Production planning and management - Agribusiness Management - page 338

Grinding

Painting

Part 1

Machining

Part 2

Drilling

Welding

Assembly

Figure 14.2 Process layout — farm implement manufacturing facility

Product layout

A product layout is geared specifi cally to the continuous production process because it
produces one product at a time, step by step, with one function following another in sequence
as the product is assembled, and with much fewer variations in product ( Figure 14.3 ).
Workers grading and packing peaches on a conveyor belt, for example, are operating in a
product layout framework. One person may remove debris, the next may be responsible for
sorting, while another oversees packing into crates, and so forth.
Advantages of product layouts include faster processing rates, lower inventories, less
skilled labor required, less time lost to product changeovers, and less materials handling.
One signifi cant disadvantage is that less fl exible and more capital-intensive resources are

Ref rigerated storage tanks Diluting/Mixing

Whole milk

Butter/Fat
separator

2% Milk

Skim milk

Plastic
gall o n fill

Finished goods storage

Capping

Paper pint and
half g a llon fill

Figure 14.3 Product layout — fl uid milk facility