most following task heuristic 3. The largest positional weight heuristic A positional weight is the sum of the task time and the times of all following tasks.

Example 1
The tasks given in the following table are to be assigned to workstations with the intent of minimizing the idle time. Task Task Time (Seconds) Immediate Predecessor a 45 b 11 a c 9 b d 50 e 26 d f 11 e g 12 c h 10 c i 9 f, g, h j 10 i Total 193

Example 1
a. Develop the precedence diagram. b. Determine the maximum cycle time for a desired output of 500 units in a 7-hour day. c. Determine the minimum number of workstations for output of 500 units per day. d. Balance the line using the largest positional weight heuristic. Break ties with the most following tasks heuristic. e. Calculate the percentage idle time for the line.

Solution
a. The precedence diagram is illustrated below:

g a b c h d e f i j

Solution
b. CT = OT/D = 7(60)(60) 500 = 50.4 s

c. Nmin = (D7t)/OT = 500(193) 7(60)(60) = 3.83 or 4 stations

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j b c g, h, i, j d e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i j j Positional Weight 106 50 56 30 31 19

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j c, g, h, i, j b c g, h, i, j d e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i j j Positional Weight 106 50 56 30 31 19

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j b c, g, h, i, j c g, h, i, j d e, f, i, j e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i j j Positional Weight 106 50 56 30 31 19

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j b c, g, h, i, j c g, h, i, j d e, f, i, j e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i, j i j j Positional Weight 106 50 56 30 31 19

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j b c, g, h, i, j c g, h, i, j d e, f, i, j e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i, j i j j Positional Weight 106 50 56 30 31 19

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j b c, g, h, i, j c g, h, i, j d e, f, i, j e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i, j i j j Positional Weight 106 61 50 56 30 31 19

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j b c, g, h, i, j c g, h, i, j d e, f, i, j e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i, j i j j Positional Weight 106 61 50 106 56 30 31 19

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j b c, g, h, i, j c g, h, i, j d e, f, i, j e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i, j i j j Positional Weight 106 61 50 106 56 30 31 29 19

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j b c, g, h, i, j c g, h, i, j d e, f, i, j e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i, j i j j Positional Weight 106 61 50 106 56 30 31 29 19 10

Solution
d. Task Followers a b, c, g, h, i, j b c, g, h, i, j c g, h, i, j d e, f, i, j e f, i, j f i, j g i, j h i, j i j j Positional Weight 106 61 50 106 56 30 31 29 19 10

Solution
Station Time Eligible Will fitAssign Idle Remaining I II III

IV

II

III

IV

Solution
e. Percentage of idle time = Total idle time [(Actual number of stations)(CT)] = 59.0 [5(50.4)] = 0.234 = 23.4%

Process Layouts Design

Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) - One of the most widely used layout planning technique - Developed by Richard Muther - Universally applicable to all types of layouts - Layouts constructed based on the closeness relationships

Systematic Layout Planning (SLP)

Closeness Relationships
1. Flow-of-material closeness relationships 2. Other-than-flow closeness relationships

Example 2
Krongkarn Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has just acquired a new facility. The company's management hired you to plan the layout for this facility. You have decided to utilize SLP as the layout planning tool. You started with data gathering of the necessary information, including flows of materials and other-than-flow relationships.

From-to Chart
The flows of materials among activity areas are summarized as follows:
T T a o re t F m ro T a re t A s m le se b So g t ra e R c iv g e e in /S ip in hp g O e ffic A s m le So g R c iv g O e se b t ra e e e in ffic /S ip in hp g 2 ,0 0 50 50 ,0 0 1 ,0 0 00 50 0 90 ,5 0

Note: Quantities in Palletloads per Year

Other-than-flow Relationships
Other-than-flow relationships, together with reasons are as follows:
- Ordinary closeness between Storage (S) and Receiving/Shipping (R) is required for material control. - It is important that Assemble (A) and Office (O) be close for production control. - Storage (S) requires absolute closeness to Office (O) due to material control. - It is desirable that Receiving/Shipping (R) and Office (O) be of important closeness for security. - It is not desirable that Treat (T) and Office (O) be close due to noise and odor.

SLP Steps
You then continue your analysis by accomplishing the following steps: 1. Prepare the intensities of flow calibration and determine the flows relationships. 2. Develop a relationship chart for other-than-flow relationships. 3. Establish a relationship chart for combined flow and other-than-flow relationships. 4. Draw the activity relationship diagram.