Plant Layout And Material Handling Computer Science Essay

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

ANS1.) Yes the statement is correct as "An Ideally laid out plant goes a long way in reducing manufacturing costs through reduced material handling , reduced personnel's and equipment requirements and reduced in process inventory"

Take for example of any plant in general. A proper plant layout of any plant during the initial stages of commissioning and erection can greatly reduce cost related to Manpower, Material transportation, Production etc. It reduces the cost related to extra machinery to be installed like conveyor belts for Material transportation and Labour costs.

A proper and well organised Plant setup and layout helps organization to reduce Production losses, Process Inventory cost, Labour related costs, Material Transportation (Both Raw material as well as Finished materials) along with the Cost related moving goods from centralised stores to various departments and places with in plants.

PLANT LAYOUT AND MATERIAL HANDLING

Plant layout refers to the physical arrangement of facilities. It is the configuration of departments, work centres and equipment in the conversion process. The overall objective of the plant layout is to design a physical arrangement that meets the required output quality and quantity most economically.

According to James Moore, "Plant layout is a plan of an optimum arrangement of

facilities including personnel, operating equipment, storage space, material handling

equipments and all other supporting services along with the design of best structure

to contain all these facilities".

‘Material Handling’ refers to the ‘moving of materials from the store room to the machine

and from one machine to the next during the process of manufacture’. It is also defined as the

‘art and science of moving, packing and storing of products in any form’. It is a specialised

activity for a modern manufacturing concern, with 50 to 75% of the cost of production. This cost

can be reduced by proper section, operation and maintenance of material handling devices.

Material handling devices increases the output, improves quality, speeds up the deliveries and

decreases the cost of production. Hence, material handling is a prime consideration in the

designing new plant and several existing plants.

PRODUCT DESIGN

Product design deals with conversion of ideas into reality. Every business organization have to

design, develop and introduce new products as a survival and growth strategy. Developing the

new products and launching them in the market is the biggest challenge faced by the organizations.

The entire process of need identification to physical manufactures of product involves three

functions: marketing, product development, manufacturing. Product development translates the

needs of customers given by marketing into technical specifications and designing the various

features into the product to these specifications. Manufacturing has the responsibility of selecting

the processes by which the product can be manufactured. Product design and development

provides link between marketing, customer needs and expectations and the activities required to

manufacture the product.

PROCESS DESIGN

Process design is a macroscopic decision-making of an overall process route for converting the

raw material into finished goods. These decisions encompass the selection of a process, choice

of technology, process flow analysis and layout of the facilities. Hence, the important decisions

in process design are to analyse the workflow for converting raw material into finished product

and to select the workstation for each included in the workflow.

PRODUCTION PLANNING AND CONTROL

Production planning and control can be defined as the process of planning the production in advance,

setting the exact route of each item, fixing the starting and finishing dates for each item, to give

production orders to shops and to follow up the progress of products according to orders.

The principle of production planning and control lies in the statement ‘First Plan Your Work

and then Work on Your Plan’. Main functions of production planning and control includes

planning, routing, scheduling, dispatching and follow-up.

Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it and who is to do

it. Planning bridges the gap from where we are, to where we want to go. It makes it possible for things to occur which would not otherwise happen.

Routing may be defined as the selection of path which each part of the product will follow, which being transformed from raw material to finished products. Routing determines the most advantageous path to be followed from department to department and machine to machine till raw material gets its final shape.

Scheduling determines the programme for the operations. Scheduling may be defined as

‘the fixation of time and date for each operation’ as well as it determines the sequence of

operations to be followed.

The basic objective of layout is to ensure a smooth flow of work, material, and information through a system. The basic meaning of facility is the space in which a business's activities take place. The layout and design of that space impact greatly how the work is done—the flow of work, materials, and information through the system. The key to good facility layout and design is the integration of the needs of people (personnel and customers), materials (raw, finishes, and in process), and machinery in such a way that they create a single, well-functioning system.

The efficiency of production depends on how well the various machines; production facilities and employee’s amenities are located in a plant. Only the

properly laid out plant can ensure the smooth and rapid movement of material, from the raw material stage to the end product stage. Plant layout encompasses

new layout as well as improvement in the existing layout.

It may be defined as a technique of locating machines, processes and plant services within the factory so as to achieve the right quantity and quality of output

at the lowest possible cost of manufacturing. It involves a judicious arrangement of production facilities so that workflow is direct.

Plant layout refers to the arrangement of physical facilities such as machinery, equipment, furniture etc. with in the factory building in such a manner so as to

have quickest flow of material at the lowest cost and with the least amount of handling in processing the product from the receipt of material to the shipment of

the finished product.

"the overall objective of plant layout is to design a physical arrangement that most economically meets the required output – quantity and quality."

,"Plant layout ideally involves allocation of space and arrangement of equipment in such a manner that overall operating costs are minimized.

IMPORTANCE

The importance of a layout would be better appreciated if one understands the influence of an efficient layout on the manufacturing function: it makes it smooth and efficient. Operating efficiencies, such as economies in the cost of handling materials, minimization of production delays and avoidance of bottlenecksâ€"all these depend on a proper layout.

An ideally laid out plant reduces manufacturing costs through reduced materials handling, reduced personnel and equipment requirements and reduced process inventory.

The objectives or advantages of an ideal layout are outlined in the paragraphs that follow. The advantages are common to all the plants, irrespective of age; and whether a plant employs 50 workers or 50,000 makes no difference in so far as the applicability of the plant layout advantages is concerned. Some of these advantages are:

Economies in Handling

Nearly 30% to 40% of the manufacturing cost is accounted for, by materials handling. Every effort should, therefore, be made to cut down on this cost. Long distance movements should be avoided and specific handling operations must be eliminated. A cynic may say that the cheapest way to handle materials is not to handle them at all. But, in a factory, materials have to be handled; and therefore, it all depends on the layout.

Effective Use of Available Area

Every inch of the plant area is valuable, especially in urban areas. Efforts should therefore be made to make use of the available area by planning the layout properly. Some steps for achieving this end are: location of equipment and services in order that they may perform multiple functions; development of up-to-date work areas and operator job assignments for a full utilization of the labor force.

Minimization of Production Delays

Repeat orders and new customers will be the result of prompt execution of orders. Every management should try to keep to the delivery schedules. Often, the deadline dates for delivery of production orders are a bug-a-boo to the management.

Plant layout is a significant factor in the timely execution of orders. An ideal layout eliminates such causes of delays as shortage of space, long-distance movements of materials, spoiled work and thus contributes to the speedy execution of orders.

Improved Quality Control

Timely execution of orders will be meaningful when the quality of the output is not below expectations. To ensure quality, inspection should be conducted at different stages of manufacture. An ideal layout provides for inspection to ensure better quality control.

Minimum Equipment Investment

Investment on equipment can be minimized by planned machine balance and location, minimum handling distances, by the installation of general purpose machines and by planned machine loading. A good plant layout provides all these advantages.

Avoidance of Bottlenecks

Bottlenecks refer to any place in a production process where materials tend to pile up or are produced at a speed, less rapid than the previous or subsequent operations. Bottlenecks are caused by inadequate machine capacity, inadequate storage space or low speed on part of the operators. The results of bottlenecks are delays in productions schedules, congestion, accidents and wastage of floor area. All these may be overcome with an efficient layout.

Better Production Control

Production Control is concerned with the production of the product of the right type, at the right time and at a reasonable cost. A good plant layout is a requisite for good production control and provides the production control officers with a systematic basis upon which to build organization and procedures.

Better Supervision

A good plant layout ensures better supervision in two ways:

1.Determining the number of workers to be handled by a supervisor and

2.Enabling the supervisor to get a full view of the entire plant at one glance.

A good plant layout is, therefore, the first step to good supervision.

Improved Utilization of Labor

Labor is paid for every hour it spends in the factory. The efficiency of a management lies in utilizing the time for productive purpose. A good plant layout is one of the factors in effective utilization of labor. It makes possible individual operations, the process and flow of materials handling in such a way that the time of each worker is effectively spent on productive operations.

Improved Employee Morale

Employee morale is achieved when workers are cheerful and confident. This state of mental condition is vital to the success of any organization.

Morale depends on:

(a)Better working condition;

(b)Better employee facilities;

(c)Reduced number of accidents;

(d)Increased earnings.

Plant layout has a bearing on all these.

Avoidance of Unnecessary and Costly Changes

A planned layout avoids frequent changes which are difficult and costly. The incorporation of flexibility elements in the layout would help in the avoidance of revisions.

CLASSIFICATION OF LAYOUT

Layouts can be classified into the following five categories:

1. Process layout

2. Product layout

3. Combination layout

4. Fixed position layout

5. Group layout

Process Layout

Process layout is recommended for batch production. All machines performing similar type of

operations are grouped at one location in the process layout e.g., all lathes, milling machines, etc.

are grouped in the shop will be clustered in like groups.

Thus, in process layout the arrangement of facilities are grouped together according to their

functions. A typical process layout is shown in Fig. 2.5. The flow paths of material through the

facilities from one functional area to another vary from product to product. Usually the paths are

long and there will be possibility of backtracking.

Process layout is normally used when the production volume is not sufficient to justify a

product layout. Typically, job shops employ process layouts due to the variety of products

manufactured and their low production volumes.

Advantages

1. In process layout machines are better utilized and fewer machines are required.

2. Flexibility of equipment and personnel is possible in process layout.

3. Lower investment on account of comparatively less number of machines and lower cost

of general purpose machines.

4. Higher utilisation of production facilities.

5. A high degree of flexibility with regards to work distribution to machineries and workers.

6. The diversity of tasks and variety of job makes the job challenging and interesting.

7. Supervisors will become highly knowledgeable about the functions under their department.

Limitations

1. Backtracking and long movements may occur in the handling of materials thus, reducing

material handling efficiency.

2. Material handling cannot be mechanised which adds to cost.

3. Process time is prolonged which reduce the inventory turnover and increases the inprocess

inventory.

4. Lowered productivity due to number of set-ups.

5. Throughput (time gap between in and out in the process) time is longer.

6. Space and capital are tied up by work-in-process.

Product Layout

In this type of layout, machines and auxiliary services are located according to the processing

sequence of the product. If the volume of production of one or more products is large, the

facilities can be arranged to achieve efficient flow of materials and lower cost per unit. Special

purpose machines are used which perform the required function quickly and reliably.

The product layout is selected when the volume of production of a product is high such that

a separate production line to manufacture it can be justified. In a strict product layout, machines

are not shared by different products. Therefore, the production volume must be sufficient to

achieve satisfactory utilisation of the equipment.

Advantages

1. The flow of product will be smooth and logical in flow lines.

2. In-process inventory is less.

3. Throughput time is less.

4. Minimum material handling cost.

5. Simplified production, planning and control systems are possible.

6. Less space is occupied by work transit and for temporary storage.

7. Reduced material handling cost due to mechanised handling systems and straight flow.

8. Perfect line balancing which eliminates bottlenecks and idle capacity.

9. Manufacturing cycle is short due to uninterrupted flow of materials.

10. Small amount of work-in-process inventory.

11. Unskilled workers can learn and manage the production.

Limitations

1. A breakdown of one machine in a product line may cause stoppages of machines in the

downstream of the line.

2. A change in product design may require major alterations in the layout.

3. The line output is decided by the bottleneck machine.

4. Comparatively high investment in equipments is required.

5. Lack of flexibility. A change in product may require the facility modification.

Combination Layout

A combination of process and product layouts combines the advantages of both types of layouts.

A combination layout is possible where an item is being made in different types and sizes. Here

machinery is arranged in a process layout but the process grouping is then arranged in a sequence

to manufacture various types and sizes of products. It is to be noted that the sequence of

operations remains same with the variety of products and sizes

Fixed Position Layout

This is also called the project type of layout. In this type of layout, the material, or major

components remain in a fixed location and tools, machinery, men and other materials are brought

to this location. This type of layout is suitable when one or a few pieces of identical heavy

products are to be manufactured and when the assembly consists of large number of heavy parts,

the cost of transportation of these parts is very high.

Advantages

The major advantages of this type of layout are:

1. Helps in job enlargement and upgrades the skills of the operators.

2. The workers identify themselves with a product in which they take interest and pride in

doing the job.

3. Greater flexibility with this type of layout.

4. Layout capital investment is lower.

Group Layout (or Cellular Layout)

There is a trend now to bring an element of flexibility into manufacturing system as regards

to variation in batch sizes and sequence of operations. A grouping of equipment for performing

a sequence of operations on family of similar components or products has become all the

important.

Group technology (GT) is the analysis and comparisons of items to group them into

families with similar characteristics. GT can be used to develop a hybrid between pure process

layout and pure flow line (product) layout. This technique is very useful for companies that

produce variety of parts in small batches to enable them to take advantage and economics of

flow line layout.

The application of group technology involves two basic steps; first step is to determine

component families or groups. The second step in applying group technology is to arrange the

plants equipment used to process a particular family of components. This represents small plants

within the plants. The group technology reduces production planning time for jobs. It reduces the

set-up time.

Thus group layout is a combination of the product layout and process layout. It combines

the advantages of both layout systems. If there are m-machines and n-components, in a group

layout (Group-Technology Layout), the m-machines and n-components will be divided into distinct number of machine-component cells (group) such that all the components assigned to a cell are almost processed within that cell itself. Here, the objective is to minimize the intercell movements.

The basic aim of a group technology layout is to identify families of components that require

similar of satisfying all the requirements of the machines are grouped into cells. Each cell is

capable of satisfying all the requirements of the component family assigned to it.

The layout design process considers mostly a single objective while designing layouts. In

process layout, the objective is to minimize the total cost of materials handling. Because of the

nature of the layout, the cost of equipments will be the minimum in this type of layout. In product layout, the cost of materials handling will be at the absolute minimum. But the cost of equipments would not be at the minimum if the equipments are not fully utilized.

In-group technology layout, the objective is to minimize the sum of the cost of transportation

and the cost of equipments. So, this is called as multi-objective layout.

Advantages of Group Technology Layout

Group Technology layout can increase—

1. Component standardization and rationalization.

2. Reliability of estimates.

3. Effective machine operation and productivity.

4. Customer service.

It can decrease the—

1. Paper work and overall production time.

2. Work-in-progress and work movement.

3. Overall cost.

Limitations of Group Technology Layout

This type of layout may not be feasible for all situations. If the product mix is completely

dissimilar, then we may not have meaningful cell formation.

FACTORS IN DETERMINING LAYOUT AND DESIGN

Small business owners need to consider many operational factors when building or renovating a facility for maximum layout effectiveness. These criteria include the following:

1.   Ease of future expansion or change—Facilities should be designed so that they can be easily expanded or adjusted to meet changing production needs. "Although redesigning a facility is a major, expensive undertaking not to be done lightly, there is always the possibility that a redesign will be necessary,"

"Therefore, any design should be flexible'. Flexible manufacturing systems most often are highly automated facilities having intermediate-volume production of a variety of products. Their goal is to minimize changeover or setup times for producing the different products while still achieving close to assembly line (single-product) production rates."

2.   Flow of movement—The facility design should reflect a recognition of the importance of smooth process flow. In the case of factory facilities, the editors of How to Run a Small Business state that "ideally, the plan will show the raw materials entering your plant at one end and the finished product emerging at the other. The flow need not be a straight line. Parallel flows, U-shaped patterns, or even a zig-zag that ends up with the finished product back at the shipping and receiving bays can be functional. However, backtracking is to be avoided in whatever pattern is chosen. When parts and materials move against or across the overall flow, personnel and paperwork become confused, parts become lost, and the attainment of coordination becomes complicated."

3.   Materials handling—Small business owners should make certain that the facility layout makes it possible to handle materials (products, equipment, containers, etc.) in an orderly, efficient—and preferably simple—manner.

4.   Output needs—The facility should be laid out in a way that is conducive to helping the business meet its production needs.

1.   Space utilization—This aspect of facility design includes everything from making sure that traffic lanes are wide enough to making certain that inventory storage warehouses or rooms utilize as much vertical space as possible.

2.   Shipping and receiving—counseled small business owners to leave ample room for this aspect of operations. "While space does tend to fill itself up, receiving and shipping rarely get enough space for the work to be done effectively,"

3.   Ease of communication and support—Facilities should be laid out so that communication within various areas of the business and interactions with vendors and customers can be done in an easy and effective manner. Similarly, support areas should be stationed in areas that help them to serve operating areas.

4.   Impact on employee morale and job satisfaction—Since countless studies have indicated that employee morale has a major impact on productivity, -- owners and managers to heed this factor when pondering facility design alternatives: "Some ways layout design can increase morale are obvious, such as providing for light-colored walls, windows, space. Other ways are less obvious and not directly related to the production process. Some examples are including a cafeteria or even a gymnasium in the facility design. Again, though, there are costs to be traded off. That is, does the increase in morale due to a cafeteria increase productivity to the extent that the increased productivity covers the cost of building and staffing the cafeteria."

5.   Promotional value—If the business commonly receives visitors in the form of customers, vendors, investors, etc., the small business owner may want to make sure that the facility layout is an attractive one that further burnishes the company's reputation. Design factors that can influence the degree of attractiveness of a facility include not only the design of the production area itself, but the impact that it has on, for instance, ease of fulfilling maintenance/cleaning tasks.

6.   Safety—The facility layout should enable the business to effectively operate in accordance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines and other legal restrictions.

"Facility layout must be considered very carefully because we do not want to constantly redesign the facility," . "Some of the goals in designing the facility are to ensure a minimum amount of materials handling, to avoid bottlenecks, to minimize machine interference, to ensure high employee morale and safety, and to ensure flexibility. Essentially, there are two distinct types of layout. Product layout is synonymous with assembly line and is oriented toward the products that are being made. Process layout is oriented around the processes that are used to make the products. Generally, product layout is applicable for high-volume repetitive operations, while process layout is applicable for low-volume custom-made goods."

AN  IDEAL  LAYOUT  CAN  HELP  WITH  THE :

1.   Transport : Movement of materials is a waste. Minimise the amount of movement by arranging processes in close proximity to each other. Factory layouts can often be the fundamental cause of excess transportation. When appropriate, re-laying out the machines within a factory from a functional to a cellular layout has been found by many companies to help not just reduce transportation waste but also reduce WIP and waiting. Items being moved unnecessarily incur a cost

2.   Inventory : Many companies produce above what is required to fulfil the order, this may be due to quality problems along the production process or the often mistaken belief that is saves money by manufacturing larger quantities.. Too little inventory can lose sales, too much inventory can hide problems.

3.   Motion :. Generally, this waste applies to production personnel having to move out of their work area to locate tools, materials, etc. Remove unnecessary motion of the operations and improve the ergonomics of the workplace. People moving unnecessarily also incur a cost.

4.   Waiting : Minimise waiting time (operators waiting for machines or products waiting around in factories either as finished goods or work in progress) Aim for a smooth flow.

5.   Overproduction : Always aim to make exactly what the customer orders, just in time, to the correct quality standard. On the shop floor, this generally occurs because changeover times are high, equipment is unreliable, the process is unreliable (causes defects), and standard cost accounting metrics are used. However, probably the biggest reason for overproduction is poor information flow (communication) between facilities.

6.   OverProcessing : Use machines which are of an appropriate capacity and capable of achieving the required quality standard. This usually refers to using larger scale equipment than necessary; it also refers to building in rework to a process. It can also refer to using the wrong suppliers and/or the wrong process

7.   Defects : Reducing the number of defects directly reduces the amount of waste. Aim for zero defects.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLANT LAYOUT AND MATERIAL HANDLING

There is a close relationship between plant layout and material handling. A good layout ensures

minimum material handling and eliminates rehandling in the following ways:

1. Material movement does not add any value to the product so, the material handling should

be kept at minimum though not avoid it. This is possible only through the systematic plant

layout. Thus a good layout minimises handling.

2. The productive time of workers will go without production if they are required to travel

long distance to get the material tools, etc. Thus a good layout ensures minimum travel for workman thus enhancing the production time and eliminating the hunting time and

travelling time.

3. Space is an important criterion. Plant layout integrates all the movements of men, material

through a well designed layout with material handling system.

4. Good plant layout helps in building efficient material handling system. It helps to keep

material handling shorter, faster and economical. A good layout reduces the material

backtracking, unnecessary workmen movement ensuring effectiveness in manufacturing.

Thus a good layout always ensures minimum material handling.