Manychip, having identified the appropriate location for its major production facility, now wants your team to determine the optimal internal layout for the facility based on the following criteria:
A) The facility will manufacture several lines of memory chips, some with compatible components and some that do not have compatible components
B) The facility will also house an administrative support workgroup that will receive and process orders, bill customers, and provide payroll/HR support for the local workforce.
C) The facility will also be responsible for shipping to national, international, and local customer locations.
Using course materials and other research:
1. There are four types of potential layouts: product-based, functional, cellular and fixed-position layouts. Divide the work up with equality among individual team members so that each of the listed layouts is defined from an academic context and it is specified how it might apply to Manychip's facility.
2. Discuss your justification and choice for the most appropriate method for Manychip, and come to a consensus.
3. Finally, determine the most appropriate optimization models of the chosen layout(s). In other words, identify the best methods that Manychip can use to optimize workflow amongst those methods (individual layout types).