In industrial engineering

Industrial engineering

Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering dealing with the optimization of complex processes or systems. It is concerned with the development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, materials, analysis...

, process layout is the floor plan

Plan

A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with timing and resources, used to achieve an objective. See also strategy. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions, through which one expects to achieve a goal...

 of a plant, which is installed by industrial engineers to improve the efficiency

Efficiency

Efficiency in general describes the extent to which time or effort is well used for the intended task or purpose. It is often used with the specific purpose of relaying the capability of a specific application of effort to produce a specific outcome effectively with a minimum amount or quantity of...

 by arranging equipment according to their functions. In this layout

Layout

Layout may refer to:* Page layout** Comprehensive layout** In computer graphics, another name for a scene used to render 2D/3D graphics or animation* Layout , software that automatically calculates the positions of objects...

, the main idea is to arrange or gather machines or equipments of the same function into one group or department.

Important facts:

1. It is a flexible layout
2. It is excellent for low to medium production quantity
3. It is excellent for medium to high production variation
4. The workers should be skilled and qualified
5. It has a high work in process
   Work in process
   Work in process or in-process inventory includes the set at large of unfinished items for products in a production process. These items are not yet completed but either just being fabricated or waiting in a queue for further processing or in a buffer storage...
   
   
6. Its main disadvantage is the low production
   Manufacturing
   Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
   
   rate.

Effective Process Layout

1. Minimize material handling costs

2. Utilize space efficiently

3. Utilize labor efficiently

4. Eliminate bottlenecks

5. Facilitate communication and interaction between workers, workers and supervisors

6. Eliminate waste or redundant material

7. Promote product and service and quality

8. Provide a visual control of activities

Further reading

• S.N. Chary (2006). Production and Operations Management. McGraw Hill. ISBN 9780070583559