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Facility Layout
Introduction:
Selecting a site does not complete all location considerations. After a site has been selected, the focus
narrows to the location of various functions inside the work facility. Locating functions within a
facility is usually called layout, plant layout, facility design or facility arrangement. Facility layout
means planning for the location of all machines, employee workstations, customer service areas,
material storage areas, and flow patterns of materials and people around, into and within buildings. It
is the spatial arrangement of physical resources used to create the product. The objective is to
arrange these elements in a way that ensures a smooth work flow (in a factory) or a particular traffic
pattern (in a service organization).
According to Sansonneti and Malick, plant layout is: (a) placing the right equipment (b) coupled with
the right method (c) in the right place (d) to permit the processing of a product unit in the most
effective manner (e) through the shortest possible distance (f) and the shortest possible time.

When is a Facility Layout Study Needed?

The need for a study of layout may arise for one or more reasons such as the following:
(a) A new facility may be needed to replace an outdated one.
(b) Existing goods or services may be redesigned.
(c) A new product or service is offered.
(d) A new process or method becomes available.
(e) A change in mix of goods or services is demanded.
(f) The volume of business changes.
Objectives of Facility Layout:
Objectives of Plant Layout include the following:
To utilize available space effectively and To facilitate entry, exit, and placement of
efficiently material, products, and people
To minimize materials-handling and To provide flexibility to adapt to changing
transportation costs conditions
To utilize labour efficiently To increase capacity
To reduce hazards to personnel To facilitate communication and interaction
To provide ease of supervision To reduce manufacturing cycle time
To reduce customer service time To eliminate wasted or redundant movement
To encourage proper maintenance activities To incorporate safety and security measures

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To promote product and service quality To eliminate bottlenecks

To provide a visual control of activities

Layout Planning:
Layout plans translate the broader decisions about the competitive priorities, process strategy,
quality, and capacity of its processes into actual physical arrangements of people, equipment, and
space. Before a manager can make decisions regarding physical arrangement, four questions must be
addressed.
1. What centers should the layout include? Centers should reflect process decisions and
maximize productivity. Foe example a customer information desk near the entrance of a bank
or hotel can better guide customers to the desired services.
2. How much space and capacity does each center need? Inadequate space can reduce
productivity, deprive employees of privacy, and even create safety hazards. However,
excessive space is wasteful, can reduce productivity and can isolate employees unnecessarily.
3. How should each center’s space be configured? The amount of space, its shape and the
elements in a center are interrelated.
4. Where should each center located? Location can significantly affect productivity. For
example employees who must frequently interact with one another face to face should be
placed in a central location rather than in separate, remote locations to reduce time lost
traveling back and forth.

Strategic Issues:
Layout choices can help immensely in communicating an organization’s product plan and
competitive priorities. Layout has many practical and strategic implications. Altering a layout can
affect an organization and how well it meets its competitive priorities in the following ways:
1. Increasing customer satisfaction and sales at a retail store.
2. Facilitating the flow materials and information
3. Increasing the efficient utilization of labour and equipment
4. Reducing hazards to workers
5. Improving employee morale
6. Improving communication

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Performance Criteria:
Other fundamental choices facing the layout planners concern performance criteria, which may
include one or more of the following factors:
1. Customer satisfaction
2. Level of capital investment
3. Requirements of materials handling
4. Ease of stock picking
5. Work environment and atmosphere
6. Ease of equipment maintenance
7. Employee and internal customer attitudes
8. Amount of flexibility needed
9. Customer convenience and level of sales.

Layout Types:
There are four basic types of facilities layout: functional, product, cellular and fixed position.
1. Functional/Process layouts:
Functional layouts are designed to process items or provide services that involve a variety of
processing requirements. A process layout is a format in which similar equipment or functions are
grouped together, such as all lathes in one area and all stamping machines in another. A part being
worked on then travels, according to the established sequence of operations, from area to area, where
the proper machines are located for each operation. This type of layout is typical of hospitals, for
example, where areas are dedicated to particular types of medical care, such as maternity wards and
intensive care units. Making arrangements of this type may be divided into three steps:
(a) Determining the size of each department.
(b) Determining the arrangement of the departments with respect to one another.
(c) Determining the arrangement of the equipment and people within each department
Advantages:
(1) Flexibility of equipment and personnel.
(2) Smaller investment in equipment because duplication is not necessary unless volume is
large.
(3) Expertise: Supervisors for each department become highly knowledgeable about their
functions
(4) Diversity of tasks: Work assignments make work more satisfying for people who prefer
variety.

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Disadvantages:
(1) Lack of materials handling efficiency: Backtracking and long movements may occur in the
handling of materials.
(2) Lack of efficiency in timing: Work must wait between tasks.
(3) Complication of production planning and control.
(4) Cost: Workers must have broad skills and must be paid higher wages than assembly-line
workers.
(5) Lowered productivity: Because each job is different it requires different setups and operator
leaning.
2. Product layouts:
A product layout is one in which equipment or work processes are arranged according to the
progressive steps by which the product is made. The path for each part is in effect, a straight line.
Product layout, thus, involves the arrangement of the necessary activities in some sort of line along
which the service receiver or product-in-process moves. Production lines for shoes, chemical plants
and car washes are all product layouts. This type of layout is called layout by product, production
line or assembly line layout. Product layout uses standardized processing operations to achieve
smooth, rapid, high-volumes flow.

Advantages:
(1) A high rate of output.
(2) Low unit cost due to high volume; the high cost of specialized equipment is spread over
many units.
(3) Labour specialization reduces training costs and time and results in a wide span of
supervision.
(4) Low materials handling cost per unit; materials handling is simplified because units follow
the same sequence of operations.
(5) A high utilization of labour and equipment.
(6) Routing and scheduling are established in the initial design of the system; they do not require
much attention once the system is operating.
(7) Accounting, purchasing, and inventory control are fairly routine.
(8) Reduced total processing time.
(9) Simplified production planning and control systems.
(10) Simplification of tasks, enabling unskilled workers to learn tasks quickly.

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Disadvantages:
(1) Lack of process flexibility: A change in product may require facility modification.
(2) Lack of flexibility in timing: The product cannot flow through the line faster than the
slowest task can be accomplished unless that task is performed at several stations.
(3) Large investment: Special purpose equipment is used and duplication is required to offset
lack of flexibility in timing.
(4) Dependence of the whole on each part: A breakdown of one machine or absence of enough
operators to staff all work stations may stop the entire line.
(5) Worker monotony: Workers may become bored by the endless repetition of simple tasks.

3. Fixed-position layouts:
For some types of operations, organizations choose to bring the necessary people, materials
and equipment to the item being produced or serviced. This method is called layout by fixed position
because the work item does not move from one operation to another. Fixed-position layout may be
used because the work item is too fragile, too bulky, too large, or too heavy to be moved without
complications.
Shipbuilding and Construction are good examples of work usually performed in a fixed
position. Large manufactured items such as airplanes and large computers may be assembled by
bringing the people and equipment to the work item. Fixed-position work methods necessitate the
use of portable equipment.
Advantages:
(1) Movement of the work item is reduced to a minimum to minimize damage to the item
and the cost of moving it.
(2) Since the item does not go from one department to another, there is more continuity of
the assigned work force. This reduces the problems of replanning and instructing
people each time a new type of activity is to begin.
Disadvantages:
(1) Since the same workers are involved in more operations, skilled and versatile workers
are required. The necessary combination of skills may be difficult to find and high
pay level may be necessary.
(2) Movement of people and equipment to and from the work site may be expensive.

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(3) Equipment utilization may be low because the equipment may be left at a location
where it will be needed again in a few days rather than moved to another location
where it would be productive.

4. Cellular layout:
Cellular layout (Group technology layout) groups dissimilar machines into work centers (or
cells) to work products that have similar shapes and processing requirements. Group technology
layouts are now widely used in metal fabricating, computer chip manufacture, and assembly work.
The overall objective is to gain the benefits of product layout in job-shop kinds of production. These
benefits include:
(a) Better human relations: Cells consist of a few workers who form a small work team; a team turns
out complete units of work.
(b) Improved operator expertise: Workers see only a limited number of different parts in a finite
production cycle, so repetition means quickly learning.
(c) Less in process inventory and material handling: A cell combines several production stages, so fewer
parts travel through the shop.
(d) Faster production setup: Fewer jobs mean reduced tooling and hence faster tooling change.
A group technology layout is similar to a process layout in that cells are designed to perform
a specific set of process, and it is similar to a product layout in that the cells are dedicated to a
limited range of products.
In the cellular layout the idea is to arrange labour, work, stations, and equipment into work
cells that process families of goods or services that follow similar flow paths. Cellular layout became
one of the more important operations management concepts in 1980s, partly because of its close
association with just-in-time applications.

Marks of a Good Layout for Manufacturing and Back-office Operations:

1. Straight line flow pattern (or adaptation).
2. Backtracking kept to a minimum.
3. Production time predictable.
4. Little inter-stage storage of materials.
5. Open plant floors so everyone can see what is happening
6. Bottleneck operations under control.
7. Workstations close together

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8. Orderly handling and storage of materials.

9. No unnecessary re-handling of materials.
10. Easily adjustable to changing conditions.

Marks of a Good Layout for Face-to Face Services:

1. Easily understood service flow pattern.
2. Adequate waiting facilities.
3. Easy communication with customers.
4. Easily maintained customer surveillance.
5. Clear exit and entry points with adequate checkout capabilities.
6. Departments and processes arranged so that customers see only what you want them to see.
7. Balance between waiting areas and service areas.
8. Minimum walking and material movement.
9. Lack of clutter.
10. High sales volume per square foot of facility.

Comparison of Product and Process Layouts

Product Layout Process Layout
Description Sequential arrangement of Functional grouping of activities
activities
Type of process Continuous, mass production, Intermittent, job shop, batch
mainly assembly production, mainly fabrication
Product Standardized, made to stock Varied, made to order
Demand Stable Fluctuating
Volume High Low
Equipment Special purpose General purpose
Workers Limited skills Varied skills
Inventory Low in-process, high finished High in-process, low finished
goods goods
Storage space Small Large
Material handling Fixed path Variable path
Aisles Narrow Wide
Scheduling Part of balancing Dynamic
Layout decision Line balancing Machine location

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Goal Equalize work at each station Minimize material handling cost

Advantage Efficiency Flexibility

Designing Process Layout

Process layout or flexible-flow layout involves three basic steps, whether the design is for a new
layout or for revising an existing layout:
Step 1: Gather information:
Three types of information are needed to begin designing the revised layout:
i. space requirements;
ii. available space; and
iii. closeness factors.
Step 2: Develop a block plan:
Step 3: Design a detailed layout.

Example -1: A defense contractor is evaluating its machine shop’s current flexible-flow layout. The
following current layout and table show the closeness matrix for the facility measured as the number
of trips per day between department pairs. Safety and health regulations require departments E and F
to remain at their current locations.
E B F
A C D
Current layout

Trips between Department

Departments A B C D E F
A - 8 3 9 5
B - 3
C - 8 9
D - 3
E - 3
F -
(a) Use trial and error to find a better layout
(b) How much better is your layout than the current layout in terms of weighted distance score?
Use rectilinear distance

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Solution: The proposed layout is as:

E B F
A C D

In addition to keeping departments E and F at their current locations, a good plan would locate the
following department pairs close to each other: A and E, C and F, A and B and C and E. The
proposed layout is worked out by trial and error and satisfies all the requirements. Start by placing E
and F at their current locations. Then because C must be as close as possible to both E and F, put C
between them. Place A below E, and B next to A. All of the heavy traffic concerns have now been
accommodated. Department D located in the remaining space, does not need to be relocated.
Current Plan Proposed Plan
Department Pair Number of Trips Distance Score Distance Score
A,B 8 2 16 1 8
A,C 3 1 3 2 6
A,E 9 1 9 1 9
A,F 5 3 15 3 15
B,D 3 2 6 1 3
C,E 8 2 16 1 8
C,F 9 2 18 1 9
D,F 3 1 3 1 3
E,F 3 2 6 2 6
Total 92 67
(b) The above table reveals that the weighted distance score drops from 92 for the current plan to 67
for the revised plan, a 27% reduction.

Designing Product Layout

Product layout, often called a ‘line-flow layout’ or ‘assembly line layout’ arranges work-
stations in a sequences. The product moves from one station to the next until its completion at the
end of the line. For designing a better product layout ‘Line Balancing’ is done.

Line Balancing:
Line Balancing is the assignment of works to stations in a line so as to achieve the desired
output rate with the smallest number of work stations. For line balancing Precedence Diagram is

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drawn; desired output rate and cycle time are calculated; the theoretical minimum (TM) is set;
minimal idle time, maximal efficiency, and minimal balance delay are ensured.
Product layouts are suitable for mass production of discrete items. Henry Ford used the
assembly line systems for mass production of automobiles early in the 20th century. Product layouts
are used to achieve smooth flow of large volume of highly standardized products that require
standardized (repetitive) processing operations. The arrangement of facilities is known as production
line or assembly line.
The main issue in design of product layouts is line balancing. The total assembly work is
broken down into a number of elemental tasks that can be performed quickly and routinely by
relatively less skilled workers on the line. The process of deciding how to assign tasks to work
stations on the line is referred to as line balancing. The objective of line balancing is to obtain task
groupings that represent approximately equal time requirements. This minimizes idle time along the
line. Idle time occurs only if work station times are not equal. Perfect balance would lead to smooth
flow of work. But it is very difficult to achieve perfect balance because of the inability to obtain task
groupings that have same durations. The cycle time (amount of time each work station has, to
complete its set of tasks before the product moves to the next station) determines the output rate for
the line.
A very useful tool in line balancing is precedence diagram. It visually portrays the tasks that
are to be performed along with the sequential requirements that is, the order in which tasks must be
performed. The diagram is read from left to right, so the initial task (s) are on the left and the final
task is on the right.
Now let’s see how a line is balanced. This involves assigning tasks to workstations. Generally
no techniques are available that guarantee an optimal set of assignments. Instead, managers employ
heuristic (intuitive) rules, which provide good and sometimes optimal sets of assignments. A number
of line-balancing heuristics are in use, two of which are described here for purposes of illustration:
1. Assign tasks in order of most following tasks.
2. Assign tasks in order of greatest positional weight. Positional weight is the sum of each
task’s time and the times of all following tasks.
Line Balancing Procedure:
(b) Identify the cycle time and determine the minimum number of workstations.
(c) Make assignments to workstations in order, beginning with Station-1. Tasks are assigned
to workstations moving from left to right through the precedence diagram.
(d) Before each assignment, use the following criteria to determine which tasks are eligible to
be assigned to a workstation.

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(1) All preceding tasks in the sequence have been assigned.

(2) The task time does not exceed the time remaining at the workstation.
If no tasks are eligible, move on to the next workstation.
(d) After each task assignment, determine the time remaining at the current workstation by
subtracting the sum of times for tasks already assigned to it from the cycle time.
(e) Break ties that occur using one of these rules:
(1) Assign the task with the longest task time.
(2) Assign the task with the greatest number of followers.
(f) Continue until all tasks have been assigned to workstations.
(g) Compute appropriate measures (e.g. % idle time, efficiency) for the set of assignments.

Desired Output Rate: What sold be the line’s output rate?

Cycle Time: The maximum time allowed for work on a unit at each station. c = 1/r where c = cycle
time in hours per unit & r = desired output rate in units per hour.
Theoretical Minimum (TM: A benchmark or goal for the smallest number of stations possible,
where the total time required assembling each unit is divided by the cycle time. TM = Σt/c, where Σt
= total time required to assemble each unit, c = cycle time.
In addition to balancing a line for a given cycle time, managers must also consider four other
options: (1) pacing, (2) behavioral factors, (3) number of models produced, and (4) cycle times.
Pacing: Pacing is the movement of product from one station to the next as son as the cycle time has
elapsed.

Example-1: Green Grass’s plant manager just received marketing’s latest forecasts of Big
Broadcaster sales for the next year. She wants its production line to be designed to make 2400
spreaders per week for at least the next 3 months it takes 244 seconds to produce one unit. The
plant will operate 40 hours per week.
Requirements:
(a) What should be the line’s cycle time?
(b) What is the smallest number of workstations that she could hope for in designing the line
for this cycle time?
(c) Suppose that she finds a solution that requires only five stations. What would be the line’s
efficiency?

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1
Solution: (a) We know that c = ; where c = cycle time in hours per unit ,
r
r = desired output rate in units per hour
2400
Here r = = 60 units per hour
40
1
Thus, the cycle time is c = hour/unit = 1 minute/unit.
60

(b) We know that theoretical minimum (TM) for the number of station is TM =
t
c
where  t = total time required to assemble each unit
(the sum of all work-element standard times)
c = cycle time
244 sec onds
Here TM = = 4.067 or 5 stations
60 sec onds

(c) We know that efficiency (%) =   100 = 244  100 = 81.3% ;

t
nc 5  60

Example-2: A company is setting up an assembly line to produce 192 units per 8-hour shift. The
following table identifies the work elements, times, and immediate predecessors.

Work elements Time (second) Immediate predecessor(s)

A 40 None
B 80 A
C 30 D, E, F
D 25 B
E 20 B
F 15 B
G 120 A
H 145 G
I 130 H
J 115 C, I
Total 720

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Requirements:
(a) What is the desired cycle time (in seconds)?
(b) What is the theoretical minimum number of workstations?
(c) Use trial and error to work out a solution, and show your solution on a precedence diagram
(d) What are the efficiency and balance delay of the solution found?

Solution:
1
(a) We know that c = ; where c = cycle time in hours per unit
r
r = desired output rate in units per hour
192 units
Here r = = 24 units per hour
8 hours
1 60  60
Thus, the cycle time is c = hour/unit = second/unit =150 second/unit.
24 24

(b) We know that theoretical minimum (TM) for the number of station is TM = t
c
where  t = total time required to assemble each unit
(the sum of all work-element standard times)
c = cycle time

Here TM =
 t = 720 seconds/unit = 4.8 or 5 stations
c 150 seconds/unit

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(c) The precedence diagram is shown in the figure. Each row in the following table represents one
iteration of application of the largest work-element time rule in assigning work elements to
workstations.
25
D
80 20 30
B E C
15 115
A F J
40
120 G I 130
H
145

Station Candidate(s) Choice Work-element Cumulative Idle Time

Time (Sec) Time(Sec) (c = 150 Sec)
A A 40 40 110
S1 B B 80 120 30
D, E, F D 25 145 5
S2 E, F, G G 120 120 30
E, F E 20 140 10
S3 F, H H 145 145 5
S4 F, I I 130 130 20
F F 15 145 5
S5 C C 30 30 120
J J 115 145 5

(d) We know that efficiency (%) =   100 = 720  100 = 96% ;

t
nc 5  150
Thus the balance delay is only (100 – 96) = 4%

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Example-3: The model J. wagon is to be assembled on a conveyor belt. Five hundred wagons
are required per day. Production time per day is 420 minutes, and the assembly steps and
times for the wagon are given in below. Find the balance that minimizes the number of
workstations, subject to cycle time and precedence constraints.
Task Task Time Task that must precede
(in seconds)
A 45 None
B 11 A
C 9 B
D 50 None
E 15 D
F 12 C
G 12 C
H 12 E
I 12 E
J 8 F, G, H, I
K 9 J
Total 195

Solution:
Production time per day 60  420
(a) We know that workstation cycle time, c = = = 50.4
output per day 500
(b) We know that theoretical minimum (TM) number of workstations is

TM =
t = 195 seconds
= 3.87 = 4 (round up)
c 50 .4 seconds
(c) Select assignment rules. Research has demonstrated that some rules are better than others for
certain problem structures. In general, the strategy is to use a rule assigning tasks that either have
many followers or are of long duration because they effectively limit the balance achievable. In
this case we use the following as our primary rule:

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(i) Prioritize tasks in order of the largest number of following tasks.

Task Number of following tasks
A 6
B or D 5
C or E 4
F, G, H or I 2
J 1
K 0
Our secondary rule, to be involved where ties exist from our primary rule, is
(ii) Prioritize tasks in order of longest task time. Note that D should be assigned before B, and E
assigned before C due to this tiebreaking rule.

(d) Make task assignments to form workstation1, workstation2 and so forth until all tasks are
assigned. The actual assignment is given below. It is important to meet precedence and cycle
time requirements as the assignments are made.
Task Task Time Remaining Feasible Task with Task with
(in Unassigned Remaining most Longest
Seconds) Time Tasks Followers Operation
Time
Station 1 A 45 5.4 idle None
Station 2 D 50 0.4 idle None
Station 3 B 11 39.4 C, E C, E E
E 15 24.4 C, H, I C
C 9 15.4 F, G, H, I F, G, H, I F, G, H, I
F* 12 3.4 idle None
Station 4 G 12 38.4 H, I H, I H, I
H* 12 26.4 I
I 12 14.4 J
J 8 6.4 idle None
Station 5 K 9 4.4 idle None

(d) We know that efficiency (%) =   100 = 195  100 = 77% .

t
nc 5  50.4
An efficiency of 77% indicates an imbalance or idle time of 23% across the entire line.
Thus the balance delay is only (100 – 77 = 23%

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Example-4: Using the information contained in the table shown, do each of the following:
1. Draw a precedence diagram.
2. Assuming an eight-hour workday, compute the cycle time needed to obtain an output of 400
units per day.
3. Determine the minimum number of workstations required.
4. Assign tasks to workstations using this rule: Assign tasks according to greatest number of
following tasks. In case of a tie, use the tiebreaker of assigning the task with the longest
processing time first.
Task Immediate followers Task Time (in minutes)
A B 0.2
B E 0.2
C D 0.8
D F 0.6
E F 0.3
F G 1.0
G H 0.4
H End 0.3
Total 3.8
Solution:
(1) Drawing a precedence diagram is a relatively straightforward task. Begin with activities with no
predecessors. We see from the list of immediate followers that tasks A and C do not appear.
Hence, they have no immediate predecessors. We build from here.
(2) We know that workstation cycle time,
Production time per day 480 minutes per day
c= = = 1.2 minutes per cycle
output per day 400 units per day

(3) We know that theoretical minimum (TM) number of workstations is TM =

t
c

Here TM =
t = 3.8 minutes per unit
= 3.17 = 4 (round up)
c 1.2 minutes per cycle per station
(4) Beginning with Station 1, make assignments following this procedure: Determine from the
precedence diagram which tasks are eligible for assignment. Then determine which of the eligible
tasks will fit the time remaining for the station. Use the tiebreaker if necessary. Once a task has been
assigned, remove it from consideration. When a station cannot takes any more assignments and then
go on to the next station. Continue until all tasks have been assigned.

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Station Time Eligible Will Fit Assign (Task Idle

Remaining Time)
1 1.2 min A, C* A, C* A (0.2)
1.0 min C, B** C, B** C (0.8)
0.2 min B, D B B (0.2)
0 min E, D None -- 0.0
2 1.2 min E, D E, D D (0.6)
0.6 min E E E (0.3)
0.3*** F None -- 0.3
3 1.2 min F F F (1.0)
0.2 min G None -- 0.2
4 1.2 min G G G (0.4)
0.8 min H H H (0.3)
0.5 -- -- -- 0.5
Total 1.0 min

N.B.: * - Neither A nor C has any predecessors, so both are eligible. Task A was assigned since it has
more followers.
**- Once A is assigned, B and C are now eligible. Both will fit in the time remaining of 1.0 minute.
The tie cannot be broken by the “most followers” rule, so the longer task is assigned.
***- Although F is eligible, this task will not fit, so Station-2 is left with 0.3 minute of idle time per
1.2 minute cycle.

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Example-5: The tasks shown in the following precedence diagram are to be assigned to
workstations with the intent of minimizing idle time. Management has designed an output rate
of 275 units per day. Assume 440 minutes are available per day.
1. Determine the appropriate cycle time.
2. What is the minimum number of stations possible?
3. Assign tasks using the “positional weight” rule: Assign tasks with highest following times
(including a task’s own time) first. Break ties using greatest number of following tasks.
Task Immediate followers Task Time (in minutes)
A -- 0.3
B -- 0.6
C A 0.4
D B 1.2
E C 0.2
F D 0.6
G E 0.1
H G, F 0.5
I H 0.3
Total 4.2
Solution:
(1) We know that workstation cycle time,
Operating time 440 minutes per day
c= = = 1.6 minutes per cycle
Desired output 275 units per day

(2) We know that theoretical minimum (TM) number of workstations is TM =

t
c

Here TM =
t = 4.2 minutes per unit
= 2.625 = 3 (round up)
c 1.6 minutes per cycle per station
(3) Add positional weights (following time including task time) to the diagram:
Station Time Eligible Will Fit Assign (Task Idle
Remaining Time)
1 1.6 min A, B A, B B (0.6)
1.0 min A, D A A (0.3)
0.7 min C, D C C (0.4)
0.3 min E, D E E (0.2)
0.1 G, D G G (0.1)
0 -- -- -- 0.0
2 1.6 min D D D (1.2)
0.4 min F None None 0.4
3 1.6 min F F F (0.6)
1.0 min H H H (0.5)
0.5 I I I (0.3)
0.2 -- -- -- 0.2
Total 0.6 min

Faisal Taleb (21st Batch) Chittagong University Center for Business Administration (CUCBA)
 P a g e | 20

Example-6: The following tasks must be performed on an assembly line in the sequence and
times specified:
Task Task Time Task that must precede
(second)
A 50 None
B 40 None
C 20 A
D 45 C
E 20 C
F 25 D
G 10 E
H 35 B, F, G
Total 245

Requirements:
(a) Draw the schematic diagram.
(b) What is the theoretical minimum number of stations required to meet a forecast demand of
400 units per 8-hour day?
(c) Use the longest task-time rule and balance the line in the minimum number of stations to
produce 400 units per day.

400 1 1
Solution: (b) Here r = =  c = = 72 second
8  60  60 72 r
The theoretical minimum (TM) for the number of stations to meet D = 400 is
TM =
 t = 245 = 3.4 or 4 stations
c 72
(c)
Task Task Time Cumulative Idle time
(in Time
Seconds)
Station 1 A 50 50 22
C 20 70 2
Station 2 D 45 45 27
F 25 70 2
Station 3 B 40 40 32
E 20 60 12
G 10 70 2
Station 4 H 35 35 37

Faisal Taleb (21st Batch) Chittagong University Center for Business Administration (CUCBA)