ABSTRACT
Planners quickly discover that the successful use of computers rests first on their use of systematic planning techniques. The committee or “participative” approach is also popular, especially for planning new offices and labs. Leading professionals have long recognized the need for systematic planning. Space standards are essential in planning administrative and institutional facilities. They are also of some value in planning industrial facilities. Good planning practice calls for an overall or block layout first--without the details of furniture or equipment. The P-Q curve also suggests which technique of flow analysis should be used in planning the layout and material handling methods. Product-Quantity or P-Q Analysis is a phrase coined by Richard Muther to cover facilities applications of Pareto’s curve, often called the 80/20 rule. In every industrial plant, activity is devoted to many products or materials.
