3. Introduction
• Plan layout is a floor plan of the physical facilities which are used in
production.
• Layout planning refers to the generation of several possible plans for
the spatial arrangement of physical facilities and select the one which
minimises the distance between the department.
• Objectives include :
1. Minimising investment, production time and material handling constants.
2. Facilitate the manufacturing process and organisational structure
3. Utilise existing space more effectively
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5. Process layout
• Machines and services are grouped on a functional and operational
basis. For example, all welding work is carried out at one place and all
turnings in another.
• This layout is normally used where
Expensive machinery is required
Production involves a large variety of items having limited volume in each
type
Operations are not balanced in time.
When demand is small and intermittent.
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7. Advantages
• Lower initial capital investment in machines and equipments. There is
high degree of machine utilization, as a machine is not blocked for a
single product
• The overhead costs are relatively low
• Change in output design and volume can be more easily adapted to
the output of variety of products
• Supervision can be more effective and specialized
• There is a greater flexibility of scope for expansion.
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8. Disadvantages
• Material handling costs are high due to backtracking
• More skilled labor is required resulting in higher cost.
• Time gap or lag in production is higher
• Work in progress inventory is high needing greater storage space
• More frequent inspection is needed which results in costly
supervision
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9. Product Layout
• Machines are laid out in sequence of operation along the flow lines
• Used when
machines and auxiliary services are located according to the processing
sequences of the product.
The volume of production is very high
Nature of work is standardised
Process operation are balanced in time
Continuity of materials can be maintained
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11. Advantages
• Low cost of material handling, due to straight and short route and absence
of backtracking
• Smooth and uninterrupted operations
• Continuous flow of work
• Lesser investment in inventory and work in progress
• Optimum use of floor space
• Shorter processing time or quicker output
• Less congestion of work in the process
• Simple and effective inspection of work and simplified production control
• Lower cost of manufacturing per unit
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12. Disadvantages
• High initial capital investment in special purpose machine
• Heavy overhead charges
• Breakdown of one machine will hamper the whole production
process
• Lesser flexibility as specially laid out for particular product.
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13. Group Layout
• It is a combination of product and process layout. It combines the
advantages of both layout systems.
• It is used when the same item is being manufactured in different
types of sizes.
• In this, the machines are arranged in the process layout but process
grouping is arranged in a sequence.
• The sequence of operation with each of the product variety howver
remains the same.
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14. Advantages
• Improved utilisation of labour and employee morale.
• Reduced in-process inventory
• Reduced set-up time and manufacturing costs.
• Reduced material handling
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15. Disadvantages
• Reduced shop flexibility
• Possible reduced machine utilization
• Possible extended job flow times
• Possible increased job tardiness
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16. Fixed Position Layout
• This type of layout is suitable when one or a few identical heavy items
are to be manufactured.
• The materials are kept fixed because the cost of transportation of
material is very high.
• The ship building industry commonly employs this layout.
• In this type of layout,
the material or the major component remain fixed and
the tools, machinery, men and other materials move around it.
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18. Advantages
• It saves time and cost involved on the movement of work from one
workstation to another.
• The layout is flexible as change in job design and operation sequence
can be easily incorporated.
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19. Disadvantages
• Production period being very long, capital investment is very heavy
• Very large space is required for storage of material and equipment
near the product.
• As several operations are often carried out simultaneously, there is
possibility of confusion and conflicts among different workgroups.
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