6-1 Process Selection and Facility Layout
CHAPTER
6
Process Selection
and Facility Layout
Operations Management, Eighth Edition, by William J. Stevenson
McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
6-2 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Introduction
Process selection
Deciding on the way production of goods or
services will be organized
Major implications
Capacity planning
Layout of facilities
Equipment
Design of work systems
6-3 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Process Selection and System Design
Figure 6.1
Facilities and
Forecasting Capacity Equipment
Planning
Product and Layout
Service Design
Process
Technological Selection Work
Change Design
6-4 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Process Strategy
• Key aspects of process strategy
– Capital intensive – equipment/labor
– Process flexibility
– Adjust to changes
– Design
– Volume
– technology
6-5 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Process Selection
Variety
How much Batch
Flexibility
What degree
Volume
Job Shop Repetitive
Expected output
Continuous
6-6 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Process Types
Job shop
Small scale
Batch
Moderate volume
Repetitive/assembly line
High volumes of standardized goods or services
Continuous
Very high volumes of non-discrete goods
6-7 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Product – Process Matrix
Figure 6.2
Process Type
Job Shop Appliance repair Not
Emergency feasible
room
Batch Commercial
bakery
Classroom
Lecture
Repetitive Automotive
assembly
Automatic
carwash
Continuous Not Oil refinery
feasible Water purification
(flow)
6-8 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Product – Process Matrix
Figure 6.2 (cont’d)
Dimension
Job variety Very High Moderate Low Very low
Process Very High Moderate Low Very low
flexibility
Unit cost Very High Moderate Low Very low
Volume of Very High Low High Very low
output
6-9 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Automation
Automation: Machinery that has sensing and
control devices that enables it to operate
Fixed automation
Programmable automation
6-10 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Facilities Layout
Layout: the configuration of departments,
work centers, and equipment, with particular
emphasis on movement of work (customers
or materials) through the system
6-11 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Importance of Layout Decisions
Requires substantial investments of money
and effort
Involves long-term commitments
Has significant impact on cost and
efficiency of short-term operations
6-12 Process Selection and Facility Layout
The Need for Layout Decisions
Inefficient operations
For Example: Changes in the design
High Cost of products or services
Bottlenecks
Accidents
The introduction of new
products or services
Safety hazards
6-13 Process Selection and Facility Layout
The Need for Layout Design (Cont’d)
Changes in
environmental Changes in volume of
or other legal output or mix of
requirements products
Morale problems
Changes in methods
and equipment
6-14 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Basic Layout Types
Product layouts
Process layouts
Fixed-Position layout
Combination layouts
6-15 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Basic Layout Types
Product layout
Layout that uses standardized processing
operations to achieve smooth, rapid, high-
volume flow
Process layout
Layout that can handle varied processing
requirements
Fixed Position layout
Layout in which the product or project remains
stationary, and workers, materials, and
equipment are moved as needed
6-16 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Product Layout
Figure 6.4
Raw Finished
Station Station
Station Station
Station Station
Station
materials 1 22 33 44 item
or customer
Material Material Material Material
and/or and/or and/or and/or
labor labor labor labor
Used for Repetitive or Continuous Processing
6-17 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Advantages of Product Layout
High rate of output
Low unit cost
Labor specialization
Low material handling cost
High utilization of labor and equipment
Established routing and scheduling
Routing accounting and purchasing
6-18 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Disadvantages of Product Layout
Creates dull, repetitive jobs
Poorly skilled workers may not maintain
equipment or quality of output
Fairly inflexible to changes in volume
Highly susceptible to shutdowns
Needs preventive maintenance
Individual incentive plans are impractical
6-19 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Process Layout
Figure 6.7
Process Layout
(functional)
Dept. A Dept. C Dept. E
Dept. B Dept. D Dept. F
Used for Intermittent processing
Job Shop or Batch
6-20 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Product Layout
Figure 6.7 (cont’d)
Product Layout
(sequential)
Work Work Work
Station 1 Station 2 Station 3
Used for Repetitive Processing
Repetitive or Continuous
6-21 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Advantages of Process Layouts
Can handle a variety of processing
requirements
Not particularly vulnerable to equipment
failures
Equipment used is less costly
Possible to use individual incentive plans
6-22 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Disadvantages of Process Layouts
In-process inventory costs can be high
Challenging routing and scheduling
Equipment utilization rates are low
Material handling slow and inefficient
Complexities often reduce span of supervision
Special attention for each product or customer
Accounting and purchasing are more involved
6-23 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Cellular Layouts
Cellular Production
Layout in which machines are grouped into a
cell that can process items that have similar
processing requirements
Group Technology
The grouping into part families of items with
similar design or manufacturing characteristics
6-24 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Other Service Layouts
Warehouse and storage layouts
Retail layouts
Office layouts
6-25 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Design Product Layouts: Line Balancing
Line Balancing is the process of assigning
tasks to workstations in such a way that
the workstations have approximately
equal time requirements.
6-26 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Cycle Time
Cycle time is the maximum time
allowed at each workstation to
complete its set of tasks on a unit.
6-27 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Determine Maximum Output
OOTT
OOuutp
tpuutt ccaappaaccity
ity ==
CCTT
OOTT ooppeera
ratin
tingg tim
timee ppeerr ddaayy
DD == DDeessire
iredd oouutp
tpuutt ra
rate
te
OOTT
CCTT == ccyc
ycle
le tim
timee ==
DD
6-28 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Determine the Minimum Number
of Workstations Required
(D)(t)
N=
OT
t = sum of task times
6-29 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Precedence Diagram
Figure 6.10
Precedence diagram: Tool used in line balancing to
display elemental tasks and sequence requirements
0.1 min. 1.0 min.
A Simple Precedence
a b Diagram
c d e
0.7 min. 0.5 min. 0.2 min.
6-30 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Calculate Percent Idle Time
I
dlet
imeperc
yc
le
P
er
cen
tid
le
tim
e=
(
N)(
CT)
Efficiency = 1 – Percent idle time
6-31 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Line Balancing Rules
Some Heuristic (intuitive) Rules:
Assign tasks in order of most following
tasks.
Count the number of tasks that follow
Assign tasks in order of greatest positional
weight.
Positional weight is the sum of each task’s
time and the times of all following tasks.
6-32 Process Selection and Facility Layout
Designing Process Layouts
Information Requirements:
1. List of departments
2. Projection of work flows
3. Distance between locations
4. Amount of money to be invested
5. List of special considerations
6. Location of key utilities
