Steps in Layout Planning and Design

For a given product at a stated volume of production a process most appropriate must be determined. The process that is determined like any other factor may not be permanent because it will be influenced by changes in the volume of production changes in the product and changes in equipment. The process which is decided upon determines the type of equipment that would be needed to manufacture a given product at a given volume. The equipment requirement s of a company vary with its methods of grouping machines of the type of layout, the type of layout the main consideration being an increasing use of machines and not of labour.

The equipment which is selected determines the number of workers that will be required. The trend nowadays is to replace labour by machines because that result increased production, reduced costs better quality and fewer labour troubles. But the labour cannot be completely dispensed with it would always be needed to switch on and switch off the machines even if the whole plant is mechanized. At the fourth stage product and volume have led to a process which dictates the type of equipment which would be acquired and which in turn would require operators.

                                                                       Figure: Steps in Layout Planning and Design

But the operations require the services of indirect labor of material handlers janitors maintenance staff quality control staff and production supervisors. The arrangement of all these facilities and personnel constitutes the plant layout. Once the plant layout is designed the layout engineer often engineer the services of an architect or the construction division of the company to design the system.