7 - Capacity and Facilities Design

Answers to Questions

7-5. Student answers will vary. Lighting, size of desks, fixed or adjustable seating, tiered tows, size of
blackboard, multimedia equipment, windows, etc. are all factors that affect learning. Classrooms with
immobile desks facing forward imply that the class will be taught in a lecture format.

7-6. The answers to this question will differ based on location and age of the facility. Students should provide a
simple sketch of each layout, describe the process of filling a customer’s order, and time how long it takes
to be served in each establishment. In general, McDonald’s has multiple servers and multiple lines, Burger
King has one line that breaks off into multiple servers, and Taco Bell has one line and one server. Burger
King is more efficient but the line seems longer than McDonald’s multiple lines. Burger King’s back office
operations are clearly separated, and Taco Bell’s preparation facilities are minimal since the food arrives
pre-cooked.

7-7. Facilities can be “laid out” to meet the following objectives: minimize material handling costs, utilize space
efficiently, utilize labor efficiently, eliminate bottlenecks, facilitate communication and interaction (between
workers, between workers and their supervisors, or between workers and customers), reduce manufacturing
cycle time or customer service time, eliminate wasted or redundant movement, facilitate the entry, exit and
placement of material, products, or people, incorporate safety and security measures, promote product and
service quality, encourage proper maintenance activities, provide a visual control of operations or activities,
and provide flexibility to adapt to changing conditions. Efficiency is affected by the time spent moving from
place to place, the proximity of resources, and the ease of work and supervision.

7-8. Easy access – multiple entrances and exits; safety & security – lights at night, one entry point to flights in
airport, rooms with keyed entry; flexibility – rooms with movable partitions; eliminate bottlenecks -
assembly lines in general; use space efficiently – IKEA shelves from floor to ceiling; facilitate
communication – tiered, curved auditorium where the speaker can see the audience.

7-9. A product layout is a sequential arrangement of machines (usually in a line) used to mass produce
standardized products for a stable high-volume market. The equipment is special purpose, the workers have
limited skills, work-in-process inventory is low, and material moves along a fixed path (like a conveyor).
Product layouts are known for their efficiency. In contrast, a process layout is a functional grouping of
machines (usually known as a job shop) used to produce batches of varied products with fluctuating demand
and low volume. The equipment is general purpose, the workers have more versatile skills, work-in-process
inventory is high, and material moves along a variable path (e.g., with a forklift). Process layouts are
known for their flexibility.

7-10. In ship production, the ship stays in one place and workers, materials, and other resources are brought to
that location. In personal services like massages or manicures, the customer stays in one location for the
duration of the service.

7-11. (a) process, (b) fixed-position (c) product, (d) primarily process

7-12 Fixed-layouts have the lowest fixed costs, but the highest variable costs. Product layouts have the highest
fixed costs, but the lowest variable costs. Process layouts are in-between.
7-13. Block diagramming and relationship diagramming are both used to design process layouts. The difference
occurs in the type of input data that is allowed. Block diagramming uses quantitative data, while
relationship diagramming uses non-quantitative data.

7-14. Service layouts often have different objectives (e.g., maximizing profit per unit of display space), the
appearance of the layout is important, and customers or information are tracked, rather than products.
Examples will vary.

7-15. Line balancing attempts to equalize the amount of work at each station, eliminate bottlenecks, and
minimize the number of stations. Several heuristic approaches are available for line balancing, including
(1) ranked positional weight, (2) longest operation time, (3) shortest operation time, (4) most number of
following tasks, and (5) least number of following tasks. Elements are assigned to work stations according
to the rankings of the particular heuristic used until the cycle time is reached or until all tasks have been
assigned.

7-16. Group technology groups parts into families according to similar shapes or processing requirements. Once
the families of parts have been determined, the factory can be arranged into “cells” with each cell dedicated
to producing a family of parts; thus, the name, cellular layout. Parts are grouped into families and the
machines necessary to produce each family are placed into the appropriate cell. Production flow analysis
(PFA) is a popular method for determining product families. Large, immovable machines or machines that
are used in several cells are located as near as possible to their point of use. Workers in cellular
manufacturing may be required to produce many different parts or products, operate several dissimilar
machines (so they must be multi-functional) and follow a prescribed worker path through the cell.

7-17. Cellular layouts resemble product layouts “within” the cells and process layouts ‘between” the cells. The
objective of this combination of basic layouts is to obtain the efficiency of a product layout with the
flexibility of a process layout. Cellular layouts reduce material handling, transit time, setup time and work-
in-process inventory, make better use of human resources, and are easier to control and automate than
traditional layouts. However, cellular layouts aren’t for everyone. Part families may be inadequate to form
meaningful cells, the cells can become poorly balanced, workers need extra training, and increased capital
investment may be required.

7-18. A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) consists of programmable equipment connected by an automated
material handling system and controlled by a central computer. In cellular layouts, parts are assigned to
families based on similar flow paths. Thus, the routing of parts through a manufacturing cell follows the
arrangement of machines within the cell (i.e., the product layout concept). The routing of parts in an FMS
is highly variable, often referred to as “random” like a job shop or process layout. Processing and material
movement are also more automated.
7-19. Mixed-model assembly lines process more than one model of a product on the same assembly line. This
causes line balancing to be based on average processing times across models, adds the decision of model
sequencing to the scheduling process, and requires workers to rotate among work stations.

7-20. Student responses will vary.

7-21. See the virtual tours section of the text webpage.

7-22. Real tours are great! Consider using the facility assessment worksheets created by Eugene Goodson and
modified here from his article in the May 2002 issue of Harvard Business Review. It works best if a group
of students meets directly after the tour to fill it out.

Solutions to Problems

7-1.
7-2.

7-3.
7-4.

7-5.

35

75
7-6.

7-7.
7-8.

7-9.
7-10.

7-11.

7-12.
7-13.

Desired cycle time, Cd  10

Actual cycle time, Ca  9
Efficiency  23/ 3 10   .8519 or 85.19%
Daily Output   8  60  / 9  53.33
7-14.

Task Precedence Time (mins)

A None 6
B A 3
C B 7
D B 5
E C,D 4
F E 5
30

a.

Desired cycle time  10

Theoretical minimum # workstations  30 10  3
Actual # workstations  4
Actual cycle time  10
Efficiency  30 (4  10)  .75 or 75%
Output in a 4 hr period  (4  60) 10  24
b.

If volunteers are plentiful, set the cycle time to the maximum task time.

Actual cycle time  7

Actual # workstations  6
Efficiency  30 (6  7)  .71428 or 71.43%
Output in a 4 hr period  (4  60) 7  34.3
7-15.

Task Precedence Time (mins)

A None 8
B A 4
C A 7
D A 3
E B 7
F C, E 11
G D 2
H G 8
I F, H 5
J I 7
62

a.

b.
7-16.

Task Precedence Time (mins)

A — 30
B A 15
C B 10
D — 5
E C, D 10
F E 10
80
a.

b. Leadtime  30  15  10  5  10  10  80
Desired output  50 cases
Working hours  40
Desired cycle time  (40  60) 50  48 minutes
c.

Actual cycle time  45 minutes

Efficiency  80 (2  45)  .8889 or 88.89%
There are multiple solutions to this problem.
d.
7-17.

Task Precedence Time (mins)

A — 1
B A 2
C B 2
D A, E 4
E — 3
F C, D 4
16

Efficiency  16 (4  4)  1 or 100%

7-18.

Task Precedence Time (mins)

A — 2
B A 1
C A 2
D B, C 3
E D 3
F E 3
 14

a.

b. Demand  120 pizzas

Working hours  8
c.

d. Demand  160 pizzas

Working hours  8
Desired cycle time  (8  60) 160  3 minutes

3 2

Efficiency  14 (5  4)  .7 or 70% Efficiency = 14/(5 x 3) = 93.33%

Efficiency increases, but five people would need to work each night.

Alternative solution: A, BC, D, E, F

7-19.

Task Precedence Time (days)

A — 1
B A 4
C A 3
 D B 1
E D 4
F C, E 4
17

Demand  15 cases
Days working  75
Desired cycle time  75 15  5 days

(other groupings are possible)

Four students should be assigned to each group.

The students can complete a case every five days after the first case has been completed. The first case
will be completed on day 17. That leaves 58 days to finish the remainder of the cases. At 5 days per case,
only 11 more cases can be completed, for a total of 12 cases per semester.

No, 15 cases cannot be completed in a semester.

7-20.

Task Time
A 8
B 5
C 6
D 10
E 2
F 4
G 5
H 7
I 2
J 9
K 3
61
 b. Demand  125 units
Working hours  40
Cycle time  (40  60) 125  19.2 or 19 minutes
Min # work stations  61 19  3.2 or 4 workstations

c.

Actual cycle time  17 minutes

Efficiency  61 (4  17)  .8971 or 89.71%

Alternative groupings:

ABC, DFG, EHI, JK

ABC, DEF, GHI, JK

7-21.
Efficiency  7.2 (4  2.4)  .75 or 75%

Note: I and K cannot be grouped together without J, thus the theoretical minimum no. of work stations
cannot be reached. There are multiple ways to group elements into work stations for this problem.
7-22.

Element Precedence Time (min)

A — 4
B A 5
C B 2
D A 1
E C, D 3
15

Quota = 80 claims
Working hours = 8
Desired cycle time = (8 x 60) / 80 = 6 minutes

There are several ways to balance this line.

Output and efficiency vary depending on how the elements are arranged.

Option 1:

Actual cycle time  6 minutes

Efficiency  15 (3  6)  .8333 or 83.3%
Output  (8  60) 6  80 claims

Option 2:
7-23.

Element Precedence Time

A — 4
B — 5
C — 8
D A 4
E A, B 3
F B 3
G D, E 5
H F 7
I G, H 1
J I 7
K C, J 4
51
Min # work stations  51 14  3.64 or 4 workstations

Actual cycle time  13 minutes

Efficiency  51 (4  13)  .9808 or 98.08%
8-hr output  (8  60) 13  36.92 beds
There are alternative groupings that will meet the cycle time, but the solution shown above is the most
efficient and productive.

Alternative solution:
7-24.

Element Precedence Time (min)

A — 2
B A 4
C B 5
D — 5
E D, E 3
F — 1
G F 2
H C, E, G 4
26

a. Demand  300 units

Working hours  35
Desired cycle time  (35  60) 300  7 minutes

b. Min # work stations  26 7  3.714 or 4 workstations

Efficiency  26 (4  7)  .9286 or 92.86%

Alternative solutions:

ABF, DG, C, EH

AD, BE, FC, GH

 c. Desired cycle time  9 minutes
Min # work stations  26 9  2.888 or 3 workstations

7-25.

Efficiency  46 (4  12)  .9583 or 95.83%

Output  (8  60) 12  40 units

Alternate solutions: ABCD, EF, GJ, HIK; AF, BCE, DGJ, HIK; ADF, EBC, GH, IJK
7-26. Original Matrix:

Hint: Highlight the table, click on Data from the top menu, then Sort in descending order by the processes

with the most X’s. Revise the table by rearranging the order of jobs and processes.

Matrix Sorted: (answers will vary; this was sorted by 1 then 6 then 15)
 Final Matrix: (reorganized and re-grouped)

Cell 1: Processes 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 12, 14

Jobs A, C, D, G, I, M

Cell 2: Processes 5, 10, 15, 16

Jobs H, K, N, O

Cell 3: Processes 4, 6, 8, 11, 13

Jobs B, E, F, J, L, P, Q
7-27.

Hint: Highlight the table, click on Data from the top menu, then Sort.

Sort by the processes with the most X’s.

Revise the table by rearranging the order of jobs and processes.

Rearrange Matrix

Original Layout

Revised Layout
CASE SOLUTION 7.1: Workout Plus

1. Workout has different types of customers (body builders, athletes, college students, professionals, Moms,
senior citizens, rehab patients, youngsters, and so forth) that require different equipment, ambience and
services. Needed services include child care and children’s classes, massage and physical therapy, and
non-traditional services such as boxing, pilates, and yoga. Adding a track, swimming pool or other major
multi-use area would be helpful. Instead of a generic process layout, perhaps the faculty could be divided
into sections to better serve each set of customers. Shared equipment could be located toward the center of
the layout.

2. Most gyms follow a process layout with similar machines grouped together. Circuit training follows a product
layout. Cells are sometimes created with a few pieces of cardio equipment, free weights, and generic
strength equipment. Sometimes a large multi-use piece of equipment constitutes a cell.

Student-designed layouts will vary. The layout below responds to customer complaints by:

– Removing the cardio area from the main workout areas

– Putting some cardio machines for warm-ups next to strength machines
– Always having some cardio machines on the first floor for customers who cannot climb stairs
– Separating the low impact areas from heavy lifting.
– Including multi-use equipment, some free weights and basic strength equipment in the low impact area.
– Locating power lifting, some exercise equipment and hard core machines away from the entrance and
aerobics rooms
– If the facility is two-tiered, always locating the least strenuous activities on the top floor so that the less
experienced are looking down on the more experienced and not vice versa.
CASE SOLUTION 7.2: Photo Op

a. Yes; the maximum time to complete a task is 60 secs.

b. Desired output  60 per hour

Desire cycle time  1 minute or 60 seconds
The first worker would review the application and take the photo.
The second worker would verify the information, checking for outstanding debt.
The third worker would process the payment, attach the photo and magnetize the passport.
Actual cycle time  60 seconds

c. No. workers  3
Efficiency  140 (3  60)  .7778 or 77.78%
CASE SOLUTION 7.3 – The Grab ‘n Go Café

This case asks you to develop a layout that is both efficient and welcoming to a student population.
Customer complaints about lengthy wait times have prompted this analysis. While the open layout
described in the case may be more inviting to customers and consistent with the image the company is
trying to project, changes can be made to improve the customer’s experience and the efficiency of
operations. Better signage, a more apparent customer flow, and better control over customer entrances and
exits should be addressed in recommendations. Remember, however, that the objective of a service layout is
not all about efficiency. Rather than minimize cost, service layout objectives center on maximizing revenue.
So any solution should expose customers to impulse items (such as bakery items), as well as regular
purchases (such as fountain drinks).

There are several ways to approach this case consistent with chapter material. The layout can be arranged
as a process layout using block diagramming techniques or as a cellular layout using production flow
analysis.

Process Layout. To use the process layout approach, compile the data on movements between food areas.
Note the bottled drinks, fresh fruit and salads have been combined into a “refrigerated items” label. Also,
be aware that the following movements may have been biased or constrained by the original layout.
Nevertheless, this is a good starting point for analysis.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Coffee
Bakery Fountain Refrig Sandwiches or
Items Drinks Soups items (and Wraps) Cookies Exit
1 Entrance 14 5 1 2 0 1 0
Bakery
2 Items 7 3 3 2 0 0
Fountain
3 Drinks 4 1 4 0 1

4 Soups 4 5 1 1
Refrig
5 items 1 1 8

Sandwiches
6 (and Wraps) 1 7
Coffee or
7 Cookies 4

Following is the best schematic diagram that can be developed, resulting in a layout “score” of 11.
Alternative layouts are possible.
Schematic Block Diagram
Nonadjacent load score
7 5 1 1<> 7 1
8 3 2 1<>8 0
6 4 1<>6 0
2<>7 0
2<>8 0
2<>6 2
1<>4 1
4<>7 1
4<>5 4
5<>6 1
6<>7 1
Total 11

The final layout would look something like this:

Bottled drinks,
Coffee & fruit, salads
Cookies & fresh food

Ck-out Bakery
Fountain
items
Drinks

EXIT
Ck-out
Trays
Soups

Entrance

Sandwiches Trays
Cellular Layout. A cellular layout looks for groups or “families” of customers and identifies their flow
paths. The layout is organized so that these different groups can be processed through designated areas of
the layout (called cells) efficiently. To begin this analysis, the customer flow data matrix can be sorted in
different ways. The first re-sort was conducted via the data sort command in Excel by bakery items, then
fountain drinks, then sandwiches. Following is the re-sorted customer flow matrix.

Total
Bakery Fountain Refrig Sandwiches Coffee or Time
Customer Items Drinks Soups items (and Wraps) Cookies (mins)
20 x x x x 5.0
3 x x x 3.3
10 x x x 5.2
6 x x 3.7
7 x x 4.5
17 x x 2.0
22 x x 3.0
2 x x x 4.5
5 x x x 2.5
1 x x x 3.0
8 x x 8.9
14 x x 4.5
19 x x 3.0
23 x x 2.0
4 x x x 4.5
9 x x x 8.0
16 x x x 10.0
25 x x 8.0
11 x x x 9.0
12 x x 10.0
13 x x 8.0
18 x x 5.0
21 x 1.5
24 x 2.2
15 x 1.0

Four general customer flows (cells) emerge.

Customer Flow 1 – Bakery items and fountain drinks, with an occasional soup or refrigerated item.
Current time in the system averages 3.8 minutes.

Customer Flow 2 – Bakery items, no fountain drinks, pre-made refrigerated items and some soup, or other
items. Current time in the system averages 4.1 minutes.
Customer Flow 3 – Made-to-order sandwiches, some soup and fountain drinks. Current time in the system
averages 8.3 minutes.

Customer Flow 4 – Ready-made items or quick pick-ups. Current time in the system averages 3.5 minutes.

The cellular layout would look something like this:

Sandwich line 1 Sandwich line 2

Fountain Bakery
Bottled Drinks
Soups items
drinks,
fruit,
salads & Bread
fresh Coffee &
food Bottled
Cookies
drinks

Trays Trays

Ck- Ck-
out out Entrance
Entrance

EXIT

Bakery items, coffee and cookies are located next to the entrance/exit. Fountain drinks have been moved to
the middle. Bread has been added to the soup area, so customers don’t have to go to the bakery section.
Bottled drinks, and other refrigerated items are located in two places in the layout. Sandwiches are divided
into two flows.

Alternative sorts, by refrigerated items, for example result in different customer flow patterns. Customer
flows could also be categorized as made-to-order (e.g. sandwiches, grill), ready-made (e.g., refrigerated
items, bakery), and customer served (e.g., fountain drinks, coffee, soup). Obviously, several different
layout configurations are possible.