Introduction to Facilities
Design
Chronological list of facilities
planning and design activities
Date
Event
4000 B.C.
Egyptians developed expertise in finding suitable locations for
pyramids according to their astrological calculations
100 B.C. B 100
Romans developed full-fledged methods for the construction of
A.D.
temples, arenas, and other buildings. Detailed planning of public
and residential buildings
1700 B 1900
1910
Industrial revolution period
First industrial engineering text book Factory Organization and
Administration published by Hugo Diemer.
1913
First moving automotive assembly line introduced by Henry
Ford.
Chronological list of facilities
planning and design activities
1954
Quadratic assignment problem for micro- andmcro-levl location
problems introduced by Koopmans and Beckman
1955-1995
Optimal and heuristic algorithms for the quadratic assignment
problem
1959
Systematic layout planning approach introduced by Muther
1963
CRAFT (Computerized relative allocation of facilities technique)
introduced by Armour and Buffa
Chronological list of facilities
planning and design activities
Early 1980s
The flexible manufacturing system concept is introduced and
attention shifts towards achieving plant-wide flexibility via
medium-volume, medium-variety production using cellular
manufacturing techniques
Late 1980s
The term automation introduced to cope with plant flexibility
requirements
1985-present
Modern software for facilities design problems
1990s-present
Research on new layout concepts including dynamic layouts,
robust layouts, and reconfigurable layouts introduced to support
mass customization techniques
Typical Design and Planning
Problems
Facility Location
Type, Number of Material
Handling Devices
Determining Flow of
Products (People)
Type, Volume of Products
to be Manufactured or
Service to be Provided
Determining Material
Handling Methods
Scheduling and planning of
Jobs (Service steps)
Manufacturing (Service)
Processes Required
Layout of Equipment
Within Each Cell
Design of Components
(Service)
Layout of Machine
(Service) Cells
Inventory Control
Type, Number of
Equipment Required
Determination of Machine
(Service) Cells
Distribution of goods
Process Planning
Tooling, Fixture
Determination
Quality Control and
Customer Service
Overall System Design
Levels of decisions
• Strategic or Design or Long-term
• Planning or Intermediate
• Operational or short-term
Why is facilities layout important?
• 20-75% of product cost attributed to
materials handling (Sule, 1991 and
Tompkins et al. 2003)
• Layout of facilities affects materials
handling costs
• Facilities includes machines, departments,
workstations, locker rooms, service areas,
etc.
Why is facilities layout important?
• Good layout increases productivity
efficiency
• Reducing congestion permits smooth flow
of people and material
• Space utilization is effective and efficient
• Facilitates communication and supervision
• Safe and pleasant working environment
Constraints in developing facilities
layout
• Some pairs of departments must be
adjacent
• Some pairs of departments must not be
adjacent
• Some departments only in specific
locations
• Existing building constraints
• OSHA regulations, fire codes, etc.
Types of layout problems – Some
examples
• JIT manufacturer
• Relayout of an existing facility
• Relayout due to increased traffic (resulting from
a merger)
• Consolidation of manufacturing operations from
two or more sites to one
• Leasing of office space in a multi-story building
• Find a better layout in existing space
• Introduction of new product lines
Types of layout problems
•
•
•
•
Layout of a service system
Layout of a manufacturing facility
Warehouse layout
Nontraditional layout
Applications
• Manufacturing
• Healthcare
• Service
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Restaurants
Banks
Airports
Entertainment
• Logistics and
Distribution
– Ports/Terminals
– Distribution Centers
Types of Projects
• New Facility
• General Re-layout (retrofit)
–
–
–
–
–
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Expansion due to new product(s)
Expansion due to sales growth in existing products
Re-organization of work areas (evolutionary design)
Outsourcing of logistics capability
Addition of automation technology
Problem elimination
Cost reduction
Product discontinuation
Service system layout – Dentist’s
office
Staff Lounge
X-Ray Room
Records Room
Orthodontist’s
Room
Dentist’s Room
Oral Hygienist’s
Room
Oral Hygienist’s
Room
Men’s Rest Room
Reception
Waiting
Area
Women’s Rest
Room
Service system layout – Grocery
store
Operations review for office layouts
(Suskind, 1989)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Is the company outgrowing its space?
Is available space too expensive?
Is building in the proper location?
How will a new layout affect the organization and
service?
Are office operations too centralized or decentralized?
Does the office structure support the strategic plan?
Is the new layout in tune with the company’s image
Does customer physically participate in service delivery?
Office structures
•
•
•
•
Closed structure
Semiclosed structure
Open structure
Semiopen structure
Closed structure
Semiclosed structure
Teller
Teller
Teller
Open structure
Semiopen structure
Manufacturing layout
• Minimize transportation cost of raw materials,
sub-assemblies, work-in-process inventory,
tools, parts, finished products, etc.
• Facilitate traffic flow
• Improve employee morale
• Minimize or eliminate risk of injury and property
damage
• Ease of supervision and face-to-face
communication
Assembly facility layout
Driveway layout
Warehouse layout
Nontraditional layout
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•
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Keyboard layout
IC board layout
Computer disk storage layout
Airport gate layout