42

 Group Technology (GT): It is a management philosophy of dividing

items/objects/things into groups (also called families) on the basis of
similarities of their attributes.
 Cellular layout applies the principle of group technology to manufacturing to
take advantage of similarities in products grouped in a family. This technique
is very useful for companies that produce large variety of parts in small
batches.
 To enable them to take advantage of economics of flow line layout, a process
layout can be redesigned into a cellular layout.
 In this layout,
 all products are grouped in families on the basis of their manufacturing attributes
 each family is assigned a cell for its manufacturing whereby the operations required
are provided in a line layout.
43
 Cellular manufacturing brings scattered processes together to form short, focused
paths in concentrated physical space.
 S o constructed, by logic a cell reduces flow time, flow distance, floor space,
inventory, handling, scheduling transactions, and scrap and rework (the latter
because of quick discovery of nonconformities).
 Cells lead to simplified, higher validity costing, since the costs of producing items
are contained within the cell rather than scattered.
 Cellular manufacturing facilitates both production and quality control. Cells that
are underperforming in either volume or quality ca n be easily isolated and targeted
for improvement.
 The segmentation of the production process allows problems to be easily located
and it is more clear which parts are affected by the problem.
 The small cell structure improves group cohesiveness and scales the manufacturing
process down to a more manageable level for the workers. Workers can more easily
see problems or possible improvements within their own cells and tend to be more
22
self-motivated to propose changes
 Group Technology layout can increase
 Component standardization a n d rationalization.
 Reliability of estimates.
 Effective machine operation a n d productivity.
 Cus to mer service.

 It can decrease the

 Paper work a n d overall production time.
 Work-in-progress a n d work movement.
 Overall cost.

23
 High Cost: The cost of implementation is generally high. This is because an
outside consultant is often required since in house expertise on G T is rarely
available. It requires a long set u p time and painful debugging.
 Not Suitable for large Variety of Products : May not be suitable for a factory with
a very large variety of products.
 The entire production of the company cannot be put under the G T and hence G T
will have to coexist with the conventional layouts.
 Not suits all Applications : There are too many G T codes in use and there is no
one G T code that suits all applications.
 It is often difficult to conceive all the operations for a group of components being
taken care of in the cell created for it.
 The range of product mix in a plant many be under constant change in which
case the G T cells may need constant revision which is impractical .
 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. 24
Based of the type of Industry, production quantity and production variety,
following are the major plant layout types:

Process Produ ct F ixed-position

Layout Layout Layout

C ombinational C ellu lar

Layout Layout

5
0
5
1
In this type of layout, all machines (and other equipment) for performing
similar/same operations are grouped at one location e.g. all lathes are
grouped in one shop, all the drill machines at another shop and so on.
Therefore,we ca n say that there are different shops (or areas) in this type of a
plant each dedicated to provide a different process or function.
 Machines are not arranged as per the operation sequence of any product.
Any product that requires all or some of the available processes in the plant
can be manufactured using this plant layout.
 Process layout is also known as Functional Layout or Job-shop layout.

5
2
 Suitable for production of different products in batches. It is characterized by
low to medium variety and small to intermediate production volume.
 G reater
flexibility with regard to work distribu tion to m ach inery and
personnel. Adapted to frequent changes in sequence of operations.
 Lower investment due to general purpose machines; which usually are less
costly than special purpose machines.
 Higher utilization of production facilities; which ca n be adapted to a variety of
products.
 Variety of jobs makes the work challenging and interesting.
 Breakdown of one machine does not result in complete stoppage of work. It
can be easily handled by transferring work to another machine/work station.
 It offers better and m ore efficient su pervision th rou gh specialization at
various levels.
5
3
 Backtracking and long movements occur in handling of materials. As s u c h , material handling
costs are higher.
 Total production cycle time is more owing to long distances and waiting at various points.
 Since more work is in queue and waiting for further operation hence bottle necks occur.
 Mechanization of material handling is highly challenging (not possible in many cases) and
expensive.
 Production planning and control is difficult. It is difficult to achieve good labour and equipment
balance.
 More space requirement; as work-in-progress inventory is high-requiring greater storage space.
 As the work has to pass through different departments; it is quite difficult to fix the
responsibility for the finished product.
 Specialization creates monotony and there will be difficult for the laid workers to find job in
other industries.

 It is difficult to undertake adequate time and motion studies.

5
4
 All the processing equipment a nd machines are arranged according to the
sequence of operations of the product
 In this type of layout, only one product of one type of products is produced in
a n operating area. This product is standardized and produced in large
quantities.
 It is also called line layout or flow layout because machines are arrange in a
line.
 The raw material is supplied at one end of the line a nd goes from one
operation to the next quite rapidly with a minimum work in process, storage
and material handling. The finished product is taken out at the other end of
the line.
 Special purpose machines are used to perform required operations at
different workstations.
 R edu ced m aterial h an dlin g cost du e to m ech an ized h andling system s an d
straight flow
 Perfect line balancing which eliminates bottlenecks and idle capacity.
 Short manufacturing cycle due to uninterrupted flow of materials and therefore, total
production time is also minimized.
 Simplified production planning and control; and simple and effective inspection of
work.
 Small amount of work-in-progress inventory
 Lesser wage cost, as unskilled workers can learn and manage production.
 Time and motion studies can be done to determine the rate of work.
 G ood balan ce of labou r and equ ipm en t exists an d th erefore th ere better
utilization is achievable.
 Minimum of inspection is required, during sequence of operations.
 Minimum of set-ups are required.
 Lackof flexibility of operations, as layou t cannot be adapted to th e
manufacture of any other type of product.
 Large capital investment, because of special purpose machines.
 Any breakdown of one machine in the sequence may result in stoppage of
production.
 Same machines duplicated for manufacture of different products; may lead to
high overall operational costs.
 Delicate special purpose machines require costly maintenance/repairs.
 The manufacturing cost increases with a fall in volume of production.

 Specialized and strict supervision is essential.

 In this type of layout the major component remain in a fixed location, other
materials, parts, tools, machinery, ma n power a nd other supporting
equipment’s are brought to this location.
 It is also called stationary layout or static layout.
 Ship-building, air-craft manufacturing, wagon building, heavy construction of
da ms, bridges, buildings etc. are typical examples of such layout.
 Material movement is reduced.

 Capital investment is minimized.

 The task is usually done by gang of operators, hence continuity of operations
is ensured
 Production centers are independent of each other. Hence, effective planning
and loading ca n be made. Thus total production cost will be reduced.
 It offers greater flexibility and allows change in product design, product mix
and production volume.
 Highly skilled ma n power is required.

 M ovem ent of m ach ines equ ipm ent’s to produ ction center m ay be time
consuming.
 Complicated fixtures may be required for positioning of jobs and tools. This
may increase the cost of production.
 It require complicated work schedule.
 In practice, plants are rarely laid out either in product or process layout form.
Generally a combination of the two basic layouts is employed to derive the
advantages of both systems of layout. For example, refrigerator
manufacturing uses a combination layout.
 Combination of two types of layouts may occur in different forms:
 Most of the manufacturing sections are arranged in process layout with
manufacturing lines occurring here and there (scattered) wherever the conditions
permit.
 Machinery is arranged in a process layout but the process grouping (a group of
number of similar machines) is then arranged in a sequence to manufacture
various types and sizes of products.
 Process layout is used for producing components and thereafter the final
assembled product is manufactured on a n assembly line (a product layout).
 It is also known as combined layout or hybrid layout.
 In a typical factory, process layout is used to produce various operations like
stamping, welding, heat treatment being carried out in different work centers
as per requirement. The final assembly of the product is done in a product
type layout.
 In case when the same product varies in size and type but the sequence of
operations remain same or similar, similar machines are grouped in
departments a nd departments are arranged in a product layout format. As
illustrated in the given diagram for gear manufacturing.
 A combination layout is also useful when a number of items are produced in
same sequence but none of the items are to be produced in bulk and thus no
item justifies for a n individual a nd independent production line. For example,
files, hacksaws, circular metal saws, wood saws, etc. ca n be manufactured on
a combination type of layout.
 Group Technology (GT): It is a management philosophy of dividing
items/objects/things into groups (also called families) on the basis of
similarities of their attributes.
 Cellular layout applies the principle of group technology to manufacturing to
take advantage of similarities in products grouped in a family. This technique
is very useful for companies that produce large variety of parts in small
batches.
 To enable them to take advantage of economics of flow line layout, a process
layout can be redesigned into a cellular layout.
 In this layout,
 allproducts are grouped in families on the basis of their manufacturing attributes
 each family is assigned a cell for its manufacturing whereby the operations
required are provided in a line layout.
 Cellular manufacturing brings scattered processes together to form short, focused
paths in concentrated physical space.
 S o constructed, by logic a cell reduces flow time, flow distance, floor space, inventory,
handling, scheduling transactions, and scrap and rework (the latter because of quick
discovery of nonconformities).
 Cells lead to simplified, higher validity costing, since the costs of producing items
are contained within the cell rather than scattered.
 Cellular manufacturing facilitates both production and quality control. Cells that are
underperforming in either volume or quality can be easily isolated and targeted for
improvement.
 The segmentation of the production process allows problems to be easily located
and it is more clear which parts are affected by the problem.
 The small cell structure improves group cohesiveness and scales the manufacturing
process down to a more manageable level for the workers. Workers can more easily see
problems or possible improvements within their own cells and tend to be more self-
motivated to propose changes 22
 Group Technology layout can increase
 Component standardization and
rationalization.
 Reliability of estimates.
 Effective machine operation and productivity.
 Customer service.

 It can decrease the

 Paper work and overall production time.
 Work-in-progress and work movement.
 Overall cost.

23
 High Cost: The cost of implementation is generally high. This is because an outside
consultant is often required since in house expertise on G T is rarely available. It
requires a long set u p time and painful debugging.
 Not Suitable for large Variety of Products : May not be suitable for a factory with a
very large variety of products.
 The entire production of the company cannot be put under the G T and hence G T
will have to coexist with the conventional layouts.
 Not suits all Applications : There are too many G T codes in use and there is no
one G T code that suits all applications.
 It is often difficult to conceive all the operations for a group of components being
taken care of in the cell created for it.
 The range of product mix in a plant many be under constant change in which
case the G T cells may need constant revision which is impractical .
 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. 24