Process Selection & Facility

Layout
Lec- 4 & 5
 Learning Objectives
• Explain the strategic importance of process
selection.
• Describe the basic processing types.
• Describe the basic layout types.
• List the main advantages and disadvantages of
product layouts and process layouts.
• Solve simple line-balancing problems.
• Develop simple process layouts.
 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
Process Selection and System Design

Facilities and
Forecasting Capacity Equipment
(demand)
Planning

Product and Layout

Service Design

Process
Technological Selection Work
Change Design
 Process Selection
The elements of process design are strongly influenced by the volume–
variety requirements placed on the process
 Process Types

• Project Process
– Large scale but customized
• Job shop
– Small scale but wide product range
• Batch
– Moderate volume & wide product range
• Repetitive/Mass Process
– High volumes of standardized goods or services
• Continuous
– Very high volumes of non-discrete goods
 Generic Types of Manufacturing Process

Project Process
• large scale, one-off complex
products with high work content
• Specially made, every one
‘customized’
• Defined start and finish: time,
quality and cost objectives
• Many different skills have to be
coordinated
 e.g. a power station (built on a
project basis in low volume)
 Process Types (Cont.)
Jobbing processes: One-off, or only a few required; high variety,
low volume; skill requirements are usually very broad…

• Many products / wide product range

• High flexibility / many products
• Mainly skilled / flexible labor
• Control emphasis: resources and inventory
• Unstable demand
• Very difficult to control

 Examples: capital goods, civil engineering, made to measure

suits, Veterinarian's office
 Process Types (Cont.)
Batch processes: Standard product, moderate volume/ demand, but can
make specials; specialized, narrow skills…

• Many products / wide product range

• Often repeat work
• High flexibility
• May be capital intensive
• Many skilled operators
• Make to stock or Make to order
• Control emphasis: management of resources and inventory
• Difficult to control
• High levels of inventory

 Examples: valves, castings, bakeries, soft drinks…

 Process Types (Cont.)

Mass (line/Flow) processes: Higher volumes than batch;

standard, repeat products;
• Single product range
• Dedicated plant
• Some flexibility
• Capital intensive
• Semi-skilled labor
• Normally make to stock
• Control emphasis: synchronization of material flow

 Examples: cars, white goods, computers, television sets

Flows –Structures

• Three main types of flow structures-

1. Divergent –Several outputs derived from one input

 Example: Dairy and oil products

2. Convergent –Several inputs put together to one output

 Example: Car manufacturing, general assembly lines

3. Linear –One input gives one output

 Example: Hospital treatment
Flow lines –Key Concepts

1. Bottlenecks govern overall rate of output –the slowest machine

sets the maximum rate of output for a steady state system.

2. In a balanced production line all the processes operate at the same

rate.

3. If a system is not balance, the faster machines need to be

synchronized with the slower ones by remaining idle for some of the
time.

4. If some machines run faster than the slower machines there will be
a build up on inventory in the system.
 Process Types (Cont.)
Continuous processes: Extremely high volumes and low variety: often single
product; standard, repeat products; difficult and expensive to start and stop the
process..

• Continuous product
• Single product / product range
• Dedicated plant
• Low flexibility
• Capital intensive
• low to high levels of labor
• Make to stock
• Control emphasis: process control

 Example: petrochemicals, steel, sugar..

Manufacturing Process Types
 Service Process Types
• Professional services: Service processes that are devoted to
producing knowledge-based or advice-based services, usually
involving high customer contact and high customization.

• Service shops: Service processes that are positioned between

professional services and mass services, usually with medium
levels of volume and customization.

• Mass services: Service processes that have a high number of

transactions, often involving limited customization.
 What is layout?
• Process made up of transforming resources
– These arranged in layout

• Various tasks allocated to these resources

– Work flows through layout from resource to resource

• If layout poor then work will not flow properly

– Customer queues
– Long process times
– Inflexible operations
– Lost work
– Inventories
– Unpredictable flow
– High cost
 Good Layout Characteristics

• Inherent safety
• Length of flow
• Clarity of flow
• Staff conditions
• Management coordination
• Accessibility
• Use of space
• Long-term flexibility
 Layout Types
Four basic types:
• Fixed-position layout
• Functional layout
• Cell layout
• Product layout

 Layout is physical display of process type

 Process type dictates layout, but some overlap
Relationship between Process Types &
Layout Types
 Fixed Position Layout

• Recipient does not move

• Equipment, machinery, plant and people who do the
processing move as necessary
 Too big to move
• Building site, ship
 Too difficult to move
• ‘At-home’ services
• Carpet cleaning
 Too delicate to move
• Mainframe computer maintenance
 Fixed Position Layout Characteristics

• Extremely flexible
• Wide variety of skills required
• Requires mobile resources
• Costing can be a problem
• Resources must match in with program
• Contractors need space
– Storage of materials
– Access to project
 Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages: Disadvantages

 Very high mix and  Very high unit costs

product flexibility  Scheduling of space and
 Product or customer activities can be difficult
not moved or disturbed  Can mean much
 High variety of tasks for movement of plant and
staff staff
 Functional Layout

• Conforms to needs and conveniences of the

functions performed
• Also known as process layout
• Similar processes or resources grouped together
– Traditional engineering machine shop
– Retail outlet
– University
– Transport interchange
– Offices
 Functional Layout Characteristics

• High flexibility of resources

• Single skilled workforce
• Components travel large distances
High traffic flow between resources
•Many different routes through
•Lost work
High work in progress
Often hard to control
Long lead times
• Labor demarcation / common skills
• Common jigs / fixtures etc.
• Sometimes high utilization
• Resource failure can be accommodated
 Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages Disadvantages
• High mix and product • Low facilities utilization
flexibility • Can have very high
• Systems are not work-in-progress or
vulnerable to customer queuing
equipment failures • Complex flow can be
• Relatively easy difficult to control
supervision of
equipment or plant
 Cell (or cellular) layout
• Resources are arranged in cells

• Cell is group of different resources grouped to produce a family

of products

• Family of products are products with similar features

– Can be produced by similar resources

• Grouping products into families is known as Group Technology

– Manufacturing
– Project Team
Part Families
 Cell Layout Characteristics
• Product focused layout
• Reduced flexibility of resources
• Multi-skilled workforce
• Components travel small distances
• Prospect of low work in progress
• Prospect of shorter lead times
• Reduced set-up times
• Design -variety reduction, increased standardization, easier drawing
retrieval
• Control simplified and easier to delegate
• Flexible labor required
• Sometimes lower resource utilization due to resource duplication
• Vulnerable to resource failure
• SMED & Right sized Equipment
 Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages Disadvantages
• Can give a good • Can be costly to
compromise between rearrange existing
cost and flexibility for layout
relatively high-variety • Can be needed more
operations plant and equipment
• Fast throughput • Can give lower plant
• Group work can result utilization
in good motivation
 Product Layout
• Also called line or flow layout
• Resources used entirely for
production of a single
product
• Everything follows pre-
arranged route
• Very predictable
• Easy to control
– Car production
 Product Layout Characteristics

• No flexibility of resources
– All products have same processing requirements
• Low skilled workforce
• Minimal traffic flow between resources
• Vulnerable to resource failure

 Looks similar to Cell but single product

 Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages Disadvantages
• Low unit costs for high • Can have low mix
volume flexibility
• Gives opportunity for • Vulnerable to shut
specialization of down as work stations
equipment are inter dependent
• Materials or customer • Work can be very
movement is repetitive
convenient
 Mixed Layouts
• Combine more than one layout
• Motorway service area
Rubbish collection –Fixed position layout
Shop, motel –Functional layout
Food outlets –Product (line or flow) layout
Different car parks –cell layout
• Not always easy to decide
Example
 Selecting a Layout Type
• Depends on volume and variety characteristics
• Low volume –high variety
Flow not a problem
• High volume –low variety
Flow becomes an issue
• High volume –high variety
Difficult because different flow patterns
• Low volume –low variety
Flow irrelevant –custom goods
 Line Balancing

• The process of assigning tasks to work stations in

such a way that the workstations have
approximately equal time requirements.

• This way the idle time will be minimized,

utilization will be maximized.

• Specialization: dividing work into elemental tasks

that can be performed quickly and routinely.
 Process Cycle Time
• The difference between a job’s departure time and its arrival
time = cycle time
–One of the most important attributes of a process

• The Maximum time allowed at each work station to complete

its set of tasks on a unit.

• Cycle time is a powerful tool for identifying process

improvement potential
Determine the Minimum Number
of Workstations Required
 Precedence Diagram
 Tool used in line balancing to display elemental tasks and
sequence requirements

0.1 min. 1.0 min.

a b

c d e
0.7 min. 0.5 min. 0.2 min.

 
 Example 1: Assembly Line Balancing

Assume that the desired output is 480 units per day.

The facility is working 8 hours a day. The elemental
tasks and their connections are shown on the
previous slide.

• Calculate the cycle time.

• Calculate the minimum number of workstations.
• Arrange the tasks to these workstations in the order of the
greatest number of following tasks.
 Example 1 Solution

Revised
Time Assign Time Station
Workstation Remaining Eligible Task Remaining Idle Time
1 1.0 a, c * a 0.9
0.9 c ** c 0.2
0.2 none*** - 0.2
2 1.0 b b 0.0 0.0
3 1.0 d d 0.5
0.5 e e 0.3 0.3
0.3 - - Total: 0.5

* Tasks that have no predecessors.

** b is not eligible, because it needs more time than than the remaining.
*** Every available task needs more time than 0.2.
 Calculate Percent Idle Time and Efficiency

Efficiency %= 100 x (1 – Percentage of idle time)

 Example 2

Working day is 8 hours and the desired output rate is 400 units per day.

• Draw the precedence diagram.

• Compute the cycle time & the minimum theoretical number of
workstations required.
• Assign tasks to workstations according to the greatest number of following
tasks. Tiebreaker: longest processing time goes first.
• Calculate Percent idle time & efficiency.
 Solution
1. Draw a precedence diagram
 Measuring Effectiveness

2. Assuming an eight-hour workday,

compute the cycle time needed to
obtain an output of 400 units per day

Operating time 480 minutes

per day per day
Cycle time = = = 1.2 minutes per cycle
Desired output 400 units per
rate day
3. Determine the minimum number of
workstations required

3.8 minutes per unit

∑t = 3.17 stations
Nmin= = 1.2 minutes per cycle
Cycle time ( round to 4)
time per station
where
Nmin = theoretical minimum number of stations
∑ t = sum of task times
4. Assign tasks to workstations using this rule: Assign tasks according to greatest
number of following tasks. In case of a tie, use the tiebreaker of assigning the task
with the longest processing time first.
 Workstations

Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4

a b e
f g h
c d
5. Compute the resulting percent idle time and efficiency of the
system

Idle time per cycle 1.0 min.

Percent idle time = = × 100%
Nactual × Cycle time 4 × 1.2 min.

= 20.83%

Efficiency= 100% - 20.83% = 79.17%

 Bottleneck & Parallel Workstations

30/hr. 30/hr. 30/hr. 30/hr.

1 min. 1 min. 2 min. 1 min.

Bottleneck

30/hr. 2 min. 30/hr.

60/hr. 60/hr.
1 min. 1 min. 1 min.
30/hr.
30/hr.
2 min.
Parallel Workstations
1 min.
on average