Operation management

1. DR RASHMI MAKKAR PANWAR

2. INTRODUCTION
 After analysis of comprising of technical, financial,
economic and market study before laying down a
comprehensive business plan.
 For implementation of this plan, he has to take various
crucial decisions namely location of business, layout (the
arrangement of physical facilities), designing the product,
production planning and control and maintaining good
quality of product.
 This lesson deals with various aspects of plant location and
layout.
 Investment in analyzing the aspects of plant location and
the appropriate plant layout can help an entrepreneur
achieve economic efficiencies in business operations.

3. What is plant location?
 Plant location refers to the choice of region and the
selection of a particular site for setting up a business or
factory.
 But the choice is made only after considering cost and
benefits of different alternative sites.
 It is a strategic decision that cannot be changed once
taken.
 If at all changed only at considerable loss, the location
should be selected as per its own requirements and
circumstances.
 Each individual plant is a case in itself. Businessman
should try to make an attempt for optimum or ideal
location

4. What is an ideal location?
 An ideal location is one where the cost of the product
is kept to minimum, with a large market share, the
least risk and the maximum social gain.
 It is the place of maximum net advantage or which
gives lowest unit cost of production and distribution.
 For achieving this objective, small-scale entrepreneur
can make use of locational analysis for this purpose

5. Steps in facility location study
 Locational analysis is a dynamic process where entrepreneur analyses and compares the
appropriateness or otherwise of alternative sites with the aim of selecting the best site for
a given enterprise.
 It consists the following:
 (a) Demographic Analysis: It involves study of population in the area in terms of total
population (in no.), age composition, per capita income, educational level, occupational
structure etc.
 (b) Trade Area Analysis: It is an analysis of the geographic area that provides continued
clientele to the firm. He would also see the feasibility of accessing the trade area from
alternative sites.
 (c) Competitive Analysis: It helps to judge the nature, location, size and quality of
competition in a given trade area.
 (d) Traffic analysis: To have a rough idea about the number of potential customers
passing by the proposed site during the working hours of the shop, the traffic analysis
aims at judging the alternative sites in terms of pedestrian and vehicular traffic passing a
site.
 (e) Site economics: Alternative sites are evaluated in terms of establishment costs and
operational costs under this. Costs of establishment is basically cost incurred for
permanent physical facilities but operational costs are incurred for running business on
day to day basis, they are also called as running costs.

6. WHEN DOES A LOCATION DECISION
ARISE?
 The impetus to embark upon a facility location study can usually be
attributed to various reasons:
 i) It may arise when a new facility is to be established.
 ii) In some cases, the facility or plant operations and subsequent
expansion are restricted by a poor site, thereby necessitating the setting
up of the facility at a new site.
 iii) The growing volume of business makes it advisable to establish
additional facilities in new territories.
 iv) Decentralisation and dispersal of industries reflected in the
Industrial Policy resolution so as to achieve an overall development of a
developing country would necessitate a location decision at a macro
level.
 v) It could happen that the original advantages of the plant have been
outweighed due to new developments.
 vi) New economic, social, legal or political factors could suggest a
change of location of the exisiting plant.

7. Subjective ,quantitative and semi quantitative
techniques of plant location
 Alfred Weber's analysis was one. of the first attempts to base location decisions on some
sort of analysis, its imperfections notwithstanding.
 Besides discussing the importance of transport and labour cost differentials in deciding
location, the main burden of Weber's analysis is transport cost of raw material which was
least mobile One the basis of availability, he categorised raw materials into:
 (a) ubiquities-to denote those available almost everywhere like sand, water etc. and
 (b) localised materials, having specific locations, which are further divided into pure
material which contributes nearly the total weight of it to the finished goods, and gross
material, which contributes only a small fractions of total weight to the finished goods. It
is obvious that ubiquities hardly influence the decision of location.
 Weber then proceeds to formulate the material index which equals the weight of
localised material used in the finished product divided by the weight of the finished
product
 . Material Index(MI)= Weightoflocalisedmaterialusedinfinishedproduct
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weightofthefinishedproduct
 If the material index is greater than unity, location should be nearer to the source of raw
material and if it is less than unity, then location nearer to market is advised..

8.  The commonsense involved in such conclusion is
unquestionable. But such an approach tacitly assumes the
existence of a static point of lowest transportation cost for
raw material. Later analyses by various other authors, like,
Weigman, Palander, Losch, Ohlin and others have been
attempted on increasingly comprehensive bases such as the
interrelationship between factors like, (a) economic
differences-(prices, market), (b) cost differences-
(productivity, transport cost and accessibility), (c) human
differences-(attitudes of founders and wage-earners), (d)
national characteristics, and (e) various barriers-(political,
geographic and transportation). Let us now see how a
location study is made

9. STEPS IN THE FACILITY LOCATION
STUDY
 • A Typical team studying location possibilities for a large project might involve
economists, accountants, geographers, town planners, lawyers, marketing experts,
politicians, executives, industrial engineers, defence analysts, ecologists etc. It is indeed
an inter-disciplinary team that should be set up for undertaking location studies.
 Territory Selection Now in step
 (i) for the general territory/region/area selection, the following are some of the
important factors that influence the selection decision.
 Markets: There has o be some customer/market for your product/service. The market
growth potential and the location of competitors are important factors that could
influence the location. Locating a plant or facility nearer to the market is preferred if
promptness of service required, if the product_ is fragile, or is susceptible to spoilage;,
Moreover, if the product is relatively inexpensive and transportation costs add
substantially to the cost, a location close to the markets is desirable. Assembly type
industries also tend to locate near markets.
 Raw Materials and Supplies: Sometimes accessibility to vendors/suppliers of raw
materials, parts supplies, tools, equipment etc. may be very important. The issue here is
promptness and regularity of delivery and inward freight cost minimisation

10.  Transportation Facilities: Adequate. transportation facilities are essential for the economic operation
of a production system. For companies that produce or buy heavy bulky and low value per ton
commodities, water transportation could be an; important factor in locating plants. It can be seen
that civilisations grew along rivers/waterways etc. Many facilities/plants are located along river banks.
 Manpower Supply: The availability of skilled manpower, the prevailing wage pattern, living costs and
the industrial relations situation influence the location.
 Infrastructure: This factor refers to the availability and reliability of power, water, fuel and
communication facilities in addition to transportation facilities.
 Legislation and Taxation: Factors such as financial and other incentives for new industries in
backward areas or no-industry-district centres, exemption from certain state and local taxes, octroi
etc. are important.
 Climate: Climatic factors could dictate the location of certain type of industries like textile industry
which requires high humidity zones.
 Site/Community Selection Having selected the general territory/region, next we would have to go in
for site/community selection. Let us discuss some factors relevant for this stage.
 Community Facilities: These involve factors such as quality of life which in turn depends on
availability of facilities like schools, places of worship, medical services, police and fire stations,
cultural, social and recreation opportunities, housing, good streets and good communication and
transportation facilities.

11.  Community Attitudes: These can be difficult to evaluate. Most communities usually welcome setting up of a new
industry especially since it would provide opportunities to the local people directly or indirectly. However, in case of
polluting, or `dirty' industries, they would try their utmost to locate them as far away as possible. Sometimes because
of prevailing law and order situation, companies have been forced to relocate their units. The attitude of people as well
as the state government has an impact on industrial location.
 Waste Disposal: The facilities required for the disposal of process waste including solid, liquid and gaseous effluents
need to be considered. The plant should be positioned so that prevailing winds carry any fumes away from populated
areas, and so that waste may be disposed off properly and at reasonable expense.
 Ecology and Pollution: These days there is a great deal of awareness towards maintenance of natural ecological
balance. There are quite a few agencies / propagating the concepts to make the society at large more conscious of/the
dangers of certain avoidable actions.
 Site Size: The plot of land must be large enough to hold the propose plant and parking and access facilities and provide
room for future expansion}: These days a lot of industrial areas/parks are being earmarked in which certain/standard
sheds are being provided to entrepreneurs. (especially small scale ones).
 Topography: The topography, soil structure and drainage must be suitable. If considerable land improvement is
required, low priced land might turn out to be expensive.
 Transportation Facilities: The site should be accessible byroad and rail preferably. The dependability and character of
the available transport carriers, frequency of service and freight and terminal facilities is also worth considering.
 Supporting Industries and Services: The availability of supporting services. such as tool rooms, plant services. etc. need
to be considered
 Facilities Location Land Costs: These are generally of lesser importance as they are non-recurring and possibly make
up a relatively small proportion of the total cost of locating a new plant. Generally speaking, the site will be in a city,
suburb or country location. In general, the location for large-scale industries should be in rural areas, which helps in
regional development also. It is seen that once a large industry is set up (or even if

12. SUBJECTIVE, QUALITIVE AND SEMI-
QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES
 Three subjective techniques used for facility location are
 Industry Precedence: Most of us are always looking for some precedents. So in the
industry precedence subjective technique, the basic assumption .is that if a location was
best for similar firms in the past, it must be the best for us now. As such, there is. no need
for conducting a detailed location study and the location choice is thus subject to the
principle of precedence-good or bad.
 Preferential Factor : However in the case or the preferential factor, the location decision is
dictated by a personal factor. It depends on the individual whims or preferences e.g. if
one belongs to a particular state, he may like to locate his. unit only in that state. Such
personal Facilities Planning factors may. override factors of cost or profit in taking a final
decision. This could hardly be called a professional approach though such methods are..
 Dominant Factor factor (in contrast to the preferential factor) which could influence the
location decision. In a true dominant sense, mining or petroleum drilling operations
must be located where the mineral resource is available. The decision in this case is
simply whether to locate or not at the source. For evaluating qualitative factors, some
factor ranking and factor weight rating systems may be used. In the ranking procedure, a
location is better or worse than another for the particular factor. By weighing factors and
rating locations against these weights a semi-quantitative comparison of location is
possible. Let us now discuss some specific methods.

13. Equal Weights Method
We could assign equal weights to all factors and evaluate each location
along the factor scale.
For example, Banson, a manufacturer of fabricated metal products
selected three factors by which to rate four sites.
Each site was assigned a rating of 0 to 10 points for each factor.
The sum of the assigned factor points constituted the site rating by
which it could be compared to, other sites. Looking at Table , Site 3 has
the highest site rating of 24. Hence, this site would be chosen.

14. Variable Weights Method The above method could be utilised on account of
giving equal weightage to all the factors.
Hence, we could think of assigning variable weights to each of the factors and
evaluating each location site along the factor scale.
Hence, factor Fi. might be assigned 300 points, factor 2 might be assigned 100
points and factor 3 might be assigned 50 points.
Thus the points scored, out of the maximum assigned to each of the factors, for
each possible location site could be obtained and again the site rating could be
derived as follows: Looking at the Table 3, Site 2 has the highest site rating of
370. Hence, this site would be chosen.

15. Some case examples
 Let us see where some industries other than the jute and textile industries which prefer a climate having high humidity
are located.
 Steel Plants: We find that most of the steel plants lie along the Bihar, Bengal, Orissa belt. In the manufacture of steel,
it is always economical to transport the finished product rather than the raw material inputs like coal, lime-stone and
iron ore because during production considerable weight reduction is involved. You might be knowing that there also
exists a port based steel plant at Vishakhapatnam, which in addition to taking advantage of proximity of iron-ore and
coal also avails of the port facilities which aids in importing plant and machinery during the construction phase of the
steel plant and in exporting the finished products when the plant goes into production.
 Cement Plants: Again in the case of cement manufacturing plants, the raw materials lose weight significantly in the
process of transformation, and so the cement plants are located near the lime stone and coal deposits.
 Fertiliser Industry: The main feed stocks for the fertiliser industry are gas, oil or naphtha and coal. Here gain the
fertiliser plants are located near the source of raw materials. The locations of fertiliser plants at Namroop and Thal
Vaishet based on gas, and those at Ramagundam, Talcher and Sindri based on coal are examples. In the case of
naphtha or oil based plants most of the feed stock required is imported and hence, the plants are located near the
ports. Mangalore Fertilizers at Mangalore, Madras Fertilizers at Madras, FACT at Cochin and Hindustan Fertilisers at
Haldia are the relevant location examples.
 Machine-tool Industries: Unlike the previous cases discussed, in the machine-tool industry case, the proximity to the
source of -raw material is not very significant. A number of other factors such as market factors and infrastructure will
come into the picture. The machine tool industry is scattered over different parts of the country such as Bangalore,
Bombay, Calcutta, Ludhiana etc.
 Nuclear Power Stations: The selection and evaluation of sites of nuclear power plants throughout the world have
become increasingly difficult in recent years as pressure from various societal segments has resulted in strict
consideration of the institutional environmental, safety, socio-economic and engineering factors affecting the siting,
construction and ope

16. Plant layout
 The efficiency of production depends on how well the
various machines; production facilities and employee’s
amenities are located in a plant. Only the properly laid out
plant can ensure the smooth and rapid movement of
material, from the raw material stage to the end product
stage. Plant layout encompasses new layout as well as
improvement in the existing layout. It may be defined as a
technique of locating machines, processes and plant
services within the factory so as to achieve the right
quantity and quality of output at the lowest possible cost of
manufacturing. It involves a judicious arrangement of
production facilities so that workflow is direct.

17.  A plant layout can be defined as follows:
 Plant layout refers to the arrangement of physical facilities
such as machinery, equipment, furniture etc. with in the
factory building in such a manner so as to have quickest
flow of material at the lowest cost and with the least
amount of handling in processing the product from the
receipt of material to the shipment of the finished product.
 According to Riggs, “the overall objective of plant layout is
to design a physical arrangement that most economically
meets the required output – quantity and quality.”

18. An efficient plant layout is one that can be
instrumental in achieving the following objectives
 a) Proper and efficient utilization of available floor space
 b) To ensure that work proceeds from one point to another point without any
delay
 c) Provide enough production capacity.
 d) Reduce material handling costs
 e) Reduce hazards to personnel
 f) Utilise labour efficiently
 g) Increase employee morale
 h) Reduce accidents
 i) Provide for volume and product flexibility
 j) Provide ease of supervision and control
 k) Provide for employee safety and health
 l) Allow ease of maintenance
 m) Allow high machine or equipment utilization n) Improve productivity

19. three categories
 1. Manufacturing units
 2. Traders
 3. Service Establishments
1. Manufacturing units In case of manufacturing unit, plant layout
may be of four types:
2. (a) Product or line layout
3. (b) Process or functional layout
4. (c) Fixed position or location layout
5. (d) Combined or group layout

20. Product or line layout:
 Under this, machines and equipments are arranged in one line depending upon the sequence of
operations required for the product.
 The materials move form one workstation to another sequentially without any backtracking or
deviation.
 Under this, machines are grouped in one sequence.
 Therefore materials are fed into the first machine and finished goods travel automatically from
machine to machine, the output of one machine becoming input of the next, e.g. in a paper mill,
bamboos are fed into the machine at one end and paper comes out at the other end.
 The raw material moves very fast from one workstation to other stations with a minimum work in
progress storage and material handling.
 The grouping of machines should be done keeping in mind the following general principles.
 a) All the machine tools or other items of equipments must be placed at the point demanded by the
sequence of operations
 b) There should no points where one line crossed another line.
 c) Materials may be fed where they are required for assembly but not necessarily at one point.
 d) All the operations including assembly, testing packing must be included in the line A line layout
for two products is given below

21.  Advantages: Product layout provides the following benefits:
 a) Low cost of material handling, due to straight and short route and absence of backtracking
 b) Smooth and uninterrupted operations
 c) Continuous flow of work
 d) Lesser investment in inventory and work in progress
 e) Optimum use of floor space
 f) Shorter processing time or quicker output
 g) Less congestion of work in the process
 h) Simple and effective inspection of work and simplified production control
 i) Lower cost of manufacturing per unit
 Disadvantages: Product layout suffers from following drawbacks:
 a. High initial capital investment in special purpose machine
 b. Heavy overhead charges
 c. Breakdown of one machine will hamper the whole production process
 d. Lesser flexibility as specially laid out for particular product.
 Suitability: Product layout is useful under following conditions:
 1) Mass production of standardized products
 2) Simple and repetitive manufacturing process
 3) Operation time for different process is more or less equal
 4) Reasonably stable demand for the product
 5) Continuous supply of materials

22. Process layout:
 In this type of layout machines of a similar type are arranged together at one
place. E.g. Machines performing drilling operations are arranged in the drilling
department, machines performing casting operations be grouped in the
casting department.
 Therefore the machines are installed in the plants, which follow the process
layout.
 Hence, such layouts typically have drilling department, milling department,
welding department, heating department and painting department etc.
 The process or functional layout is followed from historical period.
 It evolved from the handicraft method of production. The work has to be
allocated to each department in such a way that no machines are chosen to do
as many different job as possible i.e. the emphasis is on general purpose
machine.
 The work, which has to be done, is allocated to the machines according to
loading schedules with the object of ensuring that each machine is fully
loaded. Process layout is shown in the following diagram.

24.  Advantages: Process layout provides the following benefits
 a) Lower initial capital investment in machines and equipments. There is high degree of machine utilization, as a
machine is not blocked for a single product
 b) The overhead costs are relatively low
 c) Change in output design and volume can be more easily adapted to the output of variety of products
 d) Breakdown of one machine does not result in complete work stoppage
 e) Supervision can be more effective and specialized
 f) There is a greater flexibility of scope for expansion.
 Disadvantages: Product layout suffers from following drawbacks
 a. Material handling costs are high due to backtracking
 b. More skilled labour is required resulting in higher cost.
 c. Time gap or lag in production is higher
 d. Work in progress inventory is high needing greater storage space
 e. More frequent inspection is needed which results in costly supervision
 Suitability: Process layout is adopted when
 1. Products are not standardized
 2. Quantity produced is small
 3. There are frequent changes in design and style of product
 4. Job shop type of work is done
 5. Machines are very expensive

25. Fixed Position or Location Layout In this type of layout, the major product being produced is fixed
at one location. Equipment labour and components are moved to that location. All facilities are
brought and arranged around one work center. This type of layout is not relevant for small scale
entrepreneur. The following figure shows a fixed position layout regarding shipbuilding

26.  Advantages: Fixed position layout provides the following benefits
 a) It saves time and cost involved on the movement of work from one workstation to
another.
 b) The layout is flexible as change in job design and operation sequence can be easily
incorporated.
 c) It is more economical when several orders in different stages of progress are being
executed simultaneously.
 d) Adjustments can be made to meet shortage of materials or absence of workers by
changing the sequence of operations.
 Disadvantages: Fixed position layout has the following drawbacks
 a. Production period being very long, capital investment is very heavy
 b. Very large space is required for storage of material and equipment near the product.
 c. As several operations are often carried out simultaneously, there is possibility of
confusion and conflicts among different workgroups.
 Suitability: The fixed position layout is followed in following conditions
 1. Manufacture of bulky and heavy products such as locomotives, ships, boilers,
generators, wagon building, aircraft manufacturing, etc.
 2. Construction of building, flyovers, dams.
 3. Hospital, the medicines, doctors and nurses are taken to the patient (product).

27. Combined layout
 Certain manufacturing units may require all three processes namely
intermittent process (job shops), the continuous process (mass production
shops) and the representative process combined process [i.e. miscellaneous
shops].
 In most of industries, only a product layout or process layout or fixed location
layout does not exist. Thus, in manufacturing concerns where several products
are produced in repeated numbers with no likelihood of continuous
production, combined layout is followed.
 Generally, a combination of the product and process layout or other
combination are found, in practice, e.g. for industries involving the fabrication
of parts and assembly, fabrication tends to employ the process layout, while the
assembly areas often employ the product layout.
 In soap, manufacturing plant, the machinery manufacturing soap is arranged
on the product line principle, but ancillary services such as heating, the
manufacturing of glycerin, the power house, the water treatment plant etc. are
arranged on a functional basis.

28. FACTORS INFLUENCING LAYOUT
 While deciding his factory or unit or establishment or store, a small-scale businessman should keep
the following factors in mind:
 a) Factory building: The nature and size of the building determines the floor space available for
layout. While designing the special requirements, e.g. air conditioning, dust control, humidity control
etc. must be kept in mind.
 b) Nature of product: product layout is suitable for uniform products whereas process layout is more
appropriate for custom-made products.
 c) Production process: In assembly line industries, product layout is better. In job order or
intermittent manufacturing on the other hand, process layout is desirable.
 d) Type of machinery: General purpose machines are often arranged as per process layout while
special purpose machines are arranged according to product layout
 e) Repairs and maintenance: machines should be so arranged that adequate space is available
between them for movement of equipment and people required for repairing the machines.
 f) Human needs: Adequate arrangement should be made for cloakroom, washroom, lockers, drinking
water, toilets and other employee facilities, proper provision should be made for disposal of effluents,
if any.
 g) Plant environment: Heat, light, noise, ventilation and other aspects should be duly considered, e.g.
paint shops and plating section should be located in another hall so that dangerous fumes can be
removed through proper ventilation etc. Adequate safety arrangement should also be made

29. Computerised layout planning
 The use of computers to layout industri al facilities is not a
new concept . The first computerized facility layout
programs were developed in the 1960s, and have s i nce
proliferated. The most widely used as listed by : CRAFT -
Computerized Relative Al location of Facilities
 COFAD - COmputerized FAcilities Design,
 PLANET - Plant Layout ANalysis and Evaluation
Technique ,
 CORELAP - COmputerized RElationship LAyout Planning,
 ALDEP - Automated Layout DEsign Program .

30.  The computerized facility layout program divides the process into t wo distinct steps .
 The user initially inputs all data required by the program .
 The program then does all analysis, with only moderate , if any, additional user input
 . Alternatively, the computer assisted facility layout program does not make the above two step
distinction in the layout process
 Muther ' s six- step priority closeness rating scale, and layout discipline . These terms are discussed
separately below .
 The activity relationship, or REL chart, details in matrix form the 6 coded input which denotes the
relationship that exists between each department (work center) pair.
 Some form of this data is required by all facility layout programs. As stated by Moore , "In a problem
where mor e than one activity is to be located, it is impossible ... to conceive of a computer working on
the problem without this type of data as input, either in discrete or continuous form ."
 Muther ' s six- step priority closeness scale, as defined by Francis s and White , is named for its
creator, Richard Muther.
 It relies upon a common six letter code (A , E, I , O, U, and X) which i s used in the input of REL chart
data .
 The different letters are associated with different desired levels of closeness .
 The standard code for the sixstep priority closeness is found in the rating table illustrated in Figure 2.1
. Of note is the special notation of the X code, which indicates that it is undesirable to have two
departments located close to each other.
 The interpretations on the A, E, I , O, U, and X codes are not standard among facility layout programs.

32. CRAFT: Computerized Relative
Allocation of Facilities Techniques
 CRAFT is an improvement algorithm and was developed in 1963 by Elwood S .
Buffa , Gordon C. Armour, and Thomas E. Vollmann
 The objective was to develop a facility layout approaching minimum
transportation cost.
 This transportation cost is obtained by multiplying the figures from a user
input from-to chart by figures in an input movecost chart .
 This product is then multiplied by the rectilinear distances between the
centroids of plant workcenters.
 CRAFT attempts to minimize the sum of these transportation costs.
Thompkins and Moore have stated that the results from CRAFT , are generally
good.
 Material handling methods must be s pecified before using CRAFT . Move-
costs are assumed to be certain and independent of material handling
equipment utilization.
 Move- costs are also assumed to be linearly related to length of the moves
 . All material flows are assumed to be between work center centroids and
rectilinear.

33. CO RELAP : COmputerized
RElationship LAyout Planning
 CORELAP was developed by Lee and Moore , and represents the first effort at
development of a construction algorithm.
 It is also one of the simplest algorithms, and requires the least amount of input data of all
those programs discussed thus far .
 However, the data that that are required are difficult to obtain.
 A unique feature of CORELAP is that it measures distances between departments at the
closest points, as opposed to centroids.
 There are also similarities to the programs discussed earlier
 .The layout shape generated is irregular.
 The design of the layout is not based on t he material handling systems or the relati ve
move- costs .
 For layout scoring , the flows are assumed to follow the shortest routes between
departments .
 The main input is the REL chart using the Muther ' s six- step priority closeness scale (A ,
E , I , O, U, X) . CORELAP assigns the values 6 , 5 , L1, 3 , 2 , and 1 to the rating scale (e . g
., A=6 , E=5 , etc . ) .
 CORELAP uses this i nput to calculate the total closeness rating (TCR) for each
department .

34.  The department with the highest TCR is placed i n the
center of the layout
 If there is a tie , the department with the largest area is
selected .
 2. Remaining departments are checked to find the highest
priority closeness rating ~i th the department just placed If
a tie again occurs, the department with the largest area is
selected .
 3. Remaining departments are scanned for an " A" priority
closeness rating with the first department placed . If none i
s found, then the remaining departments are searched
once again for an " A" priority closeness rating with the
second department placed . I

35. ALDEP : Automated Layout DEsign
Program
 ALDEP ' s input is basically identical to that of CORELAP .
 The ALDEP program, however , is very unique in other aspects.
 ALDEP generates several hundred layouts by a random placement algorithm.
 The proeram scores each layout , allows the designer to compare them, and select the best one .
 Another distinction of ALDEP is its ability to layout a multi-story plant , up to three floors .
 This final feature , however , can present difficulties.
 For example , Muther and McPherson have stated that some activities could be split between floors by chance .
 The ALDEP input consists of a departmental listing, related department sizes, a REL chart using Muther ' s six-step
priority closeness rating scale, the number of layouts to be generated, block size ,sweep length used in the placing of
departments, minimum score required to print out a layout , and two random number seeds.
 Like several other programs previously discussed , ALDEP allows the user to preassign departments .
 The A, E, I , O, U, and X ratings differ from those used in CORELAP .
 1 . Assign all departments which have been pre assigned to the layout blocks .
 2 . Randomly select first depa1:tment to be placed in the layout . (This depa rtment may be specified , but this is not
recommended . )
 3 . Scan all unselected departments in the highest remaining priority closeness category. If ther e is more than one
department in this categor y , one of them is randoml y selected .
 4 . Place the selected department , block by block , according to a p th determined by the s weep length .
 5 . Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all departments are place
 The layouts generated by ALDEP are highly dependent on the sweep length specified .
 This is because the sweep length determines the path by which department blocks are placed in the layout grid .
Different sweep lengths wil l generall y result in different layout possibilities . Therefore , to assure optimal results, the
program should be run at various sweep lengths .

36. DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF
MATERIALS HANDLING
 Expressed in simple language, materials handling is
loading, moving and unloading of materials. To do it
safely and economically, different types of tackles,
gadgets and equipment are used, when the materials
handling is referred to as mechanical handling of
materials.

37.  The essential requirements of a good materials
handling system may be summarized as:
 (i) Efficient and safe movement of materials to the
desired place.
 (ii) Timely movement of the materials when needed.
(iii) Supply of materials at the desired rate.
 (iv) Storing of materials utilizing minimum space.
 (v) Lowest cost solution to the materials handling
activities.

38. CHARACTERISTICS AND
CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS
 Method to be adopted and choice of equipment for a materials handling system primarily
depends on the type of material/s to be handled.
 It is, therefore, very important to know about different types of materials and their
characteristics which are related to methods and equipment used for their handling.
 As innumerable different materials are used and need to be handled in industries, they
are classified based on specific characteristics relevant to their handling. Basic
classification of material is made on the basis of forms, which are
 (i) Gases, (ii) Liquids, (iii) Semi Liquids and (iv) Solids.
 Following characteristics of gases, liquids and semiliquids are relevant to their handling.
 For gases it is primarily pressure, high (25 psi and more) or low (less than 25 psi).
 Chemical properties are also important.
 For liquids the relevant characteristics are density, viscosity, freezing and boiling point,
corrosiveness, temperature, inflammability etc.
 Examples of common industrial liquids are: water, mineral oils, acids, alkalies, chemicals
etc.
 Examples of common semi-liquids are: slurry, sewage, sludge, mud, pulp, paste etc.
 Gases are generally handled in tight and where required, pressure resisting containers.
However, most common method of handling of large volume of gas is through pipes by
the help of compressor, blower etc.,

39.  This process is known as pneumatic conveying.
 Liquids and semiliquids can be handled in tight or open containers
which may be fitted with facilities like insulation, heating, cooling,
agitating etc. as may be required by the character of the liquid.
 Large quantity of stable liquids/semiliquids are generally conveyed
through pipes using suitable pumps, which is commonly known as
hydraulic conveying.
 Solids form the majority of materials which are handled in industrial
situation.
 Solids are classified into two main groups:
 Unit load and Bulk load (materials). Unit loads are formed solids of
various sizes, shapes and weights. Some of these are counted by
number of pieces like machine parts, molding boxes, fabricated items.
Tared goods like containers, bags, packaged items etc. and materials
which are handled en-masses like forest products (logs), structurals

40.  Bulk materials are generally handled by belt-conveyor,
screw conveyor, pneumatic conveyor, bucket elevator,
grab bucket, skip hoist, stacker-reclaimer, dumper-
loader etc. It can be handled by cranes / trucks when
collected in containers or bags. Small lump (powdered
/ granular) materials can be handled pneumatically or
hydraulically. Bulk materials are generally stored on
ground / floor in the open or under shed, and also in
bunkers / silos.

41. BASIC EQUIPMENT TYPES
 It is therefore, essential to classify such large number of
materials handling equipment into a few ‘‘basic types’’ for
meaningful discussion of these equipment. There has been
many attempts by stalwarts in the field of materials
handling to classify equipment in different ways.
 (i) Industrial Vehicles/Trucks.
 (ii) Conveyors.
 (iii) Hoisting Equipment.
 (iv) Bulk Handling Equipment/System.
 (v) Robotic handling system.
 (vi) Containers and Supports.
 (vii) Auxiliary Equipment.

46. MECHANISED MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENTS
AND ACCESSORIES,SAFETY
 a. Cranes: EOT or MOBILE cranes they should not be over loaded. EOT crane is
to be used to lift and move materials and not to be used as side pulling.
 Cranes should not be stopped with jerky motion, where the swinging material
will fall due to displacement of slings.
 Crane movements, while material is being moved or repair work is being done
should be governed by a standard code of signals transmitted to the crane
operator .
 Clear signals only to be taken, when the signal is not clear , crane should not
be operated .
 The operator should move the hoisting apparatus only on signals from the
proper person, but to stop signal should be obeyed regardless of who gives it,
otherwise it would result an accident.
 The operator should be governed absolutely by the signal.
 Crane rigger should be distinguishable from others, for easy spotting by the
crane operators.
 Employees who work near cranes or assist in hooking on or arranging loads
should be instructed to keep out from and under load.

47.  SAFE ACTS IN OPERATING A CRANE
 1. No one but an authorized operator be allowed to use any crane.
 2. When on duty, authorized operator should remain in the crane cabin ready for prompt service.
 3. Operator should never go on top of the crane or permit anyone else to do so without opening the
main power disconnect switch and looking it ‘OFF’ with a padlock.
 4. Before moving the trolley or crane bridge, operator should be sure that the hook is high enough to
clear obstacles.
 5. Operator should never permit the crane to bump into another crane or the buffers.
 6. Operator should Examine the crane at the start of every shift for loose or defective gears, keys,
runway railings, warning bell, signs, switches, down shop leads and cables and report defects. Make
sure that the crane is kept clear and well lubricated.
 7. While hoisting equipment is in operation, the operator should not be permitted to perform any
other work and he should not leave his position at the controls until the load has been safely landed
or returned to ground.
 8. Operator should not carry the load over men on the floor, sound the bell when necessary.
 9. Operator should not allow men to ride on a load or on crane hooks.
 10. If the power goes off, move the controller to ‘OFF’ position until power is available again. 11. Fire
extinguisher should be kept filled and in working condition.

48.  SAFETY RULES FOR CRANE OPERATORS 1. Never
pick up a load which is beyond the rated load capacity
of the crane. 2. Never move the load or the crane
unless you understand the signal. 3. Do not allow the
load to swing. 4. When hoisting or lowering the load
have clear space between load and adjacent
machineries or objects. 5. Do not smoke while
operating a crane. 6. Never leave a load suspended.

49.  SAFETY RULES FOR SLINGERS
 1 Check the slings before taking it for use at the beginning of each shift.
 2. A sling that has a stretched leg should not be used.
 3. Choose the proper sling (SWL, wire or chain) according to the weight of the object to
be lifted.
 4. Use proper attachments so that, when lifted the object will not fall or tilt.
 5. Satisfy yourself before giving orders to crane operator that all slings are securely
holding.
 6. Distribute the load equally on the legs of the sling.
 7. The slings are not kinked, twisted or knotted.
 8. Cylinders should be carried in a special cradle.
 9. The hook should be centered on the load before hoisting signal given.
 10. Slings should be lying on the center of the crane hook.
 11. Hands should be kept out of pinch points , while hooking or unhooking .
 12. Before slinging a load , find out if the unloading position is clear.
 13. Sharp edged objects usually lifted with chain slings. When suitable chain slings are
not available , wire rope sling with proper packing to protect the wire rope to be used
 14. Loose articles, should not be left on the load while moving the load

50.  Materials are handled in three methods:
 i. Manual handling ii. with the help of hand tool iii.
Mechanized material handling The accidents and injuries
that are common in unsafe material handling work are :
 a. Dropping or slipping of objects on the foot.
 b. B o d y o r g a n s Pressed in between objects and lifting
tackles.
 c. Cuts due to sharp edges.
 d Burns due to hot or corrosive substance.
 e. Sprains while lifting materials by wrong method.
 f. Scalp injuries while working in confined spaces