Factory Layout Design

Factory layout design is the process of arranging and organizing elements of a manufacturing facility. Physical spaces, equipment, machinery, workstation, materials, and people are some of the elements of a manufacturing facility.

Following points is to be considered while designing the factory layout design;

• Smooth and efficient movement of man and materials
• Safety and security
• Production flow
• Allocation of actually what is needed as per the requirement

In this article we are going to discuss following points related to factory layout design. Our focus will be on how to design, how much dimensions to give, how many no of exits, what should be the aisle width, etc. Let’s get started.

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When to design a factory layout

Following are the situations when you need to design a factory layout;

New Manufacturing Facility : When anyone starts business. The business owner will buy empty land. Here we should know how to start flow of the factory, if the production is planned in a huge quantity, #of buildings should be constructed for Warehouse, Production and FG separately or combinedly in 1 building. The flow of the factory should be designed.

Here the work will be done by civil engineers, but the plan should be done by IE, CI or Lean. Here lean management team should have excellent knowledge on product to provide these insights while starting of Factory. This is when you need to design the layout.

Facility Expansion : With the increase of production capacity, business tends to increase the production buildings to meet Customer requirements.

Introduction of new products : Whenever a new product is introduced, it needs an additional space and work station. For this the existing layout to be edited or optimized to accommodate this new product. Initially, its better to check the possibility of combining new product line with existing ones, to save resources and hence cost.

Process Improvements : Whenever there is a change in the process there may be a change in the layout. But, all process improvements do not require layout change.

Changes include addition of an operation or work station, its elimination or change in location.

Safety Improvements : In the same way, we will rearrange the layout if there is any improvements in the safety perspective. Some of the changes may include, addition of an emergency exit, change in fire extinguisher location, addition of fire extinguisher, addition of an emergency exit, etc.

Ergonomics improvements : Ergonomics considers the comfort of the operator. Any improvements in ergonomics shall also be reflected in the layout. This include change in the location of storage of raw materials for assembly or providing additional storage facility for an item which improves the ergonomics

Changes in demand : Suppose demand for a item in your factory is doubled. You may not be able to fulfil the requirement with your existing assembly lines. You need to provide additional line. Hence the layout change.

Changes in Equipment : Ange changes in the equipment due to Upgradation or replacement, shall be reflected in the layout.

What all to be considered while designing a layout

Following points to be considered while designing a factory layout. Let’s discuss one by one.

No of Workstations or Equipment/Machineries

Only provide optimum no of workstations or equipment according to the requirement. Optimum numbers can be calculated from process cycle time and demand.

Facility Details

Facility details ( Dimension, Exits). Define the layout whether it is for production or not. If Production, what product we produce in the building. How many floors we design, Total Building Dimensions, distance between pillar to pillar and length and width of each pillar.