Process Selection
and Facility Layout
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You should be able to:
LO 6.1
LO 6.2
LO 6.3
LO 6.4
LO 6.5
LO 6.6
LO 6.7
LO 6.8
LO 6.9
Explain the strategic importance of process selection and the
influence it has on the organization and its supply chain
Name the two main factors that influence process selection
Compare the four basic processing types
Explain the need for management of technology
List some reasons for redesign of layouts
Describe product layouts and their main advantages and
disadvantages
Describe process layouts and their main advantages and
disadvantages
Solve simple line-balancing problems
Develop simple process layouts
6-2
 Process selection
 Refers to deciding on the way production of goods or
services will be organized
 It has major implications for
 Capacity planning
 Layout of facilities
 Equipment
 Design of work systems
LO 6.1
6-3
Two key questions in process selection:
1. How much variety will the process need to be able to
handle?
2. How much volume will the process need to be able to
handle?
Job Shop
Batch
Repetitive
LO 6.2
Continuous
6-4
Repetitive/
Assembly
Job Shop
Batch
Description
Customized
goods or
services
Semistandardized
goods or
services
Standardized
goods or
services
Highly standardized
Goods or services
Advantages
Able to handle a
wide variety
of work
Flexibility; easy
to add or change
products or
services
Low unit
cost, high volume,
efficient
Very efficient, very
high volume
Disadvantages
Slow, high cost
per unit,
complex
planning and
scheduling
Moderate cost
per unit,
moderate
scheduling
complexity
Low flexibility,
high cost of
downtime
Very rigid, lack of
variety, costly to
change, very high
cost of downtime
LO 6.3
Continuous
6-5
 Process technology and information technology
can have a profound impact on:
 Costs
 Productivity
 Competitiveness
LO 6.4
6-6
1.
Inefficient operations
High cost
Bottlenecks
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Accidents or safety hazards
Changes in product or service design
Introduction of new products or services
Changes in output volume or product mix
Changes in methods or equipment
Changes in environmental or other legal
requirements
Morale problems
LO 6.5
6-7
 Product layout

Layout that uses standardized processing operations to
achieve smooth, rapid, high-volume flow
Raw materials
or customer
Material
and/or
labor
Station
1
Material
and/or
labor
Station
2
Material
and/or
labor
Station
3
Station
4
Finished
item
Material
and/or
labor
Used for Repetitive Processing
Repetitive or Continuous
LO 6.6
6-8
 Process layouts
 Layouts that can handle varied processing requirements
LO 6.7
Dept. A
Dept. C
Dept. E
Dept. B
Dept. D
Dept. F
Used for Intermittent processing
Job Shop or Batch
6-9
 Fixed Position layout

Layout in which the product or project remains
stationary, and workers, materials, and equipment are
moved as needed
6-10
 Line balancing
 The 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
 Why 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.
LO 6.8
6-11
 Cycle time
 The maximum time allowed at each workstation to
complete its set of tasks on a unit
 Cycle time also establishes the output rate of a line
Operating time per day
Cycle time 
Desired output rate
Operating time per day
Output rate 
Cycle time
LO 6.8
6-12
 The required number of workstations is a
function of
 Desired output rate
 Our ability to combine tasks into a workstation
 Theoretical minimum number of stations
N min 
t
Cycle time
where
N min  theoretica l minimum number of stations
 t  Sum of task time s
LO 6.8
6-13
 The 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
LO 6.9
6-14
 In designing process layouts, the following
information is required:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
LO 6.9
A list of departments to be arranged and their dimensions
A projection of future work flows between the pairs of work
centers
The distance between locations and the cost per unit of distance
to move loads between them
The amount of money to be invested in the layout
A list of any special considerations
The location of key utilities, access and exit points, etc.
6-15