Process Selection and Facility Layout 1
Process Selection and Facility Layout 1
Introduction
Process selection
Deciding on the way production of goods or services
will be organized
Major implications
Capacity planning
Layout of facilities
Equipment
Process
Technological Selection Work
Change Design
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Process Strategy
◦ Key aspects help in process selection are –
◦ Capital Intensity – The mix of equipment and labor that will be
used by the organization
Process Type
JOB SHOP
◦ A job shop usually operates on a relatively small scale. It is used
when a low volume of high variety goods or service will be
needed.
◦ Here processing is intermittent – work includes small jobs, each
with different processing requirements
◦ High flexibility using general purpose equipment and skilled
workers are important characteristics of a job shop
Measures:
Very High
Moderate
Low
Very Low
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Automation
Automation: Machinery that has sensing and control
devices that enables it to operate.
◦ Automation is frequently pushed as a strategy necessary for cost competitiveness
◦ Automation also offers a number of disadvantages over human labor
◦ Technology is very expensive, usually it requires high volumes of output to offset
high costs
◦ Automation is much less flexible. Once the process has been automated, there is
substantial reason for not changing it
Careful planning is necessary to successfully integrate automation into a production
system
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Automation
• Computer-aided design and manufacturing systems
(CAD/CAM)
• Numerically controlled (NC) machines [it performs operations by
following mathematical processing instructions]
• Robot
• Manufacturing cell
• Flexible manufacturing systems(FMS) [it is a group of machines
designed to handle intermittent processing and produce similar products]
• Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)
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Types of Automation
FIXED AUTOMATION
◦ It is the most rigid type automation. Sometimes referred as Detroit type
automation
◦ Minimal variety and the cost of making major changes in either product or
process are its primary limitations
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PROGRAMMABLE AUTOMATION
◦ Programmable automation involves use of high cost, general purpose
equipment controlled by a computer program. The computer provides
both the sequence of operations and specific details about each operation