Layout Design: Key to Advanced Assembly/Manufacturing Success
SAE 1986.

BY ROBERT PUTRUS, PE, CMC, CFE

Performance is the key element that must be considered in system layout design. This paper demonstrates the effect of factory layout design on the performance of flexible material handling systems.

Selected examples are included to indicate how system design can satisfy the objectives of flexibility by routing decision, efficiency, and resource utilization. The addition of resequencing buffers to the assembly operation plays a significant role in accomplishing these objectives.

Data presented in this paper include the logical use of the established principles and the results of simulation models developed and solved for each scenario.