Layout in Manufacturing and

Services
Layout

• The positioning of departments (or operations)

relative to each other is called layout.

The steps of layout design:

1. Gather information
2. Develop a block plan
3. Design a detailed layout
Step 1: Gather Information

Three types of information are needed to design a

revised layout:
1. Closeness factors or weights (W)
2. Distances (D) between departments
3. Constraints on the relative locations of departments
Step 2: Develop a Block Plan
Block Plan allocates available space to departments and indicates
their placement relative to each other.

Evaluation of Block Plans

– Minimize WD score by locating departments that have high
closeness ratings close together.
– Multiply W by D.
– The sum of multiplications becomes the layout’s final WD
score. The lower, the better.
Step 3: Design a Detailed Layout
• Translate block plan into a detailed representation
showing:
– Exact size and shape of each department
– Arrangement of elements within the department (e.g.,
desks, machines, etc.)
– Location of aisles, stairways, and other services
Example
The current Block Plan of a company is as follows:

Figure K.1: Current Block Plan

The closeness factors (W) are as follows:
(W)

Closeness factor (W) is measured by a scale from 0 to 10.

0= the least importance
10= the most importance
Assume that the following Block Plan is developed using trial
and error. Due to technical constraints, Departments 1 and 5
must be fixed in their current locations. How much Figure K.2 is
better than Figure K.1?.

Figure K.2: Proposed Block Plan

Solution
The following table lists pairs of departments for Figures K.1 and K.2
that have a nonzero closeness factor (W) and the distances (D) between
departments.

Figure K.1
Closeness Distance Figure K.1 Figure K.2 Figure K.2
Department Pair Factor (W) (D) WD score Distance (D) WD score
1, 2 3 1 3 2 6
1, 3 6 1 6 3 18
1, 4 5 3 15 1 5
1, 5 6 2 12 2 12
1, 6 10 2 20 1 10
2, 3 8 2 16 1 8
2, 4 1 2 2 1 1
2, 5 1 1 1 2 2
3, 4 3 2 6 2 6
3, 5 9 3 27 1 9
4, 5 2 1 2 1 2
5, 6 1 2 2 3 3
Blank Blank Blank Total 112 Blank Total 82
 Median method
• If we are given a set of existing facilities with their coordinates on plane and the movement
of materials from a new facility to all these existing facilities, then the objective is to determine
the optimal location for the new facility.

• The optimum -coordinate (-coordinate) location for the new facility is a median location. A
median location is defined to be a location such that no more than one half (0.5) the item
movement is to the left (below) of the new facility location and no more than one half (0.5) the
item movement is to the right (above) of the new facility location.
 Example
A new plant will supply raw materials to five existing plants. Consider the following table.

Existing plants (X,Y) coordinates

1
2
3
4
5

Furthermore, suppose that the number of tons of materials transported per year from the new
plant to plants 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are 450,1200,300, 800, and 1500, respectively. Determine
optimum location for the new plant such that the distance (cost) is minimized.
Solution
Let be the coordinate of the new plant.

1000

900 900

800 800

700

600

500 500
Y

400

300 300

200 Series1; 200

100

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

X
 The data of existing plants are ordered according to their -coordinate values. Next, the
weights (tons) are accumulated.

Cumulative
Existing Plants -coordinate Weight (tons) Weight
4 200 800 800
1 400 450 1250
2 800 1200 2450
3 1100 300 2750
5 1300 1500 4250
Total 4250 tons

The median location corresponds to a cumulative weight of . From the above table, the
corresponding -coordinate value is 800 as the cumulative weight first exceeds 2125 at .
 Similarly, the determination of Y-coordinate is shown below:

Existing Plant -coordinate Weight

1 200 450 450

5 300 1500 1950

2 500 1200 3150

3 800 300 3450

4 900 800 4250

Total 4250 tons

The median location on axis corresponding to the cumulative weight From the above table, the
corresponding -coordinate value is 500 as the cumulative weight first exceeds 2125 at . Hence, the
optimal -coordinate for the new facility is 500 .
Thus, the optimal .
Gravity location problem
The objective of gravity location is to locate a single new facility such that total material
handling cost is minimized. Let
Formulas:
Example
There are 5 existing facilities which will be served by a new facility. See the following
data:

Find the optimum location of new facility by gravity location method.

Solution
30

25 25

20 20

15
bi

10 Series1; 10

5 5 5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

ai
Euclidean distance location problem
Algorithm

where k is the iteration number and facility number.

Step 4. Repeat step 3 until no significant change occurs in the estimate of optimum
location for the new facility.
Example
Solution
In the above table, it is clear that for all k, we do not have . Hence, go to Step 2.
r1(x,y) is calculated as =100/[(21-5)^2+(14.5-10)^2]^1/2=6.016

r2(x,y) is calculated as =300/[(21-20)^2+(14.5-5)^2]^1/2=31.41

 Minimax location problem

• The objective is to locate a new facility in the X-Y plane such that the maximum distance
from the new facility to any existing facilities is minimized. This type of problem is called
Minimax location problem.

• Note that in this method we do not have wi.

Example
• In a foundry, there are 7 shops.

Shops Coordinates of centroids

(ai, bi)
1 10, 20

2 30, 40

3 10, 120

4 10, 60

5 30, 100

6 30, 140

7 20, 190

• The company wishes to locate a new fire fighting equipment in the foundry. Determine
location using minimax technique.
Solution
200
190
180

160

140 140

120 120

100 100
bi

80

60 60

40 40

20 20

0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35

ai