Facilities Layout planning
The final strategic decision in operations planning is to assess and select among alternative layout options for equipment and work stations. This step is called facilities layout planning. The objective of layout planning is to find a physical arrangement that will best facilitate production efficiency and that will also be appealing to employee and customers.
Layout planning begins by assessing space needs. Space has to be provided for areas, tools and equipment, storage, maintenance facilities, rest room, offices, lunch areas and cafeterias, waiting rooms, and even parking lots. Then, on the basis of the previously decided process plans, various layout configurations can be evaluated to determine how efficient each is for handling the work flow. A number for layout-planning devices are available to help make these decisions; they range from simple, scaled-to-size paper cutouts to sophisticated computer software programs that can manipulate hundreds of variables and print out alternative layout designs.
There are basically three work-flow layouts. The process layout arranges components (such as work centers, equipment, or departments) together according to similarity of function. Figure 18-4 illustrates the process layout at a medical clinic. In product layout, the components are arranged according to the progressive steps by which the product is made. Figure 18-5 illustrates a product layout in a plant that manufactures aluminum tubing. The third approach, the fixed-position layout, is used when, because of its size or hulk, the product remains at one location. The product stays in place, and tools, equipment and human skills are brought to it. Movie lot sound stages and the manufacturing of airplanes and cruise ships illustrate the fixed-position layout. The building of your 28-foot sailboats is likely to use either a product or a fixed position layout.
Aggregate Planning
Once the strategic decisions have been made, we move to the tactical operations decisions. The first of these deals with planning the overall production activities and the operating resources needed to do them. This is called aggregate planning and often deals with a time frame of up to a year.
The aggregate plan provides a "big picture. On the basis of the sales demand forecast and capacity plan, The aggregate plan establishes inventory levels and production rates and estimates the size of the total operation's labor force on a monthly basis approximately the next 12 months. The focus is on generalities, not specifies. Categories of products, not individual items, are considered. A paint company aggregate plan would look at the total number of gallons of house paint to be manufactured but would avoid decisions about color or size of container. As such, the aggregate plan is particularly valuable to large operations that have a varied product line. As you will see in the next section, for the small, one-product firm, such as our sailboat manufacturing operation, the aggregate plan will look like the master schedule, only it covers a longer time frame. When completed, the aggregate plan