Problem: Gearworks, Inc, manufactures parts for industrial machinery. The manufacturing process requires a variety of machines that grind, heat treat, and polish steel into various shapes. Three different product lines are produced using a traditional process-oriented plant layout as follows:
1) Discuss the differences in traditional process-oriented plant layouts and cellular product oriented plant layouts.
2) Draw a revised plant layout for Gearworks, assuming management wishes to redesign the plant layout to use three manufacturing cells.
3) Why are prodcut oriented plant layouts more efficient than process oriented plant layouts?Explain
4) What types of savings would managers expect to realize by redesigning the plant layout from process-oriented to product-oriented?