Operations Management: An Integrated Approach, 5th Edition

FACILITY LAYOUT WITHIN OM: HOW IT ALL FITS TOGETHER

As you have learned in this chapter, layout decisions are directly related to issues of product design and process selection (Chapter 3). The company's process dictates the type of layout the company will have. In turn, facility layout decisions are linked with a number of other operations decisions. One such issue is that of job design, as process layouts tend to require greater worker skills than do product layouts (Chapter 11). Another issue is the degree of automation, as product layouts tend to be more capital intensive and use more automation compared to process layouts (Chapter 3). Layout decisions are also affected by implementation of just-in-time (JIT) systems, which dictate a line flow and the use of group technology (GT) cells (Chapter 7). As layout decisions specify the flow of goods through the facility, they impact all other aspects of operations management.