Production-time Evaluation Technique for Small Manufacturing Plants

Abstract

Small manufacturing plants in developing countries usually experience challenges of inefficiency and low production yields. These problems have previously been addressed using methods to redesign plant layouts and reduce distance between workstations. For the new designs, assessment techniques like the machine-distance matrix method have been required to evaluate their performance. However, these assessments that rely only on distance evaluation are severely limited. In this paper, a new technique is presented which is more detailed for evaluating production layout efficiency. The technique called Production-time evaluation is a mathematical model computing the estimated time for production at workstations and for movement between workstations. It is then applied on a case study in small furniture plant. The existing layout of the plant was extracted and the production processes for its three products were outlined. A new layout was designed and both layouts were compared using the Production-time methodology, revealing improvements in reduced production time and increased daily production capacity.