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9 Factory-Plants Layout and Design

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32 views4 pages

9 Factory-Plants Layout and Design

Uploaded by

Taiwo Subair
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Factory or Plant Layouts

Factory layout aims at arranging the contents and operations of a factory with the purpose of
achieving smooth operations and deriving maximum efficiency. Such contents are human
resources, machines, raw materials, finished products and manufacturing processes. Factory layout
ensures high productivity through maximum output in terms of quality and quantity. Factory layout
is involved in new factories as well as in improvement or re designing of an existing factory.

Objectives of factory layout


! Efficient use of available floor space.
! Better material handling and storage facilities.
! Proper utilization of materials, avoiding unnecessary wastes and damages.
! Proper flow of goods without delay.
! Facilitate production processes.
! Allows for easy and efficient maintenance.
! Enhances efficient supervision and control.
! Ensures capacity of plant is realised.
! Achieves quality of goods and services.
! Ensures the safety of workforce and equipment.
! Provides for adequate medical facilities.
! Provides recreation, refreshment and comfort for workers.
! Plans for future expansion.
! Avoids frequent re designing of factory layout.

Factors influencing plant layouts


The following factors determine plant layouts.

! Factory building: The nature and size of the building determines the floor space available for
layout. The length, breadth and height of the building are critical.

! Nature of product: Product layout is suitable for uniform products whereas process layout is more
appropriate for custom-made products.

! Production process: In assembly line industries, product layout is better. In job order or
intermittent manufacturing on the other hand, process layout is desirable.

! Type of machinery: General purpose machines are often arranged as per process layout while
special purpose machines are arranged according to product layout.

! Repairs and maintenance: Machines should be arranged to allow for adequate space between
them for movement of equipment and people required for repairing the machines.

! Human needs: Adequate arrangement should be made for cloakroom, washroom, lockers,
drinking water, toilets and other employee facilities. Proper provision should be made for disposal
of effluents, if any.

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! Plant environment: Heat, light, noise, ventilation and other aspects should be duly considered,
e.g. paint shops should be located in a hall so that dangerous fumes can be removed through proper
ventilation etc. Adequate safety arrangement should also be made. Thus, the layout should be
conducive to health and safety of employees. It should ensure free and efficient flow of men and
materials. Future expansion and diversification may also be considered while planning factory
layout.

Revision of plant layout


Plant layout exercises are regularly carried out to make improvements or revisions on existing
schemes. It is therefore a dynamic rather than a static concept. Revisions must be cost effective
and should be done to improve the efficiency of the existing layout. The following reasons can
necessitate the revision of a layout.
! Increased output which may require more space or material handling.
! Introduction of a new product which may affect the existing process.
! New technology: introduction of new machines, equipment, tool, processes or materials.
! To correct inadequacies, omissions or mistakes discovered in the present layout.
! Changes in factory building, e.g., changes in space, height or location.

Types of factory layouts


Factory layout facilitates the arrangement of machines, equipment and other physical facilities in
a planned manner within the factory premises. There are mainly four types of plant layout:
! Product or line layout
! Process or functional layout
! Fixed position or location layout
! Combined or group layout

Product or line layout or flow shop: machines and equipment (Fig. PL1) are arranged in one line
depending upon the sequence of operations required for the product. The material moves to another
machine sequentially without any backtracking or deviation. The output of one machine becomes
input of the next machine. Examples are the paper mill, chemical plants, car assembly, etc.

Fig. PL1 Product layout


Advantages:
! Suitable for mass production.
! Low cost of material handling, due to straight and short route and absence of backtracking.
! Smooth and continuous operations.
! Continuous flow of work.
! Low inventory and work in progress.
! Optimum use of floor space.
! Simple and effective inspection of work.
! Simple and easy production control.
! Lower manufacturing cost per unit

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Disadvantages:
! Higher initial capital investment in special machines.
! High overhead charge.
! Breakdown of one machine will disturb the production process.
! Low flexibility of physical resources.

Process or functional layout: machines of similar functions are grouped together (Fig. PL2) at
one place. E.g. paper cutting and binding departments in a paper factory or welding, milling, or
turning departments in a fabrication factory. The departments are positioned in sequence and as
close as possible to make for smooth flow, easy access and effective inspection. This type of layout
is used for batch production.

Fig. PL2 Process layout

Advantages
! Lower initial capital investment is required.
! There is high degree of machine utilization, as a machine is not blocked for a single
product.
! The overhead costs are relatively low.
! Breakdown of one machine does not disturb the production process.
! Supervision can be more effective and specialized.
! Greater flexibility of resources.

Disadvantages
! Material handling costs are high due to backtracking
! More skilled labour is required resulting in higher cost.
! Work in progress inventory is high needing greater storage space.
! More frequent inspection is needed which results in costly supervision.

Combined layout: in most manufacturing industries a combination of process and product layout
is employed. In a factory involved in fabrication and assembly, fabrication is done in process
layout while assembly is done in product layout. For example, the equipment in the cement
industry are arranged in product layout while the utilities like water, compressed air etc. are
arranged in process layout.

Fixed position or location layout: Fixed position layout (Fig. PL4) involves the movement of
manpower and machines to the product which remains stationary. This type of layout is preferred
where the size of the job is bulky and heavy. Examples are locomotives, ships, boilers, generators,
wagon building, aircraft manufacturing, etc.

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Fig. PL4 Fixed position layout

Advantages
! The investment on layout is very small.
! The layout is flexible as change in job design and operation sequence can be easily
incorporated.
! Adjustments can be made to meet shortage of materials or absence of workers by
changing the sequence of operations.

Disadvantages
! High investment due to long production period.
! Very large space is required for storage of material and equipment near the product.
! There are likely conflicts among work groups since several operations are often carried out
simultaneously

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