You are on page 1of 25

FACILITY LAYOUT

Plant Layout
Plant layout refers to the arrangement of
machinery, equipment and other industrial facilities
for achieving quickest and smooth production.
Objectives of a Good Layout
Improving productivity is the overall
objective of good layout.
Objectives of a Good Layout
Provide enough production capacity
Reduce material handling costs
Reduce congestion that impedes movement of
material or people
Reduce hazards to personnel
Utilize labour efficiently
Increase employee morale
Reduce accidents
Utilize available space efficiently and effectively
Provide for volume and product flexibility
Provide ease of supervision
Objectives of a Good Layout
Facilitate coordination and face to face
communication where appropriate
Provide for employee safety and health
Allow ease of maintenance
Allow high equipment utilisation
Improve productivity
Factors Influencing facility Layout
Materials
Product
Worker
Machinery
Types of Industry: Synthetic, Analytical, Conditioning, Extractive
Location
Managerial Policies
Principles of Layout
The Principle of Minimum Travel
Principle of Sequence
Principle of Usage
Principle of Compactness
Principle of Safety and Satisfaction
Principle of Flexibility
Principle of Minimum Investment
Types of Layout
i. Process layout or functional layout or job shop
layout;
ii. Product layout or line processing layout or
flow-line layout;
iii. Fixed position layout or static layout;
iv. Cellular manufacturing (CM) layout or Group
Technology layout.
v. Combination layout or Hybrid 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
Process Layout or Functional Layout or Job Shop 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
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
Line Layout or Product 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
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
Fixed Position Layout or Static Layout
Advantages of Fixed Position Layout
Men and machines can be used for wide variety of
operations
Investment on layout is small
Worker identification with the product
Transportation of bulky products are avoided.
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
Cellular Manufacturing Layout or Group Technology
Layout
Combined Layout or Hybrid Layout for Gear
Manufacturing
Steps in Layout Planning and Design
Layout Tools and Techniques
Templates
Plant layout template is a scaled representation of a
physical object in a layout.

Operations Sequence Analysis


Operations sequence analysis helps arrange departments
graphically analysing the layout problem.
Line balancing is the study that nearly equally divides the
work to be done among the workers and minimises the
number of employees required to complete a project.
Criteria for Selection and Design of
Layouts
Material handling cost and worker effectiveness are the
two criteria used for selecting layout design.
The various methods used for selecting the best layout
among several alternatives layouts are
1. Travel Chart Method
2. Load-Distance Analysis Method
3. Systematic Layout Planning
Travel Chart Method

Shows the number of moves made between


departments and identifies most active department.
Load-Distance Analysis Method

Comparing alternative layouts to identify the one with


the least product or material travel time per period.
Systematic Layout Planning

Develops a relationship chart which rates the relative


importance of locating one department close to
another department.

You might also like