Chapter 6 : Process Selection and Facility Layout
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Process selection
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
Deciding on the way production of goods or services will be organized
Major implications

Capacity planning
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Layout of facilities
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Equipment

Design of work systems
Key aspects of process strategy
1. Capital intensive – equipment/labor
2. Process flexibility
3. Technology
Adjust to changes
–
Design
–
Volume
–
Technology
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Technology: The application of scientific discoveries to the development and improvement
of products and services and operations processes.
–
Technology innovation: The discovery and development of new or improved products,
services, or processes for producing or providing them.
Operations management is primarily concerned with three kinds of technology:
–
–
Product and service technology (discovery and development of new or improved
products/services)
–
Process technology (methods, procedures, and equipments, used to produce
goods/services)
–
Information technology (science, and use of computers and other electronic
equipment to store, process, and send information)
All three have a major impact on:
–
Costs
–
Productivity
–
Competitiveness
Competitive Advantage of Technology

Innovations in


Products and services

Cell phones

PDAs

Wireless computing
Processing technology

Increasing productivity

Increasing quality
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Lowering costs
Risks of Technology

What technology will and will not do
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Technical issues

Economic issues
Process Selection

Initial costs, space, cash flow, maintenance

Consultants and/or skilled employees

Integration cost, time resources

Training, safety, job loss
Process Types

Job shop


Batch


Moderate volume
Repetitive/assembly line
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
Small scale
High volumes of standardized goods or services
Continuous

Very high volumes of non-discrete goods
Process selection can involve substantial investment in

Equipment

Layout of facilities
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Product profiling: Linking key product or service requirements to process capabilities

Key dimensions

Range of products or services

Expected order sizes

Pricing strategies

Expected schedule changes

Order winning requirements
Automation

Machinery that has sensing and control devices that enable it to operate
automatically

Fixed automation (uses high cost, specialized equipment for a fixed
sequence of operations, low cost high volume) Detroit type automation

Programmable automation (use of high-cost, general purpose equipment
controlled by computer, both sequence,& details)

Flexible automation (CAM, N/C)

Robot: A machine consisting of a mechanical arm, a power supply and a
controller
Facility Layout
Layout: the configuration of departments, work centers, and equipment, with particular emphasis
on movement of work (customers or materials) through the system
1.
2.
3.
4.
Product layouts
Process layouts
Fixed-position layout
Combination layouts
Objective of Layout Design

Basic Objective


Facilitate a smooth flow of work, material, and information through the system
Supporting objectives

Facilitate product or service quality

Use workers and space efficiently

Avoid bottlenecks

Minimize material handling costs

Eliminate unnecessary movement of workers or material

Minimize production time or customer service time

Design for safety
Advantages of Product Layout

High rate of output

Low unit cost

Labor specialization

Low material handling cost

High utilization of labor and equipment

Established routing and scheduling

Routing accounting and purchasing
Disadvantages of Product Layout

Creates dull, repetitive jobs

Poorly skilled workers may not maintain equipment or quality of output

Fairly inflexible to changes in volume

Highly susceptible to shutdowns

Needs preventive maintenance

Individual incentive plans are impractical
Process layouts

Layouts that can handle varied processing requirements
Advantages of Process Layout

Can handle a variety of processing requirements

Not particularly vulnerable to equipment failures

Equipment used is less costly

Possible to use individual incentive plans
Disadvantages of Process Layout

In-process inventory costs can be high

Challenging routing and scheduling
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Equipment utilization rates are low

Material handling slow and inefficient

Complexities often reduce span of supervision

Special attention for each product or customer

Accounting and purchasing are more involved
Fixed-position Layout: Layout in which the product or project remains stationary, and workers,
materials, and equipment are moved as needed

Nature of the product dictates this type of layout

Weight

Size
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Bulk
Combination Layout


Some operational environments use a combination of the three basic layout types:
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Hospitals

Supermarket

Shipyards
Some organizations are moving away from process layouts in an effort to capture the
benefits of product layouts

Cellular manufacturing

Flexible manufacturing systems
Cellular Layout

Cellular Production


Layout in which machines are grouped into a cell that can process items that have
similar processing requirements
Group Technology

The grouping into part families of items with similar design or manufacturing
characteristics
Flexible Manufacturing System <FMS>

A group of machines designed to handle intermittent processing requirements and
produce a variety of similar products

Includes supervisory computer control, automatic material handling, and
robots or other automated processing equipment

It is a more automated version of cellular manufacturing
Computer integrated Manufacturing <CIM>

A system for linking a broad range of manufacturing activities through an integrated
computer system

Activities include

Engineering design

FMS

Purchasing

Order processing

Production planning and control
Service Layout
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Service layouts can be categorized as: product, process, or fixed position

Service layout requirements are somewhat different due to such factors as:


Degree of customer contact

Degree of customization
Common service layouts:
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Warehouse and storage layouts
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Retail layouts
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Office layouts
Line balancing
-
is the process of assigning tasks to workstations in such a way that the workstations have
approximately equal time requirements.
Cycle time is the maximum time allowed at each workstation to complete its set of tasks on a unit.