4/15/2020

Fayoum University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Department

FACILITIES PLANNING
Lec_8: Flow Systems

Mohammed Abdelghany
Assistant Lecturer – Mechanical Engineering Department
E-mail/ m.abdelghany@fayoum.edu.eg
Tel./ 002 – 01144876702

Flow systems
• Movement of goods, materials, energy, information, and/or
people.
• Movement of refrigerators from the manufacturer through various
levels of distribution to the ultimate customer is a product flow
process.
• Transmission of sales orders from the sales department to the
production control department is an example of an information
flow process.
• Movement of patients, staff, and visitors through a hospital are
examples of people flow process.

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Flow systems
• Discrete flow processes
• discrete items move through the flow process.
• Examples; movement of refrigerators, transmission of sales
orders, movement of patients or staff.

• Continuous flow processes

• products continuously move through successive production
states.
• Examples; flow of electric current, chemicals flowing through
a processing facility, and oil flowing through a pipeline.
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Flow systems for discrete parts processes

1. Materials management system

• The flow process being considered is the flow of materials
into a manufacturing facility.

2. Material flow system

• The flow process being considered is the flow of materials
and parts within a manufacturing facility.

3. Physical distribution system

• The flow process being considered is the flow of products
from a manufacturing facility
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Production forecasts

Production control
Materials management system Stock requisitions

Purchasing department
Purchase orders
Order payment
Vendors
Inventory records

Bill of lading

Transportation
Bill of lading Receiving
report Accounting
Receiving department
department
Move ticket
Material handling
Move ticket
Stores department
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Production schedule

Production control
Work order release

Stores
Warehouse records

Move ticket

Material handling
Material flow system

Move ticket & Route sheets

Manufacturing departments
Move ticket & Assembly chart

Assembly department
Move ticket
Warehouse

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Payment
Customer
Sales order

Sales department

Invoice
Physical distribution system

Picking list

Warehouse
Shipping release
Accounting
Material handling
Shipping department
Bill of lading report
Transportation
Bill of lading
Distributors
Bill of lading
Transportation
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Flow systems for discrete parts processes

1. Materials management system

Supply chain management System

• The flow process being considered is the flow of materials

into a manufacturing facility.

2. Material flow system

• The flow process being considered is the flow of materials
and parts within a manufacturing facility.

3. Physical distribution system

• The flow process being considered is the flow of products
from a manufacturing facility
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Material flow system

• Principle of minimizing the cost of flow:

• Eliminate unnecessary movements of material by reducing
the number of manufacturing steps.

• Minimize manual handling by minimizing travel distances.

• Eliminate manual handling by mechanizing or automating

flow.

• Minimize material handling by reducing the flow density

through containerization.

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Flow patterns within Product layout

End-to-end
Back-to-back Front-to-front

Circular Odd-angle

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Flow patterns within process department

Parallel Perpendicular Diagonal

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Flow patterns with mechanized/automated

material handling systems
• Line Flow Pattern

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Flow patterns with mechanized/automated

material handling systems

• Spine Flow Pattern unidirectional or bidirectional

material handling device

machines/workstations

The spine flow structure can be used for both within-department flows and
between-department flows
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Flow patterns with mechanized/automated

material handling systems

• Loop Flow Pattern

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Flow patterns with mechanized/automated

material handling systems

• Tree Flow Pattern

centralized material
handling device

robotic-type
material handling

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Flow between Departments

• The locations of the pickup and delivery stations for

each department.

At the same location On the same side

On adjacent sides On opposite sides

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Achieving the effective flow within a facility

Principles for effective flow:
• Maximization of directed flow paths,
• Minimization of total flow, and
• Minimization of the costs of flow.

Flow planning hierarchy

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Directed flow path

• It is an uninterrupted flow path progressing directly from origination to
destination.
• It is a flow path that does not intersect with other paths.
• It is a flow path with no backtracking

Uninterrupted flow paths

Interrupted flow paths

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Backtracking penalty

• Backtracking increases the length of the flow path.

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Backtracking penalty

• Effects of backtracking in a unidirectional loop flow

system

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