Plant Layout: Concept, Objectives, Principles and Types

Plant Layout: Concept, Objectives, Principles and Types
Concept of Plant Layout:
The concept of plant layout may be described as follows:
Plant layout is a plan for effective utilisation of facilities for the manufacture of products;
involving a most efficient and economical arrangement of machines, materials,
personnel, storage space and all supporting services, within available floor space.
Definition: Plant layout refers to the arrangement of physical facilities such as

machines, equipment, tools, furniture etc. in such a manner so as to have quickest flow
of material at the lowest cost and with the least amount of handling in processing the
product from the receipt of raw material to the delivery of the final product.
Certain useful observations on the concept of plant layout are as follows:
(i) Plant layout is very complex in nature; because it involves concepts relating to such
fields as engineering, architecture, economics and business management.
(ii) Most of managers now realize that after the site for plant location is selected; it is
better to develop the layout and build the building around it – rather than to construct
the building first and then try to fit the layout into it.
Objectives/Advantages /Principles of Plant Layout:
While designing the plant layout, the following principles must be kept in view:
(i) Principle of Minimum Movement: Materials and labour should be moved over
minimum distances; saving cost and time of transportation and material handling.
(ii) Principle of Space Utilization: All available cubic space should be effectively
utilized – both horizontally and vertically.
(iii) Principle of Flexibility: Layout should be flexible enough to be adaptable to

changes required by expansion or technological development.
(iv) Principle of Interdependence: Interdependent operations and processes

should be located in close proximity to each other; to minimize product travel.
(v) Principle of Overall Integration: All the plant facilities and services should be
fully integrated into a single operating unit; to minimize cost of production.
(vi) Principle of Safety: There should be in-built provision in the design of layout, to
provide for comfort and safety of workers.
(vii) Principle of Smooth Flow: The layout should be so designed as to reduce work
bottlenecks and facilitate uninterrupted flow of work throughout the plant.
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(viii) Principle of Economy: The layout should aim at effecting economy in terms of
investment in fixed assets.
(ix) Principle of Supervision: A good layout should facilitate effective supervision

over workers.
(x) Principle of Satisfaction: A good layout should boost up employee morale, by

providing them with maximum work satisfaction.
TYPES OF LAYOUT:
There are mainly four types of plant layout:
(a) Product or line layout
(b) Process or functional layout
(c) Fixed position or location layout
(d) Combined or group layout
Types of Plant Layout:
Two basic plans of the arrangement of manufacturing facilities are – product layout and
process layout. The only other alternative is a combination of product and process
layouts, in the same plant.
Following is an account of the various types of plant layout:
(a) Product Layout (or Line Layout):
In this type of layout, all the machines are arranged in the sequence, as required to
produce a specific product. It is called line layout because machines are arrange in a
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straight line. The raw materials are fed at one end and taken out as finished product to
the other end.
Special purpose machines are used which perform the required jobs (i.e. functions)
quickly and reliably.
The material moves to another machine sequentially without any backtracking or

deviation i.e the output of one machine becomes input of the next machine. It requires
a very little material handling.
It is used for mass production of standardized products.
Product layout is depicted below:
Advantages:
1. Reduced material handling cost due to mechanized handling systems and straight flow
2. Perfect line balancing which eliminates bottlenecks and idle capacity.
3. Short manufacturing cycle due to uninterrupted flow of materials
4. Simplified production planning and control; and simple and effective inspection of
work.
5. Small amount of work-in-progress inventory
6. Lesser wage cost, as unskilled workers can learn and manage production.
Disadvantages:
1. Lack of flexibility of operations, as layout cannot be adapted to the manufacture of

any other type of product.
2. Large capital investment, because of special purpose machines.
3. Dependence of whole activity on each part; any breakdown of one machine in the
sequence may result in stoppage of production.
4. Same machines duplicated for manufacture of different products; leading to high

overall operational costs.
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5. Delicate special purpose machines require costly maintenance / repairs.
Suitability of product layout:
Product layout is suitable in the following cases:
1. Where one or few standardized products are manufactured.
2. Where a large volume of production of each item has to travel the production process,
over a considerable period of time.
3. Where time and motion studies can be done to determine the rate of work.
4. Where a possibility of a good balance of labour and equipment exists.
5. Where minimum of inspection is required, during sequence of operations.
6. Where materials and products permit bulk or continuous handling by mechanical

parts.
7. Where minimum of set-ups are required.
(b) Process Layout (or Functional Layout):
In this type of layout, all machines performing similar type of operations are grouped at
one location i.e. all lathes, milling machines etc. are grouped in the shop and they will
be clustered in like groups.
This type of layout is used for batch production. It is preferred when the product is
not standardized and the quantity produced is very small.
A typical process layout is depicted below:
Advantages:
1. Greater flexibility with regard to work distribution to machinery and personnel.

Adapted to frequent changes in sequence of operations.
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2. Lower investment due to general purpose machines; which usually are less costly
than special purpose machines.
3. Higher utilisation of production facilities; which can be adapted to a variety of

products.
4. Variety of jobs makes the work challenging and interesting.
5. Breakdown of one machine does not result in complete stoppage of work.
Disadvantages:
1. Mechanisation of material handling is not possible. Material handling costs are high
due to backtracking (rechecking)
2. Production planning and control is difficult
3. More space requirement; as work-in-progress inventory is high-requiring greater
storage space.
4. As the work has to pass through different departments; it is quite difficult to trace
the responsibility for the finished product.
5. More skilled labour is required resulting in higher cost.
6. More frequent inspection is needed which results in costly supervision
Suitability of process layout:
Process layout is suitable in the following cases, where:
1. Non-standardised products are manufactured; as the emphasis is on special orders.
2. It is difficult to achieve good labour and equipment balance.
3. Production is not carried on a large scale.
4. It is difficult to undertake adequate time and motion studies.
5. It is frequently necessary to use the same machine or work station for two or more
difficult operations.
6. During the sequence of operations, many inspections are required.
7. Process may have to be brought to work, instead of “vice-versa”; because materials

or products are too large or heavy to permit bulk or continuous handling by mechanical
means.
(c) Combination Layout:

A combination of process & product layout is known as combined layout.
Manufacturing concerns where several products are produced in repeated numbers with
no likelihood of continuous production, combined layout is followed.
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In practice, plants are rarely laid out either in product or process layout form. Generally
a combination of the two basic layouts is employed; to derive the advantages of both
systems of layout. For example, refrigerator manufacturing uses a combination layout.
Process layout is used to produce various operations like stamping, welding, heat
treatment being carried out in different work centres as per requirement. The final
assembly of the product is done in a product type layout.
(d) Fixed Position Layout:
It is also called stationary layout. In this type of layout men, materials and machines are
brought to a product that remains in one place owing to its size. Ship-building, air-craft
manufacturing, wagon building, heavy construction of dams, bridges, buildings etc. are
typical examples of such layout.
The movement of men and machines is advisable as the cost of moving them would be
lesser.
Advantages of Fixed position layout:

The investment on layout is very small.
The layout is flexible as change in job design and operation sequence can be easily
incorporated.
Adjustments can be made to meet shortage of materials or absence of workers by
changing the sequence of operations.
Disadvantages of Fixed position layout:

As the production period being very long so the capital investment is very high.
Very large space is required for storage of material and equipment near the product.
As several operations are often carried out simultaneously so there is possibility of
confusion and conflicts among different workgroups.
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Plant Layout: Concept, Objectives, Principles and Types

Concept of Plant Layout:

The concept of plant layout may be described as follows:

Definition: Plant layout refers to the arrangement of physical facilities such as

Certain useful observations on the concept of plant layout are as follows:

Objectives/Advantages /Principles of Plant Layout:

(iii) Principle of Flexibility: Layout should be flexible enough to be adaptable to

(iv) Principle of Interdependence: Interdependent operations and processes

(ix) Principle of Supervision: A good layout should facilitate effective supervision

(x) Principle of Satisfaction: A good layout should boost up employee morale, by

There are mainly four types of plant layout:

(a) Product or line layout

(b) Process or functional layout

(c) Fixed position or location layout

(d) Combined or group layout

Types of Plant Layout:

Following is an account of the various types of plant layout:

(a) Product Layout (or Line Layout):

The material moves to another machine sequentially without any backtracking or

Product layout is depicted below:

2. Perfect line balancing which eliminates bottlenecks and idle capacity.

3. Short manufacturing cycle due to uninterrupted flow of materials

5. Small amount of work-in-progress inventory

1. Lack of flexibility of operations, as layout cannot be adapted to the manufacture of

2. Large capital investment, because of special purpose machines.

4. Same machines duplicated for manufacture of different products; leading to high

Suitability of product layout:

Product layout is suitable in the following cases:

1. Where one or few standardized products are manufactured.

4. Where a possibility of a good balance of labour and equipment exists.

5. Where minimum of inspection is required, during sequence of operations.

6. Where materials and products permit bulk or continuous handling by mechanical

7. Where minimum of set-ups are required.

(b) Process Layout (or Functional Layout):

A typical process layout is depicted below:

1. Greater flexibility with regard to work distribution to machinery and personnel.

3. Higher utilisation of production facilities; which can be adapted to a variety of

4. Variety of jobs makes the work challenging and interesting.

5. Breakdown of one machine does not result in complete stoppage of work.

Suitability of process layout:

Process layout is suitable in the following cases, where:

1. Non-standardised products are manufactured; as the emphasis is on special orders.

2. It is difficult to achieve good labour and equipment balance.

3. Production is not carried on a large scale.

4. It is difficult to undertake adequate time and motion studies.

6. During the sequence of operations, many inspections are required.

7. Process may have to be brought to work, instead of “vice-versa”; because materials

(c) Combination Layout:

(d) Fixed Position Layout:

Advantages of Fixed position layout:

Disadvantages of Fixed position layout:

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