Operations Management: Processes and Supply Chains, 12th Edition

Designing Lean System Layouts

Line flows are recommended in designing lean system layouts because they eliminate waste by reducing the frequency of setups. If volumes of specific products are large enough, groups of machines and workers can be organized into a line-flow layout to eliminate setups entirely. In a service setting, managers of back-office service processes can similarly organize their employees and equipment to provide uniform work flows through the process and, thereby, eliminate wasted employee time. Banks use this strategy in their check-processing operations, as does UPS in its parcel-sorting process.

When volumes are not high enough to justify dedicating a single line of multiple workers to a single customer type or product, ...