In Fixed product layout, the products generally circulate
within the production facilities (machines, workers, etc.); in
this particular type of layout, the product does not move, it is the
different resources that are moved to perform the operations on
the product. This type of layout is commonly found in
industries that manufacture large size products, such as ships or
aircrafts. Process layout groups facilities with similar functions
together (resources of the same type). This organization is often
reported to be suited when there is a wide variety of product.
Product layout is used for systems with high production
volumes and a low variety of products. Facilities are organized
according to the sequence of the successive manufacturing
operations. In Cellular layout, machines are grouped into cells,
to process families of similar parts. These cells also need to be
placed on the factory floor. Therefore, one is also generally
concerned with so called intra cells machine layout problems,
as mentioned for example in (Proth, 1992, ch. 3) and (Hamann
& Vernadat, 1992). Here, one is concerned with finding the best
arrangement of machines in each cell.