Manufacturing System Design
&
Control
Arrangement within a factory of:
•Machines
•Departments
•Workstations
•Storage areas
•Aisles and common areas
Ensures a smooth flow of work, material, people and information through the system

Manufacturing System Design
&
Control
•Process
•Product
•Fixed-Position
•Cellular
•Flexible Manufacturing Systems
•Mixed-model Assembly Lines

Manufacturing System Design Control
Process Layout:
•Similar activities grouped together in work areas
•Suitable for low volume or batch production
•Flexible
•Not very efficient
•Storage space – large receiving, small shipping
•Large aisles for movement of material
Milling Department
L
Lathe
Department
L
M M M
D
Drilling Department
D D D
D D D D
L L
L L G
Grinding Department
G G G
Painting Department
P
P
L L
Receiving and Shipping
A
Assembly
A A

Manufacturing System Design Control
Product Layout:
•Arrange activities in sequence of operation
•Line set up for one product
•Specialised machines
•Suitable for mass production
•More automated than process layouts
•Efficient
•Line flow – avoid bottlenecks
•Not flexible
IN
OUT

Manufacturing System Design Control
Fixed Position Layout:
•Large projects too big to move
•Equipment and parts moved in and out of work area
•Highly skilled workers - costly

Manufacturing System Design Control
Hybrid Layouts:
Try to mix flexibility of process layout with efficiency of product layout
Cellular Layouts:
•Machines grouped into cells
•Cells process parts with similar features
•Work cell resembles a small assembly line (product)
•Layout between cells treated as process layout

Manufacturing System Design Control
Processed based layout
Assembly
7 9
4
6
5 8
2 10
12
1 3 11
Raw Materials

Manufacturing System Design Control
Design of work cell
Assembly
12
4
2
8 10 9
6
11
1
3 5 7
Raw Materials

Manufacturing System Design Control
•Automates the entire manufacture of a product
•Very costly
•Complex software
•Small number of FMS worldwide
•Smaller version of FMS
•One manufacturing process is automated

Manufacturing System Design Control
•All parts follow same progression through the work stations
•Best where group technology can be applied
Load Station
Unload Station
Pallet
Progressive FMS

Manufacturing System Design Control
•Larger variety of parts
•Parts can follow different paths
•Parts can skip stations
Load Unload
Pallet
Closed Loop FMS

Manufacturing System Design Control
•Parts moved to and from any machine in any sequence
•More flexible than progressive and closed loop systems
Load/Unload

Manufacturing System Design Control
•More than one product is processed by the line
•Workers trained to work on more than one station
•Layout of line changed
•Long and short operations arranged to cancel each other
Traditional line
U Shaped Line

Manufacturing System Design Control
•Demand for product can fluctuate over time
•Capacity < demand - Lose business
•Excess capacity: storage cost, labour cost etc.
•Capacity planning: match capacity to present and anticipated demand
•Capacity Lead Strategy
•Capacity Lag Strategy
•Average Capacity Strategy

Manufacturing System Design Control
Capacity Lead Strategy
•Capacity expanded in anticipation of demand
•Expect to gain customers from competitors
Capacity
Demand
Time

Manufacturing System Design Control
Capacity Lag Strategy
•Capacity increased after increased in demand
•Common where competition is weak
Demand
Time
Capacity

Manufacturing System Design Control
Average Strategy Lag
•Capacity expanded to coincide with average expected demand
Capacity
Demand
Time

Manufacturing System Design Control
•100% capacity not efficient
•20% cushion is generally used
•20% capacity allows for unexpected demand
•Negative capacity can be used - Airlines