Process Selection and

Facility Layout

McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Y o u should be able to:
1. Explain the strategic importance of process selection
2. Describe the influence that process selection has on the
organization
3. Compare the basic processing types
4. Explain the need for management of technology
5. List some reasons for redesign of layouts
6. Describe the basic layout types, and the main advantages and
disadvantages of each
7. Solve simple line-balancing problems
8. Develop simple process layouts

Student Slides 6-2

 P r o c e s s selection
 Refers to deciding on the way production of goodsor
services will be organized
 I t has major implications for
 Capacity planning
 Layout of facilities
 Equipment
 Design of work systems

Student Slides 6-3

 Repetitive/
Job Shop Batch Assembly Continuous
Description Customized Semi- Standardize Highly standardized
goods or standardize d goods Goods or services
services d goods or or
services services
Advantages Able to handle a Flexibility; easy Low unit Very efficient, very
wide variety to add or change cost, high volume, high volume
of work products or efficient
services
Disadvantages Slow, high cost Moderate cost Low flexibility, Very rigid, lack of
per unit, per unit, high cost of variety, costly to
complex moderate downtime change, very high cost
planning and scheduling of downtime
scheduling complexity

Student Slides 6-4

 Technological Innovation
 T h e discovery and development of new or
improved products, services, or processes for
producing or providing them
 Technology
 T h e application of scientific discoveries to the
development and improvement of products and
services and/or the processes that produce or provide
them

Student Slides 6-5

 Autom atio
n  Machinery that has sensing and control devices th
at
enable it to operate automatically
 Fixed automation
 Programmable automation
 Flexible automation

Student Slides 6-6

 Layou
t  t h e configuration of departments, work centers, and
equipment, with particular emphasis on movement of
work (customers or materials) through the system
 Facilities layout decisions arise when:
 Designing new facilities
 Re-designing existing facilities

Student Slides 6-7

 P r o d u c t layout
 Layout that uses standardized processing operations to
achieve smooth, rapid, high-volume flow

Raw materials
Station Station Station Station Finished
or customer item
1 2 3 4

Material Material Material Material

and/or and/or and/or and/or

labor labor labor labor
Used for Repetitive
Processing Repetitive
or Continuous 6-8
Student Slides
 P r o c e s s layouts
 Layouts that can handle varied processing requirements

Dept. Dept. Dept.

A C E

Dept. Dept. D Dept.

B F

Student Slides
Used for Intermittent 6-9
processing Job
 F i x e d Position layout
 Layout in which the product or project remains
stationary, and workers, materials, and equipment are
moved as needed

Student Slides 6-10

 S o m e operational environments use a combination of th
e
three basic layout types:
 Hospitals
 Supermarket
 Shipyards
 S o m e organizations are moving away from process layouts
in an effort to capture the benefits of product layouts
 Cellular manufacturing
 Flexible manufacturing systems

Student Slides 6-11

 S e r v i c e layouts can be categorized as: product,
process, or fixed position
 S e r v i c e layout requirements are somewhat different
due to such factors as:
 Degree of customer contact
 Degree of customization
 C o m m o n service layouts:
 Warehouse and storage layouts
 Retail layouts
 Office layouts

Student Slides 6-12

 L i n e balancing
 T h e process of assigning tasks to workstations in
such a way that the workstations have approximately
equal time requirements
 Goal:
 Obtain task grouping that represent approximately equal
time requirements since this minimizes idle time along the
line and results in a high utilization of equipment and labor
 W h y is line balancing important?
1. It allows us to use labor and equipment more efficiently.
2. To avoid fairness issues that arise when one workstation must
work harder than another.

Student Slides 6-13

 T h e main issue in designing process layouts concerns
the relative placement of the departments
 Measuring effectiveness
 A major objective in designing process layouts is to
minimize transportation cost, distance, or time

Student Slides 6-14

 I n designing process layouts, the following
information is required:
1. A list of departments to be arranged and their dimensions
2. A projection of future work flows between the pairs of work
centers
3. The distance between locations and the cost per unit of distance
to move loads between them
4. The amount of money to be invested in the layout
5. A list of any special considerations
6. The location of key utilities, access and exit points, etc.

Student Slides 6-15