CHAPTER FOUR

PLANT LAYOUT AND

PLANT DESIGN
 What is plant layout and plant design?

• The terms "plant design" and "plant layout" are often confused

• Richman defines plant design as "the over-all design of an enterprise."*

• It is a broad function taking in the origin of the enterprise,

 The planning of finances, the plant location, and all the planning

necessary for the physical requirements of a plant.

On the other hand,

• plant layout, which is a more limited function, is the plan of an optimum

arrangement of an industrial facility.

• Plant layout can be defined as a technique of locating machines, processes

and plant services within the factory so as to achieve the greatest possible

output of high quality at the lowest possible total cost of manufacturing

• Therefore, plant layout is one of many activities required for the

effective over-all design of an enterprise.

"Factory planning/ plant design

• is the formulation of a complete plan for the creation of goods or

services.

• the term embraces the determination of the location, production

processes, equipment, physical arrangement, provisions for

personnel, offices, and all functions that are necessary to the

completion of the goods.

Plant layout

• refers to the arrangement of physical facilities such as machinery, equipment,

furniture etc. within the factory building in such a manner so as to have quickest

flow of material at the lowest cost and with the least amount of handling in

processing the product from the receipt of material to the shipment of the

finished product

• The layout problem is subordinate to the over-all design of an enterprise.

• Figure below shows the sequence and interrelationship between some of the
activities within plant design.
 ???? Influence of sales planning in plant location

• The layout man will seldom, if ever, find himself in a position where he personally, must
analyze the market demand, but he should have an inkling of an idea about the problems
involved in obtaining market data.
• The reasons for sales planning are numerous, but the plant-layout man is interested
primarily in the demand for the product and its variability, which in turn can be
converted into the planned rate of production.
• Generally, the layout engineer must base his proposals completely on the best estimates
of the market demand by specialists in these fields.
 All the effort that goes into sales planning for plant design is directed towards one
objective - the determination of proper production volume.
 It should be noted that the demand for the product and the production rate may not
necessarily be the same. Production planning must take scrap and quality rejects into
account so that it is generally larger than the demand rate.
 Why is the rate of production output so important ?

This information is essential because it will determine:-

• The size of the plant to be designed.

• The general layout type—i.e., process (job-shop) layout or production-line layout.

• The type of equipment that is to be obtained-—i.e., special-purpose or general-purpose equipment.

• The size of the workforce

• The type of sales effort required to sell the product.

• The type of distribution channels to be utilized.

• The caliber of the workforce required—i.e., skilled labor or unskilled labor

• The flexibility required of the materials handling system.

 INFLUENCE OF LOCATION ON PLANT LAYOUT

• A new business is always faced with the problem of where to locate.

• A number of conditions can lead to the consideration of the plant-location

problem.

• Plant location will determine the proximity of a plant to its source of raw

materials and its market area.

• The distance from the plant to these two areas tends to determine the method of

transportation to be used.
• The type of transportation will, in turn, determine whether the layout should provide

for railroad, truck, or water loading and unloading facilities.

• The arrangement of the shipping and receiving departments will vary in the layout

according to the type of transportation utilized.

• A plant location may be determined in part by the fuel requirements of the concern.

• The plant layout must provide for storage of this fuel, whether it be coal, oil, or gas.

• Also, the layout must consider the requirements for power generation.
 Relationship Between Buildings and the Layout
• The primary function of a building is to provide protection for men, machines,

materials, products, or even company secrets.

• Therefore, if materials are not damaged by the weather, perhaps they need not be

housed.

• Aluminum foundries, for example, can store their raw materials outside without

housing, since the materials are undamaged by weather conditions.

• In the refinery and chemical industries equipment has long been erected without

housing.
Which comes first, the chicken or the egg ?

• This ancient puzzle can be used to illustrate the relationship between the layout

and the industrial building.

• When management makes the decision to build a brand new plant, it becomes

feasible to plan the layout and then construct the building around the layout and

its process.

• Usually better over-all results are obtained by making the building fit the layout

than can be obtained by stuffing the layout into an existing building.

• Often materials handling must be closely related to the building structure.

• If traveling cranes are utilized to move the product, support for the crane rails must be

provided by the columns.

• Loading and unloading docks, railroad sidings, overhead conveyors, elevators, and

chutes are some of the materials-handling facilities which must be considered when

planning the plant building.

 The Plant-Layout Problem

• The layout or arrangement of men, machines, and materials is a problem of that every

industrial plants.

• Plant layout is a plan of, or the act of planning, an optimum arrangement of industrial

facilities, including personnel, operating equipment, storage space, materials-handling

equipment, and all other supporting services, along with the design of the best

structure to contain these facilities.

• Thus, the term "optimum" in the definition refers to planning the best layout by

whatever criteria may be chosen to evaluate it.

 In one problem the criterion may be

• The amount of materials handling; thus, the optimum arrangement should have
a minimum number of handlings.
• The over-all costs of processing through a particular department; thus, the
optimum arrangement should minimize this over-all cost.
  WHY LAYOUT PROBLEMS DEVELOP
• Although in individual cases the details may be different, most plant layouts are stimulated by
one of the following developments
1. Product design change
2. New product
3. Changes in volume of demand
4. Facilities becoming obsolete
5. Frequent accidents
6. Poor worker environment
7. Change in the location or concentration of markets
8. Cost reduction
 CLASSES OF PLANT-LAYOUT PROBLEMS

• Plant layout problems seem to fall into the following four categories,
• listed in order of magnitude

1. Minor changes in present layouts

2. Existing layout rearrangement

3. Relocating into existing facilities

4. Building a new plant

Minor Changes in Present Layouts

These small changes can be brought about for any number of reasons.

 A methods improvement on an operation

 A new type of inspection plan.

 The introduction of a similar but new product into a department

 The development of a new process, for turning out a presently fabricated product
 • This class of problems is usually the easiest of the four to handle.
• In general, it requires less planning and manpower to devise a
workable solution to a layout where only small changes are made than
it does for the more complicated layout problems
Existing Layout Rearrangement

• Complete rearrangement of existing facilities enables a company to

utilize the latest methods and procedures.
• Industries that are involved with products that require frequent
redesign are faced with the problem of re-layout of existing
departments
 • For this type of problem, the layout man is usually restricted to the area
presently occupied by the department in question.
• He may rearrange facilities within the department at will, but he must
stay within the presently allotted space

Relocating into Existing Facilities

• Moving to a new building or new location causes a layout problem to
develop.
• This class of problems, as with the previous type, presents a unique
opportunity in order to bring them up to date with a minimum of
expense.
 • Improving processes with minor changes can be costly in the long run,
it is desirable to use the very latest methods to avoid rapid
obsolescence.

Building a New Plant

• The planning of a completely new plant requires a large amount of

manpower and is the most complicated of the four classes of layout
problems.
 Objectives plant layout

• The major objectives of a good plant layout are to:

1. Provide over-all simplification

2. Minimize cost of materials handling
3. Provide high work-in-process turnover
4. Provide effective space utilization
5. Provide for worker convenience, and promote job satisfaction and safety
6. Avoid unnecessary capital investment
7. Stimulate effective labor utilization
 CLASSICAL TYPES OF LAYOUTS

• There are three classical types of layouts.

• Most plants today are laid out using a combination of these
classical layouts, but in their pure forms they are seldom seen.

• The three classical types are:

1. Product layout
2. Process layout
3. Fixed-position layout
 • These classical layout types are used with fabrication operations,
as well as with assembly operations.

Product Layout

• In this type of layout, only one product, or one type of product, is

produced in a given area.
• The product must be standardized and manufactured in large
quantities in order to justify the product layout.
 Product Layout

• In the product layout the equipment used to fabricate a given product is

lined up "in order of appearance."
 • The raw material arrives at one end of the line and goes from one
operation to the next quite rapidly, with a minimum of work-in-
process storage and materials handling.

Process Layout
• The process layout or functional layout, as it is sometimes called-
groups together all operations of the same type in a department.

• All stamping is done in the press department for example; all milling
is done in another area; all welding in another area; and all plating in
the plating department.
• Similar equipment and similar operations are grouped together
in the process or functional layout.
 • The process layout is particularly useful where low volume is
required.
• If the product is not standardized, the process layout is more desirable,
because it has greater flexibility than the product layout.
Fixed-Position Layout

• Of the three classical types of layout, the fixed-position layout is the least
important for today's manufacturing processes.
• In this type of layout the material, or major component, remains in a fixed
location, and tools, machinery, and men as well as other pieces of material are
brought to this location.
 Relative Advantages of Product and Process Layout

Product Layout Process Layout

1.Lower total materials handling cost. 1.Less duplication of equipment, hence lower total
investment in equipment

2. Lower total production time. 2. Greater flexibility of production.

3. Less work-in-process. 3. Better and more efficient supervision possible through

specialization.
4. Greater incentive for groups of workers to raise level of 4. Greater incentive for individual workers to
performance (and greater possibility for group incentive pay plans raise level of performance (and greater possibility for
with broader coverage). individual incentive pay plans).

5. Less floor area required per unit of production. 5. Better control of complicated or precision
processes, especially where much inspection is required.

6. Greater simplicity of production control fewer controls and 6. Easier to handle breakdowns of equipment
records needed, lower accounting cost. by transferring work to another machine or
station.
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