Plant Location & Layout Design

Plant location
&
layout design
CONTENTS
1. What is layout ?!
2. NEED FOR SELECTING A SUITABLE LOCATION
3. Factors affecting Layout
4. Types of Plant Layout
1. Product or Line Layout
2. Process or Functional Layout.
3. Fixed Position Layout.
4. Group layout
5. References
What is layout ?!
“Plant layout is the arrangement of machines, work

areas and service areas within a factory”.
George R. Terry
The concept of plant layout is not static but dynamic

one. It is on account of continuous manufacturing and
technological improvements taking place necessitating
quick and immediate changes in production processes
and designs
NEED FOR SELECTING A SUITABLE LOCATION
 In Case of Location Choice for the First Time or New Organizations
 In Case of Location Choice for Existing Organization.
 In Case of Global Location

I. In Case of Location Choice for the First Time or New Organizations.
1. Identification of region.
2. Choice of a site within a region.
II. In Case of Location Choice for Existing Organization
1. Plant manufacturing distinct products.

2. Manufacturing plant supplying to specific market area.
3. Plant divided on the basis of the process or stages in
manufacturing.
4. Plants emphasizing flexibility.
III. In Case Of Global Locations
There Is Scope for virtual proximity and virtual factory
1. VIRTUAL PROXIMITY
With the advance in telecommunications technology, a firm can be in virtual proximity
to its customers
.Markets have to be reached. Customers have to be contacted
2. VIRTUAL FACTORY.
Many firms based in USA and UK in the service sector and in the
. manufacturing sector often out sources part of their business processes to .
foreign locations such as India
Factors affecting Layout
1. Material Factors
2. Men Factor
3. Machinery Factor
4. Movement Factor
5. Waiting Factors
6. Service Factors
7. Building Factors
8. Change Factor
TYPES OF PLANT LAYOUT
• 1. Product or Line Layout

• 2. Process or Functional Layout.
• 3. Fixed Position Layout.
• 5. Group layout
1. PRODUCT OR LINE
LAYOUT:
All the processing equipment

and machines are arranged
according to the sequence of
operations of the product
•It is appropriate for producing one standardized product,
usually in large volume. I
•t is also called as flow-shop layout or straight line layouts.
•The machines are arranged according to the progressive
steps by which the product is made.
•Example: chemical, paper, rubber, refineries, cement

industry.
Advantages of Product Layout:
1. Lowers total material handling cost.

2. There is less work in processes.
3. Better utilization of men and machines,
4. Less floor area is occupied by material in transit and
for temporary storages.
5. Greater simplicity of production control. Total
production time is also minimized.
Limitations of Product Layout:
1. No flexibility which is generally required is obtained in this

layout.
2. The manufacturing cost increases with a fall in volume of
production.
3. If one or two lines are running light, there is a considerable
machine idleness.
4. A single machine break down may shut down the whole
production line.
5. Specialized and strict supervision is essential.
2. PROCESS OR FUNCTIONAL LAYOUT:
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.
• The process layout is
particularly useful where low
volume of production is
needed.
• 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.
Advantages of Process Layout:
1. There will be less duplication of machines. Thus, total

investment in equipment purchase will be reduced.
2. It offers better and more efficient supervision through
specialization at various levels.
3. There is a greater flexibility in equipment and man
power thus load distribution is easily controlled.
4. Better utilization of equipment available is possible.
5. Break down of equipment can be easily handled by
transferring work to another machine/work station.
6. There will be better control of complicated or precision
processes, especially where much inspection is
required.
Limitations of Process Layout:
1. There are long material flow lines and hence the

expensive handling is required.
2. Total production cycle time is more owing to long
distances and waiting at various points.
3. Since more work is in queue and waiting for further
operation hence bottle necks occur.
4. Generally, more floor area is required.
5. Since work does not flow through definite lines,
counting and scheduling is more tedious.
6. Specialization creates monotony and there will be
difficult for the laid workers to find job in other
industries.
3. Fixed Position Layout:
In this type of layout the

major component remain in a
fixed location, other
materials, parts, tools,
machinery, man power and
other supporting equipment’s
are brought to this location.
Due to size, shape and
other characteristics
constraints, the products
cannot be moved, the
machine and operators
move around the product.
Example: construction of a
building, assemble of an
aircraft or ship.
Advantages Of by Fixed Position Layout:
1. Material movement is reduced

2. Capital investment is minimized.
3. The task is usually done by gang of operators, hence
continuity of operations is ensured
4. Production centers are independent of each other.
Hence, effective planning and loading can be made.
Thus total production cost will be reduced.
5. It offers greater flexibility and allows change in product
design, product mix and production volume.
Limitations of Fixed Position Layout:
1.Highly skilled man power is required.

2.Movement of machines equipment’s to
production center may be time consuming.
3.Complicated fixtures may be required for
positioning of jobs and tools. This may
increase the cost of production.
4.Group Layout (or Cellular Layout):
There is a trend now to bring an

element of flexibility into
manufacturing system as
regards to variation in batch
sizes and sequence of
operations. A grouping of
equipment for performing a
sequence of operations on
family of similar components or
products has become all the
important.
Cellular Layout
• It combines the advantages of

both layout systems.
• In process layout, the
objective is to minimize the
total cost of materials
handling.
• In-group technology layout,
the objective is to minimize
the sum of the cost of
transportation and the cost of
equipments
Group Technology layout can increase..
1. Component standardization and rationalization.
2. Reliability of estimates.
3. Effective machine operation and productivity.
4. Customer service.
It can decrease the..

1. Paper work and overall production time.
2. Work-in-progress and work movement.
3. Overall cost.
Limitations of Group Technology Layout
This type of layout may not be

feasible for all situations. If the
product mix is completely
dissimilar, then we may not have
meaningful cell formation.
REFERENCES
Production and Operations Management

Plant Location & Layout Design

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Plant location

“Plant layout is the arrangement of machines, work

The concept of plant layout is not static but dynamic

 In Case of Location Choice for the First Time or New Organizations

 In Case of Location Choice for Existing Organization.

 In Case of Global Location

1. Plant manufacturing distinct products.

There Is Scope for virtual proximity and virtual factory

• 1. Product or Line Layout

All the processing equipment

•Example: chemical, paper, rubber, refineries, cement

1. Lowers total material handling cost.

1. No flexibility which is generally required is obtained in this

In this type of layout, the machines and not arranged according to

1. There will be less duplication of machines. Thus, total

1. There are long material flow lines and hence the

In this type of layout the

1. Material movement is reduced

1.Highly skilled man power is required.

There is a trend now to bring an

• It combines the advantages of

It can decrease the..

This type of layout may not be

Production and Operations Management

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