2.

Plant Layout Design and Ergonomics

Discus points:
• Basics of plant layout
• Study of plant layout
• Ergonomics
• Industrial Safety

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 Introduction
 To make a decision about layout planning, 4 different
questions must have an answer:
• Which centers do we have to consider?

• How much space and capacity is required for each center?

• How must the space be configured at each center?

• Where should each center be located at within the facility?

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 Facility Layout
o A facility layout is an arrangement of everything
needed for production of goods or delivery of
services.
o A facility is an entity that facilitates the
performance of any job.
• It may be a machine tool, a work center, a
manufacturing cell, a shop, a department, a
warehouse, etc. (Heragu, 1997).

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 Objectives of Plant Layout
 The main objective consists of organizing equipment and
working areas in the most efficient way, and at the same time
satisfactory and safe for the personnel doing the work.
 Sense of Unity: The feeling of being a unit pursuing the same
objective. Minimum Movement of people, material and
resources.
 Safety : In the movement of materials and personnel work flow.
 Flexibility : In designing the plant layout taking into account
the changes over short and medium terms in the production
process and manufacturing volumes.

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 Factors affecting Plant Layout
o The final solution for a Plant Layout has to take into account a
balance among the characteristics and considerations of all
factors affecting plant layout, in order to get the maximum
advantages.
o The Factors affecting plant layout can be grouped into 8
categories:
• Materials
• Machinery
• Labor
• Material Handling
• Waiting Time
• Auxiliary Services
• The building
• Future Changes 5
 1. Materials
• The layout of the productive equipment will depend on the
characteristics of the product to be managed at the facility, as well
as the different parts and materials to work on.

• Main factor to be considered: size, shape, volume, weight, and the

physical-chemical characteristics, since they influence the
manufacturing methods and storage and material handling
processes.

• The sequence and order of the operations will affect plant layout
as well, taking into account the variety and quantity to produce.

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 2- Machinery
• Having information about the processes, machinery, tools and
necessary equipment, as well as their use and requirements is
essential to design a correct layout.
• The methods and time studies to improve the processes are
closely linked to the plant layout.
• Regarding machinery, we have to consider the type, total
available for each type, as well as type and quantity of tools
and equipment.
• It’s essential as well to know about space required, shape,
height, weight, quantity and type of workers required, risks for
the personnel, requirements of auxiliary services, etc. 7
 3. Labor
• Labor has to be organized in the production process (direct
labor, supervision and auxiliary services).
• Environment considerations: employees‟ safety light
conditions, ventilation, temperature, noise, etc.
• Process considerations: personnel qualifications, flexibility,
number of workers required at a given time as well as the
type of work to be performed by them.
4- Material Handling
• Material handling does not add value to the product; It’s
just waste.
• Objective: combining eliminating Minimize material
handling as well as with other operations when possible,
unnecessary and costly movements. 8
 5. Waiting time - Stock

• Objective: Continuous material flow through the facility,

avoiding the cost of waiting time and demurrages that
happen when the flow stops.
• On the other hand, the material waiting to flow through
the facility sometimes improving not always provides
customer represents a cost to avoid. As stock safety
service, to protect production, allowing more economic
batches, etc.
o It’s necessary then to consider space for the required
stock at the facility when designing the layout.
• Resting time to cool down or heating up…
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 6. Auxiliary Services
 Support the main production activities at the plant:
 Related to labor: Accessibility paths, fire protection
installations, supervision, safety, etc.
 Related to material: quality control.
 Related to machinery: maintenance and electrical and
water lines.
 The auxiliary services represent around 30% of the space
at a facility. The space dedicated to auxiliary services is
usually considered as waste.
 It’s important to have efficient services to insure that
their indirect costs have been minimized.
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 7 . The building
• If it has been already selected, its characteristics will be a
constraint at the moment different if the building has of
designing the layout, which is to be built.
8. Future changes
• One of the main objectives of plant layout is flexibility.
• It’s important to forecast the future changes to avoid
having an inefficient plant layout in a short term.
• Flexibility can be reached keeping the original layout as
free as possible regarding fixed characteristics, and
variations allowing the adjustment to emergencies of the
normal process activities.
• Possible future extensions of the facility must be taken into
account, as well as the feasibility of production during re-
layout
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 Types of Plant Layout
• The production process normally determines the type
layout to be applied to the facility:
i. Fixed position plant layout : Product stays and resources
move to it.
ii. Product oriented plant layout : Machinery and Materials
are placed following the product path.
iii. Process oriented plant layout(Functional Layout):
Machinery is placed according to what they do and
materials go to them.
iv. Cell Layout :Hybrid Layout that tries to take advantage
of different layouts types.

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 1- Fixed-Position Layout
• A fixed-position layout consolidates the resources
necessary to manufacture a good or deliver a service,
such as people, materials, and equipment, in one
physical location.
• • The production of large items such as heavy machine
tools, airplanes, buildings, locomotives, and ships is
usually accomplished in a fixed-position layout.
2- Product oriented plant layout
 This type of plant layout is useful when the production
process is organized in a continuous or repetitive way.
 Continuous flow: The correct operations flow is reached
through the layout design and the equipment and
machinery specifications.
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 Repetitive flow (assembly line):The correct operations
flow will be based in a line balancing exercise, in order
to avoid problems.
 The plant layout generated by bottle necks. will be
based in allocating a machine as close as possible to the
next one in line, in the correct sequence to manufacture
the product.
Product oriented plant layout
Advantages:
• Reduced material handling activities.
• Work In Process almost eliminated.
• Minimum manufacturing time.
• Simplification of the production planning
• Tasks simplification.
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Disadvantages:
• No flexibility in the production process
• Low flexibility in the manufacturing times.
• High capital investment.
• Every workstation is critical to the process.- The
lack of personnel or shut down of a machine
stops the whole process.
• Monotonous work.

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Product Layout for Wine Manufacturing

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 3- Process oriented plant layout (Functional Layout)
• This type of plant layout is useful when the production process
is organized in batches.
• Personnel and equipment to perform the same function are
allocated in the same area.
• The different items have to move from one area to another one,
according to the sequence of operations previously established.
• The variety of products to produce will lead to a diversity of
flows through the facility.
• The variations in the production volumes from one period to
the next one (short periods of time) may lead to modifications
in the manufactured quantities as well as the types of products
to be produced.

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Process Layout for a Machine Shop

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 4. Cellular Layout
• In a cellular layout the design is not according to the functional
characteristics of equipment, but rather by self-contained
groups of equipment (called cells), needed for producing a
particular set of goods or services.
• Group technology, or cellular manufacturing, classifies parts
into families designed Cellular so that efficient mass-
production-type layouts can be for the families of goods or
services.
• Cellular layouts are used to centralize people expertise and
equipment capability. Examples: groups of producing families
of different equipment goods or services, (called cells) group
legal specialties needed for (labor law, bankruptcy, divorce,
etc.) or medical (maternity, oncology, surgery, etc.).
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Cellular Manufacturing Layout

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 Ergonomics
Discussion Points
 What do we mean by Ergonomics?
 Why do we study Ergonomics?
 What are the environmental factors that affect
the productivity of workers?

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• Ergonomics is the study of the interaction
between people and machines and the factors
that affect the interaction.
• The name ‘’ergonomics’’ comes from the Greek
words ‘’ergon’’ , which means work and ‘’nomos’’
which means law.
• In ergonomics, absenteeism, injury, poor quality
and unacceptably high levels of human error are
seen as system problems rather than ‘’people’’
problems.
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• Ergonomics can also be defined as “ a branch of
science that is concerned with the achievement of
optimal relationship between workers and their work
environment.”
• It deals with
Assessment of human capabilities and limitations
(biomechanics and anthropometry)
 Work and Environmental stresses (work physiology and
industrial psychology) Static and dynamic forces on the
human body (Biomechanics), etc.
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Ergonomics – Contributing Disciplines

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Ergonomics - Objectives

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Ergonomics Vs Human Factors
• Human factors is synonymous with ergonomics
• Ergonomics emphasizes work physiology and
anthropometry
–Europe : industrial work systems
• Human factors emphasizes experimental
psychology systems engineering
–U.S. : military work systems.
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 Methods Engineering vs Ergonomics
 Emphasis in Methods  Emphasis in Ergonomics and
Engineering Human Factors
• Efficiency • Safety

• Cost reduction • Comfort

• Labor reduction • Interaction between human and

• Workplace layout equipment

• Facility layout • Workplace environment

• Elimination of waste • Fitting the work to the individual

• “One best way” • Reduction of human errors

• Accident avoidance
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 Ergonomics Application Areas

• Work system design

 Objectives: safety accident avoidance, improved
functional performance
Also includes environment such as lighting .
• Product design
Objectives: safety, comfort, user-friendly, mistake
proof, avoidance of liability lawsuits

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 Ergonomists : What They Do
 Research on human capabilities and limitations
 Discover the characteristics of human performance, e.g., how
much can an average worker lift?
 Design and engineering applications
 Use the research findings to design better methods
tools and work .
Human-Machine Systems
• Defined as a combination of humans and equipment interacting to
achieve some desired result
• Types of human-machine systems:
1. Manual systems
2. Mechanical systems
3. Automated systems
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Human-Machine Interactions

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System Components
– The human
– The equipment
– The environment
Human Components
• Human senses - to sense the operation
o Vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell
• Human brain - for information processing
o Thinking, planning, calculating, making decisions,
solving problems
• Human effectors - to take action
o Fingers, hands, feet, and voice
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 Machine Components
The process – function or operation performed by human- machine system
Displays - to observe the process
–Direct observation for simple processes
–Artificial displays for complex processes
Controls - to actuate and regulate the process
–Steering wheel, computer keyboard.
Environmental Components
• Physical environment
o Location and surrounding lighting, noise, temperature, and
humidity
• Social environment
o Co-workers and colleagues at work
o Immediate supervisors
o Organizational culture
o Pace of work 32
 Types of Ergonomics
Physical Ergonomics
 How the human body functions during physical
exertion
• Physiology - vital processes carried out by living
organisms and how their constituent tissues and cells
function
 How physical dimensions of the body affect
capabilities of worker
• Anthropometry – physical dimensions of the human
body

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 Cognitive Ergonomics
• Concerned with the capabilities of the human brain and sensory
system while performing information activities
• Human cognitive processes include:
– Sensing and perception
– Use of memory
– Response selection and execution processing
Occupational Ergonomics
• Occupational ergonomics strives to review work systems and
modify them to minimize occupational stresses.
• Ergonomic principles can be used in the following areas:
1. Design, modification, replacement and maintenance of
equipment.
2. Design and modification of work methods .
3. Controlling physical factors
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 Work Place Stress Factors
1. Complexity and number of tools used in the workplace
2. Unnatural environmental conditions
3. Physical and mental workload
Work Place Stress Factors
Occupational Factors Affecting the Worker
1. Environnemental Conditions (temperature, illumination, noise, …)
2. The physical and mental requirements of the job
3. The worker’s exposure to hazardous materials
4. The interaction between the worker and the environment.
Anatomical Positions
 Anatomy – concerned with body structures (muscles, tendons,
bones, ligaments, etc.)
 Physiology – deals with the body functions (metabolism,
respiration, nerve systems, temperature regulations, muscle
mechanisms, etc.)
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 Anatomical Positions

Figure: Human body in anatomical position 36

 Anatomical Positions

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Figure: Reference planes
 Home Work
1. Write physical dimensions of the your body (Anthropometry)

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Name:--------------------------- ID:---------- Stream:-----------
Department :---------------- Age:------- Gender:----------
1. Stature(S) or height (H) : ---------- cm
2. Sitting height (SH) : ---------- cm
3. Sitting to shoulder height (SSH) : ---------- cm
4. Buttocks to popliteal length (BPL) : ---------- cm
5. Popliteal height (PH) : ---------- cm
6. Shoulder breadth (SB) : ---------- cm
7. Hip breadth seated (HB) : ---------- cm
8. Buttock-knee length (BKL) : ---------- cm
9. Knee height (KH) : ---------- cm
10. Thigh thickness(TT) : ---------- cm
11. Sitting elbow height(SHE) : ---------- cm
12. Shoulder-elbow length (SEL) : ---------- cm
13. Elbow-fingertip length(EFL: ---------- cm
……….. //…………
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