UNIT 7 MANAGING OPERATIONS LAYOUT

Unit Structure
7.0 Overview
7.1 Learning Outcomes
7.2 Introduction
7.2.1 Objectives of Plant Layout
7.2.2 Principles of a Good Plant Layout
7.3 Types of Layout
7.3.1 Process Layout
7.3.2 Product Layout
7.4 Strategic importance of layout
7.6 Steps involved in designing a Process Layout
7.8 Steps involved in designing a Product Layout
7.9 Assembly Line Balancing
7.6 Summary

7.0 OVERVIEW
This unit explains the concept of operations layout and explains the features of process layout
and product layout. It provides an insight to the strategic importance of layout decisions. It also
analyses the steps involved in designing both a process layout and a product layout. Finally, it
describes assembly line balancing with examples.

7.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this Unit, you should be able to do the following:
1. Identify and describe a process layout.
2. Identify and describe a product layout.
3. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of process and product layouts.
4. Discuss the strategic importance of layout decisions.

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 5. Describe the steps involved in designing both process and product layouts.
6. Balance assembly lines.

7.2 INTRODUCTION

In today’s production organisation, the success of a business depends highly on its ability to
design and operate facilities that can adapt quickly and effectively to changing markets.
Nowadays, investment efficiency requires that production facilities be able to shift quickly from
one product line to another without major retooling, resource reconfiguration, or replacement of
equipment.

Plant layout involves the development of physical relationship among building, equipment and
production operations, which will enable the manufacturing process to be carried on efficiently”
(Chand, 2015).

“Plant layout is a plan of an optimum arrangement of facilities including personnel, operating

equipment, storage space, material handling equipment and all other supporting services along
with the design of best structure to contain all these facilities.” (Telsang, 2006)

7.2.1 Objectives of Plant Layout

The overall objective of an optimum plant layout is one that provides maximum satisfaction to
all stakeholders concerned, including consumers, employees, management and shareholders.

An efficient plant layout should be able to achieve the following objectives (Adapted from
Kumar & Suresh, 2008):
1. Streamline the flow of materials through the plant.
2. Facilitate the manufacturing process.
3. Maintain high turnover of in-process inventory.
4. Minimise materials handling and cost.
5. Effective utilisation of men, equipment and space.

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 6. Make effective utilisation of cubic space.
7. Flexibility of manufacturing operations and arrangements.
8. Provide for employee convenience, safety and comfort.
9. Minimise investment in equipment.
10. Minimise overall production time.
11. Maintain flexibility of arrangement and operation.
12. Facilitate the organisational structure

7.2.2 Principles of a Good Plant Layout

When designing the layout of a plant, a number of factors need to be considered. There are six
basic principles of “best layout” (Adapted from Chand, 2010). These are:

1. Principle of Overall Integration

According to this principle, a good plant layout is the one which is able to integrate its workmen,
materials, machines in the best possible way so as to get the best compromise.

2. Principle of Minimum Distance

According to this principle, a good plant layout is the one which sees very little or minimum
possible movement of the materials during the operations.

3. Principle of Flow

The best layout is one which arranges the work station for each operate process in same order or
sequence that forms treats or assembles the materials.

4. Principle of Cubic Space Utilisation

According to this principle, a good layout is the one that is able to make effective and proper use
of the space that is available for use.

5. Principle of Satisfaction and Safety

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A good plant layout is the one which ensures proper security with maximum flexibility.

6. Principle of Flexibility

The principle of flexibility provides maximum visibility, minimum handling and maximum
accessibility and all other important features of a good plant layout.

7.3 TYPES OF LAYOUT

7.3.1 Process Layout

As explained by Russell and Taylor (2005), process layouts, also known as functional layouts,
group similar activities together in departments or work centers according to the process or
function they perform. For example, in a garment manufacturing business, a process layout
would group multiple sewing stations together for different clothing items in one area, then
locate inspection, wrapping and packaging stations for different items together in different areas.
This layout proves to be effective when the product variety is large, the quantity per product is
low and the type of operation is unique for each type of product.

Advantages of Process Layout

Kachwala and Mukherjee (2009) explains some advantages and disadvantages of process layout
as follows:
1. In process layout there are better use of machineries as there are no disruption and fewer
machines are required as general purpose machines are used as far as possible.
2. Flexibility of equipment and personnel is possible in process layout.
3. As fewer machines are used, this implies lower investment, hence lower cost.
4. Higher utilisation of production facilities such as men and machines.
5. Supervisors will become highly knowledgeable about the functions under their
department and workers have greater scope of skill development and job satisfaction.

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Disadvantages of Process Layout
1. Because of the need for special set up and frequent process adjustments, this can lead to
high production cost.
2. As production planning, scheduling and control process becomes more complex,
processing time becomes relatively longer.
3. Reduced material handling efficiency.

7.3.2 Product Layout

Product layouts, better known as assembly lines, arrange activities in a line according to the
sequence of operations that need to be performed to assemble a particular product (Russell et al.,
2005). In this type of layout, only one product of one type of product is produced in an operating
area. In order to justify the product layout, this product must be standardised and produced in
large quantities. Since the line is set up for one type of product or service, special machines can
be purchased to match a product's specific processing requirements.

Product layouts are best suited for mass production or repetitive operations in which demand is
stable and volume is high. The product or service is a standard one made for a general market
and not customer- specific. Because high level of demand, product layouts are more automated
than process layouts and the role of the worker is different. Workers perform narrowly defined
assembly tasks that do not require as high a wage rate as those of the more versatile workers in a
process layout.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Product Layout

Boyer & Verma (2010) summarises the main advantages and disadvantages of product layout as
follows:

Advantages:
1. Because of faster processing rates, material handling time and cost are reduced.
2. There is high utilisation of space and more efficiency.

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 3. Because of lower throughput, there is small amount of work-in-process inventory.

Disadvantages:
1. In case of a breakdown of one machine in a product line, this may cause stoppages of
machines in the downstream of the line.
2. There is low utilisation for lower volume products.
3. Comparatively high investment in equipment is required.
4. There may be lack of flexibility in the sense that a change in product may require facility
modification.

7.4 STEPS INVOLVED IN DESIGNING A PROCESS LAYOUT

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.

7.5 STEPS INVOLVED IN DESIGNING A PRODUCT LAYOUT

Step 1: Identify tasks and 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 and balance delay.

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7.6 ASSEMBLY LINE BALANCING

Assembly line balancing refers to the assigning of tasks to workstations within a given cycle
time as well as with minimum idle worker time (Heizer and Render, 2010). The Assembly line
balancing problem is made complex by the relationships among tasks imposed by product design
and process technologies. This is called the precedence relationship, which specifies the order
in which tasks must be performed in the assembly process.

As explained by Meyers and Stephens (2005), the steps involved in balancing an assembly line
are as follows:

1. Specify the sequential relationships among tasks using a precedence diagram. The
diagram consists of circles and arrows. Circles represent individual tasks; arrows indicate
the order of task performance.

2. Determine the required workstation cycle time ( C) using the formula:

C = Production time per day / Required output per day (units)

3. Determine the theoretical minimum number of workstations (Nt) required to satisfy

the workstation cycle time constraint using the formula (note that this must be
rounded up to the next highest integer.

Nt = Sum of task times (T) /Cycle time (C)

4. Select a primary rule by which tasks are to be assigned to workstations, and a

secondary rule to break ties.

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 5. Assign tasks, one at a time, to the first workstation until the sum of the task times is
equal to the workstation cycle time, or no other tasks are feasible because of time or
sequence restrictions. Repeat the process for Workstation 2, Workstation 3, and so on
until all tasks are assigned.

6. Evaluate the efficiency of the balance derived using the formula below:

Efficiency = Sum of task times (T)

Actual number of workstations (Na) x Workstation (C)

7. If efficiency is unsatisfactory, rebalance using a different decision rule.

Example

Da Wei Enterprise wants to develop a precedence diagram for an electric Zoomer robot
component that requires a total assembly time of 66 minutes. Furthermore, it determines that
there are 480 productive minutes of work available per day and that the production schedule
requires that 40 units of the robot component be completed as output from the assembly line
each day. Its technical team gathers tasks, assembly times and sequence requirements for the
robot component as follows:

Task Assembly Time Task must follow

(mins) task listed below
A 10 -
B 11 A
C 5 ThisBmeans that tasks
B and E cannot be
D 4 doneB until task A has
been completed.
E 12 A
F 3 C, D
G 7 F

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 H 11 E
I 3 G,H
Total time = 66 mins

Required:

(a) Draw a Precedence diagram

Solution:

7
C 3
10 mins 11
G 3
4 F
A B
I
D

12 11

E H

(b) Calculate cycle time

Cycle time (in mins) = 480 mins / 40 units = 12 mins per unit

(c) Calculate the minimum number of workstations

Minimum number of workstations = Total task time / Cycle time = 66/12

= 5.5 or 6 stations

(d) Balance the line

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The figure below shows one solution that does not violate the sequence requirements and that
groups tasks into six one-person stations. To obtain this solution, activities with the most
following tasks were moved into workstations to use as much of the available cycle time of 12
minutes as possible. The workstation consumes 10 minutes and has an idle time of 2 minutes.

Solution:

11 mins 5 mins
7 mins STN 6
10 C
STN 2 3 mins
mins
G
STN 4 F
A B 3 mins
I
4 mins
D

STN
1
12mins 11 mins

E H
STN 5

STN 3

This is a reasonably well- balanced assembly line. The second workstation uses 11 minutes, and
the third consumes the full 12 minutes. The forth workstation groups three small tasks and
balances perfectly at 12 minutes. The fifth has 1 minute of idle time, and the sixth (consisting of
tasks G and I) has 2 minutes of idle time per cycle. Total idle time for this solution is 6 minutes
per cycle.

(e) Calculate the efficiency of the of the assembly line

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Efficiency = ∑ Task times

(Actual number of workstations) X (Largest assigned cycle time)

= 66 minutes / (6 stations x 12 minutes)

= 66/72 x 100 = 91.7%

Activity 2
Activity 1
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Required: 1 D, E, F

H (a) Draw a precedence 2diagram. B

I (b) Calculate cycle time.

1 G, H
(c) Calculate the minimum number of workstations.
Required:
(d) Balance the line and calculate the efficiency of the assembly line.

(a) Draw the precedence diagram and assign tasks using five workstations.
(b) What is the efficiency of the assembly line, using your answer to (a)?
(c) What is the theoretical minimum number of workstations?
Unit 7(d) What is the idle time per boat produced?
7.7 SUMMARY

Unit 7
This unit has explained the concept of plant layout. The objectives and principles of a good plant
layout were described. It also explained the distinguishing features of a process layout and a
product layout, whilst elaborating on the advantages and disadvantages of each. The steps
involved in designing both a process layout and product layout were explained. Finally, it
provided an insight to the concept of assembly line balancing.

7.8 REFERENCES

Boyer, K.K and Verma, R., (2010). Operations and Supply chain Management for the 21st
Century. 1st Edition. South Western, Cengage Learning.

Chand, S., (2010). Objectives and principles of Industrial Plant Layout. Online. Available at:
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/industries/plant-layout/objectives-and-principles-of-
industrial-plant-layout/34607/.

Meyers, F.E. and Stephens, M. P., (2005). “Manufacturing Facilities Design and Material
Handling. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005.

Heizer, J. and Render, B., (2010) Operations Management (11th edition), Prentice Hall, New
Jersey.

Kachwala, T.T and Mukherjee, P.N., (2009). Operations Management and Productivity
techniques. Eastern economy edition. PHI Learning Private Limited.

Kumar, S.A and Suresh, N., (2008) Production and Operations Management. 2 nd Edition. New
Age International (P) limited, Publishers.

Russell, R. S. and Taylor, B.W., (2005). Operations Management: Quality and competitiveness
in a global environment. 5th Edition. Wiley Publication.

Unit 7
Telsang, M., (2006). Industrial Engineering and Production Management. Online. Available at:
https://books.google.mu/books?
id=QNa5OqYsSNEC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=Moore+“Plant+layout+is+a+plan+of+an+o
ptimum+arrangement+of+facilities

Unit 7