Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
dedicated to specifi c products that may have uncertain life cycles. In addition, a line can
work only as fast as its slowest operation and downtime can be expensive when one machine
on the production line breaks down.
Hybrid layout
A
hybrid layout
combines the process and product layouts to balance the advantages of
each (
Figure 14.4)
. Managers may choose this form of layout when introducing fl exible
manufacturing systems. In group technology applications, different machines are brought
together to produce a group (or family) of similar parts in an assembly-like fashion. Some
manufacturing fi rms have decreased work-in-process inventories by up to 90 percent using
such systems. The hybrid layout form is very popular in operations such as plastics molding
and even supermarkets. In a supermarket for example, the manager may place similar mer-
chandise in the same location to aid customers in fi nding the desired items (a process layout).
However, the supermarket layout is designed to
lead
customers through the entire store (up
and down aisles) maximizing their exposure to the full line of goods (a product layout).
Fixed position layout
A
fi xed position layout
is used in the construction of large items such as farm buildings and
silos (
Figure 14.5
). This layout is used in situations where the item being constructed is too
Meats
Deli
Milk and
milk products
Desserts
Fresh fruits and vegetables
Check cashing
Check-out
Entry
Sale items
Customer 1
Figure 14.4
Hybrid layout — supermarket
