Operation Management †Process choice and Layout planning Essay

Characteristics of project, jobbing, messiness, f first, and do by harvest- durationion systems, with sheaths for each.Project, jobbing, batch, flow and swear out end product argon the cognitive operation types subroutined in manufacturing. The icon below shows the trade off amongst heap and variety of outputs. In choosing one of these systems, heights passel pith low variety and high variety means low the great unwashed.(see figure 1)Project moldes The essence of project processes is that they be all various, so real low volume and in truth high variety. The identification of activities and their relationship argon uncertain, they chiffonier change during the production process itself. Each job has a defined start and finish and the time interval between jump two unlike jobs is quite long. The resources must(prenominal) be organised just for each project and they are re-allocated after the end of them. Examples of this system are movie production companies ob viously every single movie is different from the others.Jobbing processes As for project processes, they deal with high variety and low volume. The variation is that the resources are not organised especially for each project, each product has to share them with many others. Although all the products bespeak the same attention, each entrust differ in its exact involve. Jobbing requires a general purpose layout and highly skilled and versatile workers to interpret drawings and specifications. An example is a painter, who sells his own skill. circumstances processes With higher volume and lower variety than jobbing process, the essence of these processes is that each time they produce a product, they produce more than one. The size of the batch potty be very small (e.g. two or three), therefore batch process becomes very like to the jobbing, but usually the batches are large, with exigent operations. They requirecareful planning and control to ensure proper use and buffer sto cks to decouple processes. Finally they typically implies high Work in Progress between work centres. An example could be the production of medication instruments.Flow processes This kind of process is dedicated to the production of a low variety of product in a high volume. Products are sensed as standard, even if there are superficial differences between them. The process does not have to stop to accommodate differences between products. There are not buffer stocks between processes, that means zero set up time. All workstations must operate to the same cycle time. The classical example is an automobile plant, like every mass operations it is repetitive and predictable.Processes production Characterised by very high volume and almost zero variation. Products take themselves to flow, sometimes they are literally continuous, being produces in an endless flow. They require very high capital investment in equipment. The process is turn up before beginning and it usually needs ve ry low manual(a) intervention. An example is the paper making.LAYOUT PLANNINGExplain the differences between fixed position, product, process, and a cell system layouts, indicating a suitable application for each one. maven of the most obvious characteristics of an operation is deciding where to put all the facilities, machines, materials, staff, etc. This is what layout concerns, the physical location of the transforming resources and the way in which the change resources flow finished with(predicate) the operation. There are four basic layout types.Fixed position layout The process recipient remains stationary and the equipment, machinery, plant and people, instead of the transforming resources, move through it. It happens because the product is too large ordelicate to move, or because it could objective to being moved. The purpose should be to design so that all of the resources can easily access the point of delivery. There are two types of this layout forming and treating , in which the nature of the materials changes, and assembly, like a spaceship building.Process layout Its characteristic is that processes with similar needs are located together. The reason for this is that the transforming resources dominate the layout decision. Different products and different customers take routes unique to their own needs through the layout. The advantage is that grouping together common processes should increase their utilisation. Other advantages of process layout are high mix and product tractability, comparatively robust in case of disruptions and relatively easy supervision of plant and equipment. Examples are some hospitals de graphemements.Cell layout In cell layout the individual processes are moved together to form a cell. The transformed resources entering the operation are preselected to move to one part of the cell in which all the transforming resources to meet their immediate processing needs are located. Transportation costs are reduced, kee ping high flexibility and high productivity. Examples could be snack bars in supermarkets.Product layout In this case is the convenience of the transformed resources which dominate the operation decision, the opposite of process layout. Everything is arranged around the products progression through the system. The transformed resources flow along a line of process, following a preset route. The advantages of this layout are mainly the low unit cost for high volume and the low staff skill levels needed. An example is a canteen, in which the period of customers requirements is generally common for all customers.As shown in the figure below, volume and variety have different effects on the layouts flow. When volume is very high and variety very low, continuous flow must be the major issue, when variety is very high and volume very low flow should be intermittent.