Facility planning (land, buildings, equipment, furnishings) provides the physical capability to add value.
Facilities are expensive. Their lifetime is in decades. They take years to commission. By their nature, they are one of the most important strategic elements of a business enterprise. This is why facility design and the strategic thinking that should precede it are so important.
Many symptoms of inappropriate business architecture appear as layout or material handling issues.
A properly designed facility is an important source of competitive advantage. It can:
These are examples of what Wickham Skinner called "Key Manufacturing Tasks."
The Lean Facility
Layout is an integral part of a Lean Manufacturing Strategy. Meaningful re-structuring requires corresponding physical changes in the layout.
Conversely, a layout re-design can be the catalyst for re-structuring. A layout project, properly done, can demonstrate the need for change to an organization reluctant to tear itself apart and rebuild.
Facility Planning Series
The links below take you to a series of pages that summarize the basics of Facility Planning and Plant Layout.
Four fundamental facility elements go into every layout or spaceplan--
Levels of Detail help organize facility planning into manageable sub-projects. Each sub-project has a series of tasks that the design team must complete. The tasks and their sequence differ for each level.
These levels are:
Every layout has four fundamental elements: Space Planning Units (SPUs), Affinities, Space and Constraints. These fundamental elements apply to any size facility and at any level.
Just as a few chemical elements give rise to an infinite number of compounds, the four layout elements and their variations can produce an almost infinite number of factory layouts.
The figure below shows how these elements combine to produce a layout or space plan.
Factory layout is the focal point of facility design. It dominates the thinking of most managers. But factory layout is only one of several detail levels. At Strategos, we find it useful to think of facility planning at five levels:
At the Global level, we select a site location. This involves factors such as freight cost, labor cost, skill availability and site focus.
At the Supra-Layout level we plan the site. This includes number, size, and location of buildings. It includes infrastructure such as roads, water, gas and rail. This plan should look ahead to plant expansions and eventual site saturation
The Macro-Layout plans each building, structure or other sub-unit of the site. Operating departments are defined and located at this level. Frequently, this is the most important level of planning. A Macro-Layout institutionalizes the fundamental organizational structure in steel and concrete.
The Micro Level IV determines the location of specific equipment and furniture. The emphasis shifts from gross material flow to personal space and communication. Socio-Technical considerations dominate.
The sub micro level focuses on individual workers. Here we design workstations for efficiency, effectiveness and safety. Ergonomics is key.
Ideally, the design progresses from Global to Sub-Micro in distinct, sequential phases. At the end of each phase, the design is "frozen" by consensus.
Companies often occupy a site for decades and, occasionally, for centuries. During such time spans a firm may experience growth and significant changes in product and process.
A well thought out site plan accommodates such changes while maximizing the utilization of land, buildings and capital. Conversely, a site that develops piecemeal and from expediency hinders operations, increases cost and devours capital unnecessarily.
Effective site plans arise from methodical, rational design procedures. Chapter 6 of Mr. Lee's book, "Facilities and Workplace Design" details these procedures. This book is available as a free download.
While it is impossible to see clearly decades into the future, it is surprising how much we can see and how well we can plan. The key is to develop plans that are flexible enough to take advantage of unforeseen opportunities and address unforeseen problems.
The elements of factory layout are simple; the tasks required to develop them is not.
These tasks and their sequence are remarkably similar for many projects. The scope, resources, methods, formality and time required varies according to size and complexity, but each task must be addressed in some way for good results.
Our methodology uses 25 standard tasks with modifications to suit particular projects. The figure below illustrates the tasks and their sequence. This is a "Model" for structuring the work in almost any macro-layout project..
The initial tasks (labeled "Information") plan the project and acquire basic information. These tasks also help to gain consensus and establish a factual basis for the layout. Process Mapping is an important tool here.
These initial tasks also begin the process of paradigm shift. The facts and information gathered and presented are often surprising. We use them to jolt the organization out of its complacency and tendency to "groupthink
The second category ("Strategy") is only a single task. This is arguably the most important task but usually the most neglected. It determines the process and organization of the business. This is where management abandons the past and seriously re-thinks the manufacturing structure
The third task group designs the spatial layout and associated systems. This is what most people consider as "Plant Layout". While this task group appears complex, it is actually straightforward-- IF the previous task groups have been well done.
This procedure produces at least several viable layouts. Each layout has advantages and disadvantages. The final task evaluates the layout options and makes a selection.
The entire procedure can take as little as two weeks or as long as six months. The time depends on project complexity and the strategic orientation of management
Workcells and Cellular Manufacturing are at the heart of Lean Manufacturing. Their benefits are many and varied. They increase productivity and quality. Cells simplify material flow, management and even accounting systems.
Workcells appear simple. But beneath this deceptive simplicity are sophisticated Socio- Technical Systems. Proper functioning depends on subtle interactions of people and equipment. Each element must fit with the others in a smoothly functioning, self-regulating and self-improving operation.
Proper design of manufacturing workcells is an engineering problem. Like any other engineering design, it proceeds through a logical sequence of steps. At each step, the designers make compromises between conflicting requirements or technical limitations.
Doing it well requires a deep and profound knowledge of the elements of a workcell, their functions, and their interactions.
Unfortunately, many practitioners fail to recognize this. A desire for instant solutions exacerbates the situation. As a result, many manufacturers fail, create sub-optimum cells, or produce negative unintended consequences.
The links at right outline the major tasks of cell design and their associated steps. An experienced designer performs many of these steps informally or just mentally. The process is not as complex or lengthy as the charts indicate. However, failure to perform a step results in design by accident, a risky proposition.
At the level of workstation design, Ergonomics and Motion Economy dominate the design. Motion Economy maximizes individual productivity by making tasks faster and easier. Ergonomics optimizes the integration of people with equipment. It also ensures that workers can perform the task with minimal risk of injury.
The figure below shows the tasks required to properly design a workstation along with their sequence
Task 05.02 is information acquisition. The designer needs information on products, processes, equipment, tools, components and other items.
The next task group defines the process and allocate functions to machines or people. This is where automation and mechanization decisions are made
The final task group places elements into a spatial arrangement. It parallels tasks at other levels of plant layout
An experienced designer performs many of these steps informally or mentally. The process is not as complex or lengthy as the charts indicate. However, failure to perform a step results in design by accident, a risky proposition
