Chapter 2:

Plant Layout

2.1 Plant Location

2.2 Basics of plant Layout
2.2 Ergonomics and Industrial Safety
2.1 Plant Location
Plant location meaning – the establishment of an industry at a particular place.
The selection of appropriate location can be done in two stages:
(i) Evaluation of various geographic areas and the selection of an optimum
area.
(ii)Within each area there is a choice of proper site which can be urban, sub-
urban or rural.
The fundamental object of location analysis is to maximize the profits by
minimizing the total cost of production associated with the production
process.
Total costs = Fixed costs + Operational costs
Where,
Fixed costs include expenditure on land, building, machines and other
equipments etc. Operational costs are the expenditure incurred on inputs,
transformation processes and the distribution of outputs etc.
2.2 Basics of Plant Layout
Plant layout refers to the physical arrangement of production facilities. It is
the configuration of departments, work centers and equipment in the
conversion process. It is a floor plan of the physical facilities, which are
used in production.
According to Moore “Plant layout is a plan of an optimum arrangement of
facilities including personnel, operating equipment, storage space, material
handling equipment and all other supporting services along with the design
of best structure to contain all these facilities”.
Objectives of Plant Layout
The primary goal of the plant layout is to maximize the profit by arrangement
of all the plant facilities to the best advantage of total manufacturing of the
product.
The objectives of plant layout are:
1. Streamline the flow of materials through the plant.
2. Facilitate the manufacturing process.
3. Maintain high turnover of in-process inventory.
4. Minimize materials handling and cost.
5. Effective utilization of men, equipment and space.
6. Make effective utilization of cubic space.
7. Flexibility of manufacturing operations and arrangements.
8. Provide for employee convenience, safety and comfort.
9. Minimize investment in equipment.
10. Minimize overall production time.
11. Maintain flexibility of arrangement and operation.
12. Facilitate the organizational structure.
Principles of Plant Layout
1. Principle of integration: A good layout is one that integrates men,
materials, machines and supporting services and others in order to get the
optimum utilization of resources and maximum effectiveness.
2. Principle of minimum distance: This principle is concerned with the
minimum travel (or movement) of man and materials. The facilities should be
arranged such that, the total distance travelled by the men and materials should
be minimum and as far as possible straight line movement should be
preferred.
3. Principle of cubic space utilization: The good layout is one that utilize
both horizontal and vertical space. It is not only enough if only the floor space
is utilized optimally but the third dimension, i.e., the height is also to be
utilized effectively.
4. Principle of flow: A good layout is one that makes the materials to move
in forward direction towards the completion stage, i.e., there should not be
any backtracking.
5. Principle of maximum flexibility: The good layout is one that can be
altered without much cost and time, i.e., future requirements should be taken
into account while designing the present layout.
6. Principle of safety, security and satisfaction: A good layout is one that
gives due consideration to workers safety and satisfaction and safeguards the
plant and machinery against fire, theft, etc.
7. Principle of minimum handling: A good layout is one that reduces the
material handling to the minimum.
Classification of Layout
Layouts can be classified into the following five categories:
1. Process/functional/job layout
2. Product/line layout
3. Combination/mixed layout
4. Fixed position/static/project layout
5. Group/cellular layout

1. Process/functional/job layout
Process layout is recommended for batch production. All machines
performing similar type of operations are grouped at one location in the
process layout e.g., all lathes, milling machines, etc. are grouped in the
shop will be clustered in like groups.
Thus, in process layout the arrangement of facilities are grouped together
according to their functions. The flow paths of material through the facilities
from one functional area to another vary from product to product. Usually
the paths are long and there will be possibility of backtracking.
Process layout is normally used when the production volume is not sufficient
to justify a product layout. Typically, job shops employ process layouts due
to the variety of products manufactured and their low production volumes.

Fig. 2 Process layout

2. Product/line layout
In this type of layout, machines and auxiliary services are located according
to the processing sequence of the product. If the volume of production of one
or more products is large, the facilities can be arranged to achieve efficient
flow of materials and lower cost per unit. Special purpose machines are used
which perform the required function quickly and reliably.
The product layout is selected when the volume of production of a product is
high such that a separate production line to manufacture it can be justified. In
a strict product layout, machines are not shared by different products.
Therefore, the production volume must be sufficient to achieve satisfactory
utilization of the equipment. And, suitable for continuous type of production.

Fig. 3 Product layout

3. Combination/mixed layout
A combination of process and product layouts combines the advantages of
both types of layouts. A combination layout is possible where an item is being
made in different types and sizes. Here machinery is arranged in a process
layout but the process grouping is then arranged in a sequence to manufacture
various types and sizes of products.

Fig. 4 Combination layout for making different types and sizes of gears
4. Fixed position/static/project layout
This is also called the project type of layout. In this type of layout, the
material, or major components remain in a fixed location; and tools,
machinery, men, and other materials are brought to this location. This type of
layout is suitable when one or a few pieces of identical heavy products are to
be manufactured and when the assembly consists of large number of heavy
parts, the cost of transportation of these parts is very high.

Fig. 5 Fixed position layout

5. Group/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.
Group technology is the analysis and comparisons of items to group them
into families with similar characteristics. Group technology can be used to
develop a hybrid between pure process layout and pure flow line (product)
layout. This technique is very useful for companies that produce variety of
parts in small batches to enable them to take advantage and economics of
flow line layout.
The application of group technology involves two basic steps; first step is to
determine component families or groups. The second step in applying group
technology is to arrange the plants equipment used to process a particular
family of components. This represents small plants within the plants. The
group technology reduces production planning time for jobs. It reduces the
set-up time.
Thus group layout is a combination of the product layout and process layout.
It combines the advantages of both layout systems. If there are m-machines
and n-components, in a group layout, the m-machines and n-components will
be divided into distinct number of machine-component cells (group) such that
all the components assigned to a cell are almost processed within that cell
itself. Here, the objective is to minimize the inter-cell movements.
In-group technology layout, the objective is to minimize the sum of the cost
of transportation and the cost of equipments. So, this is called as multi-
objective layout. A typical group layout is shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 Group layout or Cellular layout

 The advantages and disadvantages of each layout types:

Fixed Process Cellular Product

- Very highposition
mix and - High mix and - Good - Low unit costs for
product flexibility
layout productlayout
flexibility layout
compromise high layout
volume
- Product/customer not between cost and - Gives Opportunities
- Relatively robust flexibility
moved or disturbed. if in the case of for specialization of
Advantages - Fast throughput. equipment
- High variety of tasks disruptions
for staff - Easy supervision - Group work can - Gives Opportunities
of equipment of result in good for specialization of
plant motivation equipment
- Very high unit cost. - Low utilization of - Can be costly to - Can have low mix
resources. rearrange existing and flexibility
Disadvantages - Scheduling space and layout
- Can have very - Not very robust to
activities can be high WIP disruption
- Can need more
difficult.
plant and - Work can be very
- Complex flow. equipment repetitive
Factors influencing Plant Layout
1) Management policy
2) Manufacturing process
3) Nature of product
4) Volume of production
5) Type of equipment
6) Type of building
7) Availability of total floor area
8) Arrangement of Material Handling Equipment
9) Service facilities
10) Possibility of future expansion
Factors to be Considered in Planning Layout
Hazards : moving parts, projecting machine elements, suspended weights,
air pollution, physical & chemical risks, safety of personnel & plant.
Type of Production : Job, batch or continuous or combinations
Type of Operation : Wet or dry, Light or heavy machines etc.
Sequence of Operations:
• Integration of production : Single/Multi flow
• Type of Products : Weight, Volume, Physical state
• Type of Inspection : Centralised/Decentralised, Frequency etc.
• Management policy: Plans for future expansion, changes in
product design & variety.
Symptoms of Bad Plant Layout:
- Material congestion
- Excessive WIP
- Poor space Utilization
- Long transportation lines

- Bottlenecks at certain machines and idle machines

- Excessive handling by skilled operators
- Long production cycles and delays in delivery
- Mental and/or physical strain on Operators
- Poor effective supervision and controls
- Higher rejections/damages
- Accidents
2.3 Ergonomics and Industrial Safety
The word 'Ergonomics' has its origin in two Greek words ergon (work) and
nomos (laws). So it is the study of the man in relation to his work. In USA
and other countries it is called by the name 'human engineering or human
factors engineering'. ILO (or International Labor Organization) defines
human engineering as, "The application of human biological sciences along
with engineering sciences to achieve optimum mutual adjustment of men and
his work, the benefits being measured in terms of human efficiency and well-
being." The human engineering is concerned with man-machine system. Thus
another definition which highlights the man-machine system is: "The design
of human tasks, man-machine system, and effective accomplishment of the
job, including displays for presenting information to human sensors, controls
for human operations and complex man-machine systems."
Human engineering focuses on human beings and their interaction with
products, equipment facilities and environments used in the work. Human
engineering seeks to change the things people use and the environment in
which they use the things to match in a better way the capabilities, limitations
and needs of people.

Objectives of Human Engineering

Human engineering (ergonomics) has two broader objectives:
1. To enhance the efficiency and effectiveness with which the activities
(work) is carried out so as to increase the convenience of use, reduced
errors and increase in productivity.
2. To enhance certain desirable human values including safety reduced
stress and fatigue and improved quality of life.
Thus, in general the scope and objective of ergonomics is “designing for
human use and optimizing working and living conditions”. Thus human
factors (ergonomics) discover and apply information about human behavior.
Abilities and limitations and other characteristics to the design of tools,
machines, systems, tasks, jobs and environment for productive, safe,
comfortable and effective human use. Ergonomics aims at providing comfort
and improved working conditions so as to channelize the energy, skills of the
workers into constructive productive work. This accounts for increased
productivity, safety and reduces the fatigue. This helps to increase the plant
utilization.
 Ergonomics (or human factors)

HFs

HFs
HFs Science HFE Integration/Ergon.

Understanding the Application to the design, Ensuring successful

properties of human development & deployment application of HFE
capability

Contribute to the design & evaluation of tasks, jobs, products,

environments & systems in order to make them compatible with the needs,
abilities & limitations of people
Ergonomic Needs
– How important is ease of use?
• Photocopier, Fire extinguisher
– How frequent maintenance is needed?
• Example it should be easy to clear paper jam in a copier
– How many interactions are required for the product to function?
• Many interactions to mobile phone like dialing, sending messages,
receiving calls, charging, and etc
– Safety issues
• Mobile phone has no damage/harm to human beings
Human factors engineering design considers:
 Physical factors: offices, resources, soils, climate, etc
 Social factors: friends, family, attitudes, beliefs, education, etc
 Workstation factors: sitting: chairs, work benches, displays, etc
 Environmental factors: heat, lighting, noise, humidity, vibration etc

Human factors engineering can help to:

1) Eliminate the hazard through design – reduce errors caused by

overwork

2) Incorporate safety devices – safety shoes, goggles, gloves, etc

3) Provide warning devices – warning signals, alarms, etc

4) Develop procedures & training – safety training programs, safety gears

Class Discussion 2:
Relationship between 'Plant layout' and 'Production system'
Compare and contrast 'Safety' and 'Ergonomics'