Process Selection and Facility Layout

Process Selection
○ Refers to deciding on the Process Selection – Key Questions
way production of goods or services Two key questions in process selection:
will be organized 1. How much variety will the process
○ It has major implications for need to be able to handle?
■ Capacity planning 2. How much volume will the process
■ Layout of facilities need to be able to handle?
■ Equipment ● Job Shop
■ Design of work ● Batch
systems ● Repetitive
● Continuous

Process Strategy Sustainable Production of Goods and

● Key aspects of process strategy: Services
○ Capital intensity ● There is increasing pressure for
■ The mix of equipment organizations to operate sustainable
and labor that will be used by production processes
the organization ● According to the Lowell Center for
○ Process flexibility Sustainable Production:
■ The degree to which ○ “Sustainable Production is
the system can be adjusted to the creation of goods and services
changes in processing using processes and systems that
requirements due to such are: non-polluting; conserving of
factors as energy and natural resources;
● Product and economically efficient; safe and
service design changes healthful for workers,
● Volume communities, and consumers; and,
changes socially and creatively rewarding
● Changes in for all working people.”
technology
 ● The use of
computers in process control,
ranging from robots to
Process and Information Technology automated quality control
● Process and information technology ■ Numerically
can have a major impact on costs, Controlled (N/C) Machines
productivity and competitiveness: ● Machines that
○ Process technology perform operations by
■ Methods, procedures, following mathematical
and equipment used to processing instructions
produce goods and provide ■ Robot
services ● A machine
○ Information technology consisting of a mechanical
■ The science and use arm, a power supply, and a
of computers and other controller
electronic equipment to
store, process, and send Flexible Automation
information ● Flexible automation
○ Evolved from programmable
The Need to Manage Technology automation. It uses equipment
● Process technology and information that is more customized than that
technology can have a profound of programmable automation. A
impact on: key difference between the two is
○ Costs that flexible automation requires
○ Productivity significantly less changeover time.
○ Competitiveness ■ FMS (Flexible
Manufacturing System)
Automation ● A group of
○ Machinery that has sensing machines designed to
and control devices that enable it to handle intermittent
operate automatically processing requirements
■ Fixed automation and produce a variety of
■ Programmable similar products
automation ■ CIM (Computer
■ Flexible automation Integrated Manufacturing)
● A system for
Programmable Automation linking a broad range of
○ Involves the use of high-cost, manufacturing activities
general-purpose equipment controlled through an integrated
by a computer program that provides computer system
both the sequence of operations and
specific details about each operation
■ Computer-Aided
Manufacturing (CAM)
 Facilities Layout
○ The configuration of
departments, work centers, and
equipment, with particular emphasis
on movement of work (customers or
Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) materials) through the system
○ A group of machines ○ Facilities layout decisions
designed to handle intermittent arise when:
processing requirements and produce ■ Designing new
a variety of similar products facilities
■ Have some of the ■ Re-designing existing
benefits of automation and facilities
some of the flexibility of
individual, or stand-alone, The Need for Layout Planning
machines 1. Inefficient operations
○ High cost
■ Includes supervisory ○ Bottlenecks
computer control, automatic 2. Accidents or safety hazards
material handling, and robots 3. Changes in product or service design
or other automated 4. Introduction of new products or
processing equipment services
5. Changes in output volume or
Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) product mix
○ A system for linking a broad 6. Changes in methods or equipment
range of manufacturing activities 7. Changes in environmental or other
through an integrated computer legal requirements
system 8. Morale problems
■ Activities include
● Engineering Layout Design Objectives
design ● Basic objective
● FMS ○ Facilitate a smooth flow of
● Purchasing work, material, and information
● Order through the system
processing ● Supporting objectives
● Production 1. Facilitate product or service
planning and control quality
■ The overall goal of 2. Use workers and space efficiently
CIM is to link various parts of an 3. Avoid bottlenecks
organization to achieve rapid 4. Minimize material handling costs
response to customer orders 5. Eliminate unnecessary movement
and/or product changes, to allow of workers or material
rapid production and to reduce 6. Minimize production time or
indirect labor costs customer service time
7. Design for safety
Basic Layout Types
● Product layouts
● Process layouts
● Fixed-position layout
● Combination layouts

Product Layouts: Advantages

● Can handle a variety of processing
requirements
● Not particularly vulnerable to
equipment failures
Product Layouts: Advantages ● General-purpose equipment is often
● High rate of output less costly and easier and less costly to
● Low unit cost maintain
● Labor specialization ● It is possible to use individual
● Low material handling cost per unit incentive systems
● High utilization of labor and
equipment
● Established routing and scheduling Product Layouts: Disadvantages
● Routine accounting, purchasing, and ● In-process inventories can be high
inventory control ● Routing and scheduling pose
continual challenges
Product Layouts: Disadvantages ● Equipment utilization rates are low
● Creates dull, repetitive jobs ● Material handling is slow and
● Poorly skilled workers may not inefficient
maintain equipment or quality of ● Reduced spans of supervision
output ● Special attention necessary for each
● Fairly inflexible to changes in volume product or customer
or product or process design ● Accounting, inventory control, and
● Highly susceptible to shutdowns purchasing are more involved
● Preventive maintenance, capacity
for quick repair and spare-parts Fixed Position Layouts
inventories are necessary expenses ● Layout in which the product or
● Individual incentive plans are project remains stationary, and
impractical workers, materials, and equipment are
moved as needed

Combination Layouts
● Some operational environments use
a combination of the three basic layout
types:
○ Hospitals
 ○ Supermarket ■ The cells become, in
○ Shipyards effect, miniature versions of
● Some organizations are moving product layouts
away from process layouts in an effort
to capture the benefits of product Group Technology
layouts ○ The grouping into part
○ Cellular manufacturing families of items with similar design or
○ Flexible manufacturing manufacturing characteristics
systems ■ Design
characteristics:
Service Layouts ● Size
● Service layouts can be categorized ● Shape
as: product, process, or fixed position ● Function
● Service layout requirements are ■ Manufacturing or
somewhat different due to such processing characteristics
factors as: ● Type of
○ Degree of customer contact operations required
○ Degree of customization ● Sequence of
● Common service layouts: operations required
○ Warehouse and storage ○ Requires a systematic
layouts analysis of parts to identify the part
○ Retail layouts families
○ Office layouts
Service Layouts
● Two key factors:
○ Customer contact
○ Degree of customization
● Layouts:
○ Warehouse and storage Designing Product Layouts:
layouts ● The goal of a product layout is to
○ Retail layouts arrange workers or machines in the
○ Office layouts sequence that operations need to be
performed
Cellular Layouts
○ Layout in which workstations Line Balancing
are grouped into a cell that can process ○ The process of assigning
items that have similar processing tasks to workstations in such a way
requirements that the workstations have
■ Groupings are approximately equal time
determined by the operations requirements
needed to perform the work for a ○ Goal:
set of similar items, part families, ■ Obtain task grouping
that require similar processing that represent approximately
equal time requirements since this
 minimizes idle time along the line
and results in a high utilization of
equipment and labor
○ Why is line balancing
important?
■ It allows us to use
labor and equipment more
efficiently
■ To avoid fairness
issues that arise when one
workstation must work harder
than another

Cycle Time Assigning Tasks to Workstations

○ The maximum time allowed ● Some heuristic (intuitive) rules:
at each workstation to complete its set ○ Assign tasks in order of most
of tasks on a unit following tasks
○ Cycle time also establishes ■ Count the number of
the output rate of a line tasks that follow
○ Assign tasks in order of
greatest positional weight
  ■ Positional weight is
the sum of each task’s time
and the times of all following
  tasks

Measuring Effectiveness

How Many Workstations Are Needed?

● The required number of
workstations is a function of
○ Desired output rate
○ Our ability to combine tasks
into a workstation
● Theoretical minimum number of
stations

  Designing Process Layouts

● The main issue in designing process
layouts concerns the relative
placement of the departments
● Measuring effectiveness
○ A major objective in
designing process layouts is to
minimize transportation cost,
distance, or time

Information Requirements
● In designing process layouts, the
following information is required:
1. A list of departments to be
arranged and their dimensions
2. A projection of future work flows
between the pairs of work centers
3. The distance between locations
and the cost per unit of distance to
move loads between them
4. The amount of money to be
invested in the layout
5. A list of any special considerations
6. The location of key utilities, access
and exit points, etc.