ABSTRACT
The physical arrangement of manufacturing operations in relation to each other is called the problem of facility layout. It is a mathematically difficult problem, thus, a challenging task for the production planner. However, the problem itself serves as an introduction to the abstract thinking ability required by a planner: The ability to model and represent operational planning challenges.
Even though the layout of a manufacturing environment is typically figured out by the pattern of workflow, there are four different layout types or strategies that can be used to place manufacturing processes and operations in relation to each other: the manufacturing cell type, assembly line type, project type, and work center type. It should not be surprising for a production planner to see a facility harboring more than a single type of layout. Eventually, because it is usually more efficient to design the facility by the path that a product follows within the environment, most manufacturing facilities use a combination of multiple layout types. Thus, a part of a facility might be organized as a work center, while another place as a manufacturing area dedicated to processing a part, and another area designed to follow the working guidelines of an assembly line, for instance, a couple of designated machines connected with a conveyor belt.
One of the primary layout designs is referred to as a project layout, also known as a fixed position layout. When speaking of a work center layout, the production literature often makes use of phrases such as “job shop” and “functional layout”. The layout design of a manufacturing cell is a hybrid layout since it incorporates the design ideas of both a work center and an assembly line into its architecture. In other words, a manufacturing cell is designed to perform a set of processes just like a work center, and it works with a product-oriented approach at the same time, instead of the process-oriented nature of a work center. As a pure product-oriented layout the assembly line design is the last fundamental strategy discussed in this chapter.
