The document discusses facility layout and design. It defines facility layout as the arrangement of workspaces and equipment to carry out organizational operations. There are three main types of layouts - process, product, and fixed-position. Process layouts group similar processes together while product layouts are designed for specific product lines. The document outlines factors to consider for effective layouts like workflow, growth plans, and employee satisfaction. It also provides steps for designing process and product layouts, including identifying tasks, setting cycle times, and balancing lines. Group technology layouts can combine efficiencies of product and process layouts through organizing into cells. Facility layout impacts multiple organizational functions.

1. Course: MBA
Subject: Production & Operation
Management
Unit: 2.3
Facility Layout

2. Facility Layout
• Facilities is defined as the workspace and
equipment needed to carry out the operations
of the organization. This includes offices,
factories, computers, and trucks.
• The location, design, and layout of an
organizations' facilities are central to
maximizing the efficiency of the overall
operations system.

3. Facility design & layout
• After choosing the facility's location, the next stage in operations planning
is to design the best physical layout for the facility.
• The available space needs to be assessed with workstations, equipment,
storage, and other amenities need to be arranged.
• The aim is to allow for the most efficient workflow without disruption.
• A workplace that has carefully arranged its layout will allow for a more
effective and efficient workflow and produce its good or services to a high
standard.
• There are three types of workflow layouts that managers can choose from:
• Process layout: arranged in departments (e.g., hospitals).
• Product layout: production line (e.g., a car assembly plant).
• Fixed-position layout: building a large item (e.g., jumbo jet).

4. Facility layout consideration
• Facility managers should consider several factors when
designing the layout of a facility to achieve maximum
effectiveness.
• does the design and layout allow for growth or change?
• Is there a chance that your company will experience
significant growth?
• Could some other change come about that could influence
the layout of your facility?
• Is the process flow smooth?
• Are materials being handled efficiently?
• Does the layout contribute to employee satisfaction and
moral?
• Does the layout lend itself to promotional activities?

5. Are the facilities for an office or a
factory?
An office will have different layout requirements than a factory.

6. Facility layout objectives
• To provide optimum space to organize equipment and
facilitate movement of goods and to create safe and
comfortable work environment.
• To promote order in production towards a single
objective
• To reduce movement of workers, raw material and
equipment
• To promote safety of plant as well as its workers
• To facilitate extension or change in the layout to
accommodate new product line or technology up
gradation
• To increase production capacity of the organization

7. Types of Layout
• Four basic layout types consisting of:
– Process layouts - Group similar resources together
– Product layouts - Designed to produce a specific
product efficiently
– Hybrid layouts - Combine aspects of both process and
product layouts
– Fixed-Position layouts - Product is two large to move;
e.g. a building

8. Process Layouts
• Process layout unique characteristics include:
– Resources used are general purpose
– Facilities are less capital intensive
– Facilities are more labor intensive
– Resources have greater flexibility
– Processing rates are slower
– Material handling costs are higher
– Scheduling resources & work flow is more
complex
– Space requirements are higher

9. Product Layouts
• Product layout unique characteristics are:
– Resources are specialized
– Facilities are capital intensive
– Processing rates are faster
– Material handling costs are lower
– Space requirements for inventory storage are
lower
– Flexibility is low relative to the market

10. Process vs. Product Layout
Here are the characteristic differences between a process and product
layout.

11. Hybrid Layouts
• Combine elements of both product & process
layouts
– Maintain some of the efficiencies of product layouts
– Maintain some of the flexibility of process layouts
• Examples:
– Group technology & manufacturing cells
– Grocery stores

12. Fixed-Position Layout
• Used when product is large
• Product is difficult or impossible to move, i.e.
very large or fixed
• All resources must be brought to the site
• Scheduling of crews and resources is a
challenge

13. Designing Process Layouts
Step 1: Gather information:
Space needed, space available, identify closeness measures
Step 2: Develop alternative block plans:
Using trial-and-error or decision support tools
Step 3: Develop a detailed layout:
Consider exact sizes/shapes of departments and work
centers including aisles and stairways
Tools like drawings, 3-D models, and CAD software are
available to facilitate this process

14. Special Cases of Process Layouts
A number of unique process layouts require
special attention. We will look at two of these:
• Warehouse layouts
• Office Layouts

15. Warehouse Layouts
Warehouse Layout Considerations:
– Primary decision is where to locate each department
relative to the dock
– Departments can be organized to minimize “ld” totals
– Departments of unequal size require modification of the
typical ld calculations to include a calculation of the
“ratio of trips to area needed”
– The usage of “Crossdocking” modifies the traditional
warehouse layouts; more docks, less storage space, and
less order picking

16. Office Layouts
Office Layout Considerations:
– Almost half of workforce works in an office environment
– Human interaction and communication are the primary
factors in designing office layouts
– Layouts need to account for physical environment and
psychological needs of the organization
– One key layout trade-off is between proximity and
privacy
– Open concept offices promote understanding & trust
– Flexible layouts incorporating “office landscaping” help
to solve the privacy issue in open office environments

17. Designing Product Layouts
• Designing product layouts requires
consideration of:
– Sequence of tasks to be performed by each
workstation
– Logical order
– Speed considerations – line balancing

18. Designing Product Layouts – con’t
Step 1: Identify tasks & immediate predecessors
Step 2: Determine output rate
Step 3: Determine cycle time
Step 4: Compute the Theoretical Minimum number
of Stations
Step 5: Assign tasks to workstations (balance the
line)
Step 6: Compute efficiency, idle time & balance
delay

19. Step 1: Identify Tasks & Immediate
Predecessors
Example 10.4 Vicki's Pizzeria and the Precedence Diagram
Immediate Task Time
Work Element Task Description Predecessor (seconds
A Roll dough None 50
B Place on cardboard backing A 5
C Sprinkle cheese B 25
D Spread Sauce C 15
E Add pepperoni D 12
F Add sausage D 10
G Add mushrooms D 15
H Shrinkwrap pizza E,F,G 18
I Pack in box H 15
Total task time 165

20. Layout Calculations
• Step 2: Determine output rate
– Vicki needs to produce 60 pizzas per hour
• Step 3: Determine cycle time
– The amount of time each workstation is allowed to
complete its tasks
– Limited by the bottleneck task (the longest task in a
process):
 
 
sec./unit60
units/hr60
sec/min60xmin/hr60
units/hroutputdesired
sec./daytimeavailable
)(sec./unittimeCycle 
hourperpizzasorunits/hr,72
sec./unit50
sec./hr.3600
timetaskbottleneck
timeavailable
outputMaximum 

21. Layout Calculations con’t
• Step 4: Compute the theoretical minimum number of
stations
– TM = number of stations needed to achieve 100%
efficiency (every second is used)
– Always round up (no partial workstations)
– Serves as a lower bound for our analysis
 
stations3or2.75,
nsec/statio60
seconds165
timecycle
timestask
TM 


22. Layout Calculations con’t
• Step 5: Assign tasks to workstations
– Start at the first station & choose the longest eligible task following
precedence relationships
– Continue adding the longest eligible task that fits without going over the
desired cycle time
– When no additional tasks can be added within the desired cycle time, begin
assigning tasks to the next workstation until finished
Workstation Eligible task Task Selected Task time Idle time
A A 50 10
B B 5 5
C C 25 35
D D 15 20
E, F, G G 15 5
E, F E 12 48
F F 10 38
H H 18 20
I I 15 5
1
2
3

23. Last Layout Calculation
• Step 6: Compute efficiency and balance delay
– Efficiency (%) is the ratio of total productive time divided
by total time
– Balance delay (%) is the amount by which the line falls
short of 100%
  91.7%100
sec.60xstations3
sec.165
NC
t
(%)Efficiency 

8.3%91.7%100%delayBalance 

24. Other Product Layout Considerations
• Shape of the line (S, U, O, L):
– Share resources, enhance communication & visibility,
impact location of loading & unloading
• Paced versus Un-paced lines
– Paced lines use an automatically enforced cycle time
• Number of Product Models produced
– Single
– Mixed-model lines

25. Group Technology (CELL) Layouts
• One of the most popular hybrid layouts uses
Group Technology (GT) and a cellular layout
• GT has the advantage of bringing the
efficiencies of a product layout to a process
layout environment

26. Process Flows before the Use of GT
Cells

27. Process Flows after the Use of GT Cells

28. Facility Layout Across the Organization
Layout planning is organizationally important for
an efficient operations
– Marketing is affected by layout especially when
clients come to the site
– Human resources is affected as layout impacts
people
– Finance is involved as layout changes can be costly
endeavors

29. Reference
• http://www.managementstudyguide.com
• https://www.boundless.com