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Supplement
K Layout
TEACHING TIP
Point out that layout is a necessary tactical decision to implement the strategic choices made
during process structuring.
• Human and capital resources used by processes at an operation that must be arranged
physically within their facilities.
• One approach to layout design seeks to give form to process structure. The objective is to
position those operations close together that have strong interactions between them. It
involves three basic steps, whether the design is for a new layout or for revising an existing
layout.
1. Step 1: Gather Information
1. Space requirements (by operation)
a. Tie space requirements to capacity and staffing plans.
b. Calculate specific equipment and space needs for each operation
c. Add “circulation” space such as aisles.
d. Consult with the managers and employees involved
2. Closeness factors
a. Which items need to be close to each other, and which should not be close to each other?
b. Closeness Matrix: A table that gives the relative importance of each pair of centers being
located close together.
c. Closeness factors are indicators of the need for proximity based on an analysis of
information flows and the need for face-to-face meetings.
d. For the general case of n centers in a layout, there are n-1 closeness factors found either
in the row or column assigned to the center.
e. At a manufacturing plant, the closeness factor could be the number of trips between each
pair of operations per day.
3. Constraints
a. Absolute location criteria—departments fixed in place: relocation costs, foundations,
noise levels, and so forth.
2. Step 2: Develop a Block Plan
Most elementary way is trial and error, looking for patterns.
1. Weighted-distance method
a. Distance measures
• Euclidean distance is the straight-line, shortest distance between two points as the crow
flies, so to speak.
• Rectilinear distance assumes that the trip between two points is made with a series of 90°
turns.
2. Use Example K.1 Calculating the Weighted-Distance Score
3. Tutor 13.1 in MyLab Operations Management provides an example to calculate both Euclidean
and rectangular distance measures.
4. Active Model 13.1 in MyLab Operations Management allows evaluation of the impact of
swapping OBM departmental positions.
5. Distance Measures.
a. Use Application K.1:
What is the rectilinear distance between (20, 10) and (80, 60)?
110 6010 8020 =−+−=−+−= BABAAB yyxxd
b. Developing a Layout. Use Application K.2:
Matthews and Novak Design Company has been asked to design the layout for a newly
constructed office building of one of its clients. The closeness matrix showing the daily trips
between its six department offices is given below.
Departments
Trips between Departments
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
⎯
25
90
165
2
⎯
105
3
⎯
125
125
4
⎯
25
5
⎯
105
6
⎯
Shown below on the right is a block plan that has been suggested for the building
(original plan). Assume rectilinear distance. Students complete highlighted cells.
Department
Pair
Closeness
Factor
Distance
Score
3
6
1
1, 6
165
1
165
2
5
4
3, 5
125
2
250
3, 6
125
1
125
2, 5
105
1
105
5, 6
105
1
105
1, 3
90
2
180
1, 2
25
3
75
4, 5
25
1
25
Total
1030
Based on the above results, propose a better plan (students fill in the distance and score
columns), and evaluate it in terms of the load-distance score.
Department
Pair
Closeness
Factor
Distance
Score
4
6
1
1, 6
165
1
165
2
5
3
3, 5
125
1
125
3, 6
125
2
250
2, 5
105
1
105
5, 6
105
1
105
1, 3
90
1
90
1, 2
25
3
75
4, 5
25
2
50
Total
965
6. Evaluating Block Plans
a. Seek to minimize the weighted-distance (wd) score by locating centers that have high-
closeness ratings close together.
b. Use either of the distance measures and simply multiply the proximity scores by the distances
between centers.
c. The sum of those products becomes the layout’s final wd score—the lower the better.
d. The location of a center is defined by its x-coordinate and y-coordinate.
3. Step 3: Design a Detailed Layout
• Translate block design into a detailed representation
• More exact sizes, shapes, and detail; show aisles, stairs, machines, desks, and the like.
