Product layout is the type of resource arrangement where all machines, tools, and other equipment are located depending on the produced product. The product-centered layout is often represented as a large-scale assembly line, where the product goes down the line from one station to another (Stevenson, 2014). The process layout focuses on the way the products are produced, and similar equipment gets grouped together (Stevenson, 2014). The facilities for custom jobs appear to be ideal for process layout but may lack efficiency to gather different types of products compared to product layout. A fixed-position layout presents manufacturing with fixed stations where the equipment is brought to (Stevenson, 2014). It is useful in producing products that lack mobility like airplanes but is much less effective and more resource-intensive compared to product or process layouts. A combination layout can be described as a layout combining the advantages of both process and product layouts. It allows for producing products in different types and sizes by combining various types of manufacturing. The single layout is rarely used exclusively in one production line, making combined layout one of the most spread and effective ways of facility design.
The cellular layout is the type of facility planning where the equipment is grouped according to the performed function for a set of similar products. Such processes’ planning technique is also known as group technology (Stevenson, 2014). The different combination of cells allows for creating a unique assembly that either work on producing a specific element or the final product itself. The advantages of the following layout are faster setup and processing time and less material handling. It also increases workers’ flexibility and motivation since such facility planning gives more autonomy to cells that comprise cellular layout.
Reference
Stevenson, W. J. (2014). Operations management. McGraw-Hill Education.