Types of Facility layouts

Basic Layout Types

1. Fixed Material Location Departments

In the case of fixed material location departments the workstations are brought to the material. It is used in aircraft assembly, shipbuilding, and most construction projects. The layout of the fixed material location department involves the sequencing an placement of workstations around the material or product.

2. Production Line Departments

The layout for a production line department is based on the processing sequence for the part(s) being produced on the line. Materials typically flow from one workstation directly to the next adjacent one. Nice, well-planned flow paths generally result in this high-volume environment (product layouts).

3. Product Family Departments

The layout for a product family department is based on the grouping of parts to form product families. No identical parts may be grouped into families based on common processing sequences, shapes, material composition, tooling requirements, handling/storage/control requirements, and so on.

4. Process Departments

The layout for a process department is obtained by grouping like processes together and placing individual process departments relative to one another based on flow between the departments.