Product Based Layout
Also called the straight line layout or layout for serialized manufacture, product layout involves the arrangement of machines in one line depending upon the sequence of operations. Materials are fed into the first machine and finished products come out of the last machine. In between partly finished goods travel automatically from machine to machine the output on one machine becoming the input for the next. It is a feast for the eyes to watch the way sugar cane fed atone and of the mill, comes out as sugar at the other end. Similarly, in paper mill bamboos are fed into the machine at one end and paper comes out at the other end.
The grouping of machines should be done on product line the keeping in mind the followings principles:
- All the machine tools or other items of equipment must be placed at the point demanded by the sequence of operations:
- There should be no points where one line crosses another line.
- Materials may be fed where they are required for assembly but not necessarily all at one point and
- All the operations including assembly testing and packing should be included in the line.