OPERATIONAL LAYOUT

Operational Layout



Operational Layout

Introduction

Operations management is the fundamental guts on how a company operates. It is the ability to deliver products; it is the ability to source products; it is the ability to design services. It is everything that gets from manufacturer to the customer: from the suppliers, to the manufacturers, through the customer. That is operations management and every element of it. There are three production processes: make-to-order strategy, mass production (or make-to-stock strategy), and mass customization. With these processes, site selection is critical. They look at where their costs and shipping would be relatively low, nice areas with skilled workers close by, and locations with a favourable business climate. Once the demand is forecasted for the product, which is not easy to do, production capacity can be calculated (Hill, 2005, pp. 47).

"MicroPhilips" is a small national manufacturing company producing electrical parts. It had been working on a mass assembly basis using a product layout type set-up since production volume increased 2-3 years ago. Now the need is to produce increased volume with more efficiency, for which the operational layout needs a change. I would recommend the process layout to be the new operational layout strategy.

Process Layout

Process layout is when goods in process move from one workstation to another. These different workstations include workers or departments who specialized to perform the specific task they are assigned. While a process layout involves the use of specialized equipment, a product layout is when workers or departments are arranged on an assembly line to put together already-made products.

Process Layout is based on the work done by a department with the same machines and equipments which is used in different departments. Each department is specialized in the operation of production and machine related works which is gathered in the same place. The basic goals in developing a facility layout should be functionality and cost savings. Functionality includes placing the necessary departments, such as the operating and recovery rooms, close together. Functionality also includes keeping apart those departments which should not be together. Overall, functionality includes aspects of a layout which may not be immediately quantifiable, such as facilitating communication and improving staff morale (Dan Reid, 2007, pp. 23-24).

Process Layout is planning and integrating the paths of the parts of a product to obtain the most effective and economical interrelationship between human workers, equipment, and the movement of materials from receiving, through fabrication and assembly, to the dispatch of the finished product. Process layout may refer to an existing installation, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional plan, or the work involved in designing the most effective interrelationship between operating equipment and personnel, materials movement, storage facilities, service functions, and auxiliary equipment. Frequently, plant layout is thought of as dealing only with the careful and detailed planning of production equipment arrangement. However, this is actually only one phase of a very extensive series of interrelated activity areas making up a typical industrial plant layout (Hill, 1995, pp. 113-115).

In order to evaluate potential layouts, we use the criterion ...