Floor Layout Design and Equipment Placement in Manufacturing Planning

This report details the principles and rationale behind effective floor layout design in a manufacturing setting, emphasizing functionality, space utilization, and process flow. The layout prioritizes the sequential arrangement of workstations based on the manufacturing process, from raw material reception to finished product delivery, ensuring minimal time wastage and efficient labor utilization. Equipment placement is strategically designed to achieve cellular manufacturing, facilitating smooth workflow and minimizing the time taken between manufacturing activities. The design also incorporates considerations for easy movement, maintenance access, and ventilation. This approach aims to optimize the manufacturing process by reducing clutter, ensuring tools and equipment are readily accessible, and streamlining the flow of materials and products through the various stages of production.

Unit 9 Manufacturing Planning and
Scheduling A/601/1480
Name
Course
Date

Floor layout
 The rationale and guiding principles for the floor layout
include functionality, space utilization, and the processes
involved in manufacture / production
 The main determinant of the floor layout is nature of
manufacturing
 Nature determines how various work stations are to be
placed
 The types of machines to use is also a consideration
 These served to influence overall design

Layout

Floor Plan Design
 The plant will be receiving raw materials as per
customer demand
 Hence the raw materials reception are is placed near the
factory entrance
 This ensures additional time and effort is not used in
moving the raw materials to where they are needed;
work can start as soon as the raw materials arrive
 The offices are located on a higher floor next to the
main entrance

Design for floor plan
 The next processes entail drying the wood particles
using air, and so this section is right next to the raw
materials receiving center
 The raw materials then need to be mixed, so the next
section is the high speed mixer
 The mixed products should then be placed in molds
and pre heated, so this is the next section
 From pre heating, the materials are taken to the main
heat pressing section

Floor Design
 Based on the process flows, the work stations are laid out in
sequential order reflecting the flow
 The cold press section is thus next to the heat press section
 There is then a work desk for placing the cold pressed
composite laminates
 The trimming station then follows this section, and finally the
drilling section.
 The assembly section is next, and assembly and inspection has
been combined into a single task to reduce wastes and enable
efficient labor utilization

Floor design
 Finished products section are next to the exit so no
time is wasted in loading and delivery
 The design is made to ensure easy movement of
people, with work stations located towards the walls
leaving an open space at the center.
 This is for ease of movement and access during
maintenance and servicing
 It also ensures free air flow and ventilation as well as
lighting

Reasoning for Equipment
Placement
The reason for placing the workstations, machinery, and their associated tools is to
achieve Cellular manufacturing
This entails arranging workstations and work area suitably to facilitate work-flow
In this case, the workstations are arranged to achieve the principle of Flow and ensure
smooth flow of work
The workstations, tools, and equipment are also arranged to follow the work process
plan
In addition, the equipment are placed to minimize time taken between manufacturing
activities and processes, especially time taken to move the product and components
from one workstation to the other
The arrangement is also underpinned by removal of clutter, and having tools and
equipment in a fixed location to minimize wastes in time and energy (for example,
moving raw materials to a further location before commencing manufacture)