 Layout is one of the key decisions that determine the long-run efficiency of operations.

Layout has
strategic implications because it establishes an organization's competitive priorities in regard to
capacity, processes, flexibility, and cost, as well as quality of work life, customer contact, and image.
 Layout planning is deciding on the best physical arrangement of all resources that consume space
within a facility
 The importance of layout- 1. Economies in handling, 2. Effective Use of Available Area, 3.
Minimization of Production Delays, 4. Improved Quality Control, 5. Minimum Equipment Investment,
6. Improved Utilization of Labor

1. TYPES OF PLANT LAYOUT - PRODUCT OR LINE LAYOUT: If all the processing equipment and
machines are arranged according to the sequence of operations of a product, the layout is
called product type of layout. In this type of layout, only one product or one type of products
is produced in an operating area. This product must be standardized and produced in large
quantities in order to justify the product layout. The raw material is supplied at one end of
the line and goes from one operation to the next quite rapidly with a minimum work in
process, storage and material handling. Fig. 3.3 shows product layout for two types of
products A and B.
 Advantages offered by Product Layout: (i) Lowers total material handling cost. (ii) There is
less work in processes. (iii) Better utilization of men and machines, (iv) Less floor area is
occupied by material in transit and for temporary storages. (v) Greater simplicity of
production control. (vi) Total production time is also minimized.
 Limitations of Product Layout: (i) No flexibility which is generally required is obtained in
this layout. (ii) The manufacturing cost increases with a fall in volume of production. (iii) If
one or two lines are running light, there is a considerable machine idleness. (iv) A single
machine break down may shut down the whole production line. (v) Specialized and strict
supervision is essential.

2. PROCESS OR FUNCTIONAL LAYOUT: The process layout is particularly useful where low
volume of production is needed. If the products are not standardized, the process layout is
lower desirable, because it has creator process flexibility than other. In this type of layout,
the machines and not arranged according to the sequence of operations but are arranged
according to the nature or type of the operations. This layout is commonly suitable for non
repetitive jobs. Same type of operation facilities are grouped together such as lathes will be
placed at one place, all the drill machines are at another place and so on.
 Advantages of Process Layout:
(i) There will be less duplication of machines. Thus, total investment in equipment
purchase will be reduced.
(ii) it offers better and more efficient supervision through specialization at various
levels.
(iii) There is a greater flexibility in equipment and man power thus load distribution is
easily controlled.
(iv) Better utilization of equipment available is possible.
(v) Break down of equipment can be easily handled by transferring work to another
machine/work station.
(vi) There will be better control of complicated or precision processes, especially where
much inspection is required.
 Limitations of Process Layout:
(i) There are long material flow lines and hence the expensive handling is required.
(ii) Total production cycle time is more owing to long distances and waiting at various
points.
(iii) Since more work is in queue and waiting for further operation hence bottle necks
occur.
(iv) Generally, more floor area is required.
(v) Since work does not flow through definite lines, counting and scheduling is more
tedious.
(vi) Specialization creates monotony and there will be difficult for the laid workers to
find job in other industries.
Location decisions pertain to the choice of appropriate geographical sites for locating the various
manufacturing and service facilities of an organization.
Total cost= Fixed cost+ (Variable cost*units)
*A bottleneck is a point of congestion in a production system (such as an assembly line or a
computer network) that occurs when workloads arrive too quickly for the production process to
handle.
Scheduling

Scheduling is the process of arranging, controlling and optimizing work and workloads in a
production process. Companies use backward and forward scheduling to allocate plant and
machinery resources, plan human resources, plan production processes and purchase materials.

The benefits of production scheduling include:

 Process change-over reduction

 Inventory reduction, levelling

 Reduced scheduling effort

 Increased production efficiency

 Labor load leveling

 Accurate delivery date quotes

 Real-time information

Types of Scheduling -Types of scheduling can be categorized as forwarding scheduling and backward
scheduling.

1. Forward scheduling- Forward scheduling is planning the tasks from the date resources become
available to determine the shipping date or the due date.

It is commonly used in job shops where customers place their orders on ―a needed as soon as
possible basis. Forward scheduling determines the start and finish times of the next priority job by
assigning it the earliest available time slot and from that time, determines when the job will be
finished in that work centre. Since the job and its components start as early as possible, they will
typically be completed before they are due at the subsequent work centers in the routing. The
forward method generates in the process inventory that are needed at subsequent work centers and
higher inventory cost. Forward scheduling is simple to use and it gets jobs done in shorter lead
times, compared to backward scheduling.

2. Backward scheduling- Backward scheduling is planning the tasks from the due date or required-by
date to determine the start date and/or any changes in the capacity required.

It is often used in assembly-type industries and commits in advance to specific delivery dates.
Backward scheduling determines the start and finish times for waiting jobs by assigning them to the
latest available time slot that will enable each job to be completed just when it is due, but done
before. By assigning jobs as late as possible, backward scheduling minimizes MRCET MBA inventories
since a job is not completed until it must go directly to the next work centre on its routing. Forward
and backward scheduling
Capacity utilization = Capacity put to use Total capacity available
Capacity planning is a systematic approach to three issues pertaining to capacity: • estimating the
amount of capacity required, • evaluating alternative methods of augmenting capacity, and •
devising methods to use capacity effectively.