BATANGAS STATEUNIVERSITY

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OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Narrative Report on the Topic

FACILITIES LAYOUT Part 1
Gerrimie C. Dinglasan

Layout refers the configuration of departments, work centers, and

equipment, with particular emphasis on movement of work (customers or
materials) through the system. Layout decisions are important for three basic
reasons, first it requires substantial investments of money and effort, second, it
involves long-term commitments, and lastly it has significant impact on cost and
efficiency of short-term operations.
The need for layout decisions include inefficient operation like high cost
and bottleneck, accidents or safety hazards, changes in the design of products or
services, introduction of new product or services, changes in the volume of
output or mix of output, changes in method or equipment, changes in
environmental or other legal requirements, and morale problems like lack of face-
to-face contact.
The three basic types of layout are product, process and fixed position.
Product layouts are most conducive to repetitive processing, process layouts are
used for intermittent processing, and fixed-position layouts are used when
projects require layout.
Product layouts uses standardized processing operations to achieve
smooth and rapid flow of large volumes of goods or customer through a system.
For instance, if a portion of a manufacturing operation required the sequence of
cutting, sanding, and painting, the appropriate pieces of equipment would be
arrange in that same sequences. And because each item follows the same
sequence of operations, it is often possible to utilize fixed-path material-handling
equipment such as conveyors to transport items between operations. In
manufacturing environment, the lines referred to as production line or assembly
lines. Production line is a standardized layout arranged according to a fixed

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sequence of production task while assemble line is according to sequence
assembly tasks.

The main advantages of product layouts are:

1. A high rate of output
2. Low unit cost due to high volume. The high cost of specialized is spread
over many units.
3. Labor specialization, which reduces training cost and time, and results in
a wide span of supervision.
4. Low material-handling cost per unit. Material handling is simplified
because units follow the same sequence of operations.
5. A high utilization of labor and equipment.
6. The establishment of routing and scheduling in the initial design of the
system.
7. Fairly routine accounting, purchasing, and inventory control.
The primary disadvantages of product layouts includes the following:
1. The intensive division of labor usually creates dull, repetitive jobs that
provide little opportunity for advancement and may lead to morale
problems and to repetitive stress injuries.
2. Poorly skilled workers may exhibit little interest in maintaining equipment
or in the quality of output.
3. The system is fairly inflexible in response to changes in the volume of
output or changes in product or process design.
4. The system is highly susceptible to shutdown caused by equipment
breakdowns or excessive absenteeism because workstation are highly
interdependent.
5. Preventive maintenance, the capacity for quick repairs, and spare-parts
inventories are necessary expenses.

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6. Incentive plan tied to individual output are impractical since they would
cause variations among outputs of individual workers, which would
adversely affect the smooth flow of work through the system.

U-Shaped Layouts has a number of advantages that make it worthy of

consideration. It interferes cross-travel of workers and vehicle. It often requires
approximately half the length of a straight production line. And in addition, it
permits communication among workers on the line because workers are
clustered, thus facilitating teamwork.

A U-shaped Production Line

In 1 2 3 4

Workers

Out 10 9 8 7

Process Layouts (functional layouts) are designed to process items or

provide services that involve a variety of processing requirement. The variety of
jobs that are processed requires frequent adjustments to equipment. This causes
a discontinuous work flow, which is referred to as intermittent processing. It is
most common in service environment like hospitals, colleges and universities,
banks and among others. Because equipment in a process layout is arranged by
type rather than by processing sequence, the system is much less vulnerable to
shutdown caused by mechanical failure or absenteeism.

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Process layouts

Used for intermittent processing

Job Shop or Batch

Dept. A Dept. C Dept. E

Dept. B Dept. D Dept. F

Compares to

Product Layout (sequential)

Work Work Work

Station 1 Station 2 Station 3

The advantages of process layouts include the following:

1. The system can handle a variety of processing requirements.
2. The systems are not particularly vulnerable to equipment failure.
3. General-purpose equipment is often less costly than the specialized
equipment used in product layouts and is easier and less costly to
maintain.
4. It is possible to use individual incentive systems.
The disadvantages of process layouts include the following:
1. In-process inventory costs can be high if batch processing is used in
manufacturing systems.
2. Routing and scheduling pose continual challenges.
3. Equipment utilization rates are low.
4. Material handling is slow and inefficient, and more costly per unit than in
product layouts.
5. Job complexities often reduce the span of supervision and result in higher
supervisory cost than with product layouts.

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6. Special attention necessary for each product or customer and low
volumes result in higher unit costs than with product layouts.
7. Accounting, inventory control, and purchasing are much more involved
than with product layouts.

In fixed-position layouts, the item being worked on remains stationary,

and workers, materials, and equipment are moved about as needed. This is in
marked contrast to product and process layout. Some example of this layouts are
construction project like buildings, ship-buildings, and production of large aircraft
and space rocket mission. It needs special efforts to coordinate activities, and the
span of control can be quite narrow. Project might require use of earth-moving
equipment and trucks to haul materials to, from, and around the site.
Combination layouts. The three basic layout types are ideal model, which
may be altered the needs of a particular situation. For instance, supermarket
layouts are essentially process layouts, yet we find that most use fixed-path
material-handling devices such as roller type conveyors in the stockroom and
belt-type conveyors at the cash registers.
Cellular Layouts is a type of layout in which workstation are grouped into
what is referred to as a cell. Groupings are determined by the operations needed
to perform work for a set of similar items that require similar processing. All parts
follow the same route, although minor variations like skipping an operation are
possible. In contrast, the functional layout involves multiple paths of parts.
The biggest challenges of implementing cellular manufacturing involve
issues of equipment and layout and issues of workers and management. The
cost of work stoppages during implementation can be considerable, as can the
costs of new or modified equipment and the rearrangement of the layout. The
costs to implement cellular manufacturing must be weighed against the cost
savings that can be expected from using cells. It also often requires employee
training and the redefinition of jobs. Each of the workers in each cell should
ideally be able to complete the entire range of tasks required in that cell, and

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often means being more multi-skilled than they were previously. In addition, cells
are often expected to be self-managing, and therefore workers will have to be
able to work effectively in teams.
Group Technology. Effective cellular manufacturing must have groups of
identified items with similar processing characteristics. This strategy for product
and process design is known as group technology and involves identifying items
with similarities in either design characteristics or manufacturing characteristics,
and grouping them into part families. Design characteristics include size, shape,
and function; manufacturing or processing characteristics involve the type and
sequence of operations required.
Service layouts can often be categorized as product, process, or fixed-
position layouts. However, service layout requirements are somewhat different
from manufacturing layout requirements. The degree of customer contact and the
degree of customization are two key factors in service layout design. If contact
and customization are both high, like health care, usually with high labor content
and flexible equipment, and a layout that support this. If customization is high but
contact low like tailoring, the layout can be arranged to facilitate workers and
equipment. If contact is high but customization is low like supermarkets, self-
service is a possibility, in which layout must take into account ease of obtaining
the service as well as customer safety. If the degree of contact and the need for
customization are low, the core service and the customer can be separated,
making it easier to achieve a high degree of efficiency in operations.
Warehouse and Storage Layouts. The design of storage facilities
presents a different set of factors than the design of factory layouts. Frequency of
order is important consideration; items that are ordered frequently should be
placed near the entrance to the facility, and those ordered infrequently should be
placed toward the rear of the facility.
Retail layouts such as department stores, supermarkets, and specialty
stores, designers must take into account the presence of customers and the

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opportunity to influence sales volume and customer attitudes trough carefully
designed layouts.
Office layouts are undergoing transformations as the flow of paperwork is
replaced with the increasing use of electronic communications. This lessens the
need to place office workers in a layout that optimizes the physical transfer of
information or paperwork.
Restaurant Layouts. The single most important element is process
workflow. Food and non-food products should transition easily through the
operation from the receiving door to the customer with all phases of storage, pre-
preparation, cooking, holding, and service, unimpaired or minimized due to good
design.
Hospital Layouts. Key elements of hospital layout design are patient care
and safety, with easy access to critical resources such as X-ray, CT scan, and
MRI equipment. General layout of the hospital is one aspect layout, while layout
of patient rooms is another.
Automation in Services. One way to improve productivity and reduce
costs in services is to remove the customer from the process as much as
possible. Automated services is one increasingly used alternatives like financial
services uses ATM.

Reference: Stevenson, W. J. (2015). Operations Management. United States of

America: McGraw-Hill Education

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