Production & Operations Management

Layout Planning

Presentation By: Jinumon. J.Tharayil(16) Manaf Basheer(17)

INTRODUCTION Plant Layout is concerned with deciding wherein the factory to locate the machines, facilities, equipments, operators and material and how to organise them within the factory. It is a physical arrangement of everything needed for production of goods or delivery of services. The issue of deciding on a factory layout is one of the most important issues facing Production Managers. Layout not only determines the appearance of a production facility but also has other important repercussions for the whole operation. The efficiency of production depends on how well the various machines, production facilities and employees amenities are located in plant. Only the properly laid out plant can ensure the smooth and rapid movement of the material, from the raw material stage to the end product stage. Plant Layout encompasses new layout as well as improvement in the existing layout. Layout Planning Plant Layout means planning for the location of all machines, employees work stations, customer service areas, and flow patterns of materials and people around, into and within buildings. Plant layout ideally involves the allocation of space and arrangement of equipments within a production facility in such a manner that overall operating costs are minimized. Objectives of Layout Planning Layout function is aimed at achieving the following objectives. To facilitate the manufacturing process. To provide operational flexibility. To ensure economies in materials. To ensure proper utilisation of available floor space. To reduce the material handling cost to the minimum extent possible. To reduce congestion of materials and people in the work area. To keep the investment in equipment to the minimum. To promote effective utilisation of human resources. To increase safety of human resources. To improve morale and labour efficiency. To meet the quality and capacity requirement in the most economical manner. To suggests improvements in production process and work methods.

Factors Influencing Layout Decision Factory Building:- The nature and size of the building determines the floor space available for layout. While designing the special requirements, eg. Air conditioning, dust control, humidity control etc. Must be kept in mind. Nature of the Product:- Product Layout is suitable for uniform products whereas process layout is suitable for custom made products.

 Production Process:- In assembly line industries, product layout is better, in job order or intermittent manufacturing, process layout is desirable. Type of Machinery:- General purpose machines are often arranged as per process layout whereas special purpose machines are arranged as per product layout. Repairs and Maintenance :- Machines should be so arranged that adequate space is available between them for movement of equipment and people requires for repairing the machines. Human Needs:- Adequate arrangements should be made for clock room, washroom ,lockers, drinking water, toilets and other employee facilities area. Plant Environment :- Heat, light, noise, ventilation and other aspects should be duly considered in layout planning. Types Of Layout 1. Product Layout Product layout is also called flow-shop layout or straight line layout. It involves the arrangement of equipments according to the progressive steps by which a product is made. Raw materials are fed continuously into the first machine and thereafter it passes through the subsequent operations rapidly while the finished products are coming out from the last one. Flow shops produce high-volume, highly standardized products that require highly standardized, repetitive processes. Eg. In a paper mill, bamboos are fed into the machine at one end and paper comes out at the other end. 2. Process Layout Process layouts are found primarily in job shops, or firms that produce customized, low-volume products that may require different processing requirements and sequences of operations. Process layouts are facility configurations in which operations of a similar nature or function are grouped together. As such, they occasionally are referred to as functional layouts. Their purpose is to process goods or provide services that involve a variety of processing requirements. A manufacturing example would be a machine shop. A machine shop generally has separate departments where general-purpose machines are grouped together by function (e.g., milling, grinding, drilling, hydraulic presses, and lathes). Therefore, facilities that are configured according to individual functions or processes have a process layout. This type of layout gives the firm the flexibility needed to handle a variety of routes and process requirements. Services that utilize process layouts include hospitals, banks, auto repair, libraries and universities. 3. Fixed Position Layout A fixed-position layout is appropriate for a product that is too large or too heavy to move. In this type of layout, major product being produced is fixed at one location. Equipment, labour etc are moved to that location. All facilities are brought and arranged around one work centre. Fixed-position layout examples include construction (e.g., buildings, dams, and electric or nuclear power plants), shipbuilding, aircraft, aerospace, farming, drilling for oil, home repair, and automated

car washes. In order to make this work, required resources must be portable so that they can be taken to the job for "on the spot" performance. 4. Group Technology/Cellular Layout Group Technology layout involves grouping machines to cells to work on products that have similar processing requirements. Here processes are grouped into cells using a technique known as group technology (GT). Group technology involves identifying parts with similar design characteristics (size, shape, and function) and similar process characteristics (type of processing required, available machinery that performs this type of process, and processing sequence). The processing equipment required for a particular product family are grouped together and placed in a manufacturing cell. The cells become, in effect, miniature versions of product layouts. The cells may have movements of parts between machines via conveyors or have a flow line connected by a conveyor. This type of layout is used when various products have to be produced in medium to large quantities. 5. Combination Layout Many situations call for a mixture of the three main layout types. These mixtures are commonly called combination or hybrid layouts. For example, one firm may utilize a process layout for the majority of its process along with an assembly in one area. Alternatively, a firm may utilize a fixed-position layout for the assembly of its final product, but use assembly lines to produce the components and subassemblies that make up the final product (e.g. aircraft).