Module 3 : Product, Process, and

Schedule Design
Recall the facilities planning process for manufacturing can be listed as:

1. Define the products to be manufactured

2. Specify the manufacturing processes and related activities required to
produce the products
3. Determine the interrelationships among all activities
4. Determine the space requirements for all activities
5. Generate alternative facilities plan
6. Evaluate the alternative facilities plan
7. Select the preferred facilities plan
8. Implement the facilities plan
9. Maintain and adapt the facilities plan

Among the questions to be answered before alternative facility plans can be generated
are the following:

1. What is to be produced?
2. How are the products to be produced?
3. When are the products to be produced?
4. How much of each product will be produced?
5. For how long will the products be produced?
6. Where are the products to be produced?

The answers to the first five questions are obtained from product design,  process design,
and schedule design, respectively. The sixth question might be answered by facilities
location determination or it might be answered by schedule design when production is
to be allocated among several existing facilities.
Product designers specify what the end product is to be in terms of  dimensions, 
material composition, and perhaps, packaging.
Process  planner  determines  how the product will be produced.
 Production planner specifies the production equipment the facilities planner is
dependent on timely and accurate input  from  product, process, and schedule designers
to carry out his task effectively.
Facilities planner is dependent on timely and accurate input  from  product, process, and
schedule designers to carry out his task effectively.
 

 
Figure 1 Relationship between product, process, and schedule (PP&S) design and
facilities planning

Module 3 .1 Introduction
Relationship between product, process, and schedule (PP&S) design and facilities
planning

 In this module we focus on the product, process, and schedule (PP&S) design
functions as they relate to facilities planning. The success of a firm is
dependent on having an efficient production system. Hence, it is essential that
product designs, process selections, production schedules, and facilities plans
be mutually supportive. Figure 1 illustrates the need for close coordination
among the four functions.

 Frequently, organizations create teams with product, process, scheduling, and

facilities design planners and with personnel from marketing, purchasing, and
ac- counting to address the design process in an integrated, simultaneous, or
concur- rent way. Customer and supplier representatives are often involved in
this process. These teams are referred to as concurrent  or simultaneous
engineering teams. The team approach reduces the design cycle time,
improves the design process, and minimizes engineering changes. Companies
implementing this integrated approach have reported significant
 improvements in cost, quality, productivity, sales, customer satisfaction,
delivery time, inventories, space and handling requirements, and facilities
utilizations

 Product, process, schedule, and facilities design decisions are not made
independently and sequentially. A clear vision is needed of what to do and
how to do it (including concepts, techniques, and technologies to consider).
For example, management commitment to the use of multiple receiving docks,
smaller lot sizes, decentralized storage areas, open offices, decentralized
cafeterias, self-managing teams, and focused factories will guide the design
team in the generation of the best alternatives to satisfy business objectives
and goals and make the organization more competitive.

 In the case of an existing facility with ongoing production operations, a change

in the design of a product, the introduction of a new product, changes in  the
processing of products, and modifications to the production schedule can
occur without influencing the location or design of the facility.

 In many instances, however, changes in product, process, and schedule design

of current manufacturing facilities will require layout, handling, and/or storage
modifications (especially if the design change requires varying levels of
inventories, space, people, offices, and machines).

 In this module we are concerned with the interactions between facilities

planning and PP&S (Product , Process and Schedule) design. Hence, we
assume either a new facility or a major expansion/modification to an existing
facility is being planned.

Module 3.2 Product Design

Product Design
Product design involves both the determination of which products are to be produced
and the detailed design of individual products. Decisions regarding the products to be
produced are generally made by top management based on input from marketing,
manufacturing, and finance concerning projected economic performance.
 Exploded Assembly Drawing
 

Detailed operational specifications, pictorial representations, and prototypes of the product are
important inputs for the facilities planner. Exploded assembly drawings, such as given in figure  1
below, are quite useful in designing the layout  and  handling system. These  drawings generally
omit specifications and dimensions, although they  are drawn to scale.

Figure 1. Exploded Assembly Drawing

 
 Exploded part photograph

As an alternative to the exploded assembly drawing, a photograph  can be  used  to  show the
parts properly oriented. Such a photograph is given  in  Figure 2 photographs and drawings allow
the planner to visualize how  the  product  is assembled, provide a reference for part numbers, 
and  promote  clearer  communications during oral presentations.
Detailed component part drawings

Detailed component part drawings are needed for each component part. The drawings should
provide part specifications and dimensions in sufficient detail to allow part fabrication. The
combination of exploded assembly drawings and component part drawings fully documents the
design of the products.
 The
drawings can be prepared and analyzed with computer aided design (CAD) systems. CAD
is the creation and manipulation of design prototypes on a computer to assist the design
process of the product.
 In addition to CAD, concurrent engineering (CE) can be used to improve the relationship
between the function of a component or product and its cost. CE provides   a
simultaneous consideration in the design phase of life cycle factors such as product,
function, design, materials, manufacturing processes,  testability,  serviceability,  quality,
and reliability. As a result of this analysis, a less expensive but functionally equivalent
product design might be identified. CE is important because it is at the  design stage that
many of  the costs of a product are specified.  It has been estimated  that more than 70%
of a product’s manufacturing cost is dictated by design decisions.

Module 3 .3 Process Design

Process Design
The process designer or process planner is responsible for determining how the  products to be
produced. As a part of that determination,  the  process  planner  addresses who should do the
processing namely, should a particular product, subassembly, or part be produced in-house or
subcontracted to an outside supplier or contractor? The “make-or-buy” decision is part of the
process planning function.

Identifying Required  Process

Determining the scope of a facility is a basic decision and must be made early in the
facilities planning process. For a hospital whose objective  is to serve the health needs 
of a community, it may be necessary to limit the scope of the facility by not including   in
the facility a burn-care clinic, specific types of  x-ray  equipment,  and/or  a psychiatric
ward. The excluded services, although needed by the community, may not  be feasible
for a particular hospital. Patients requiring care provided elsewhere would  be referred
to other hospitals.
Similarly, the  scope of a manufacturing facility must be established by determining    the
processes that are to be included within the facility. The extremes for a manufacturing
facility may range from a vertically integrated firm that purchases raw materials and
proceeds through a multitude of refining,  processing,  and  assembly  steps to obtain a
finished product, to another firm that purchases components and assembles finished
products. Therefore, it is obvious that the scope and magnitude of activities within a
manufacturing facility are dependent on the decisions concerning    the level of vertical
integration. Such decisions are often referred to as “make-or-buy” decisions.
Make or Buy Decisions

Make-or-buy decisions are typically managerial decisions requiring input from finance, industrial
engineering, marketing, process engineering, purchasing, and perhaps human resources, among
others. A brief overview of the succession of questions leading to make-or-buy decisions is given
in Figure 1. The input to the facilities planner is a listing of the items to be made and the items to
be purchased. The listing often takes the form of a parts list or a bill of materials.
Make or Buy Decisions (Part List)

The part list provides a listing of the component parts of a product. In addition to make-

or-buy decisions, a part list includes at least the following:

1. Part numbers
2. Part Name
3. Number of parts per product
4. Drawing references
Make or Buy Decisions (Bill of Materials)

A bill of materials is often referred to as a structured parts list, as it contains the same
information as a parts list plus information on the structure of the  product. Typically, the
product structure is a hierarchy referring to the level of product assembly. Level 0 usually
indicates the final product; level 1 applies to sub assemblies and components  that feed directly
into the final product; level 2 refers to the subassemblies and components that feed directly into
the first level, and so on.
Selecting Required Processes

Once a determination has been made concerning the products to be made “in-house”,
decisions are needed as to how the  products will be  made. Such decisions are  based 
on previous experiences, related requirements, available equipment, production rates,
and future expectations. Therefore, it is not uncommon for different processes to be
selected in different facilities to perform identical operations. However, the selection
procedure used should be the same.
Process Identification

Step 1 D
Step 2 I
Step 3 A
Step 4 S
Step 5 E
Step 6 S

Figure 5  Process selection procedure

The outputs from the process selection procedure are the  processes, equipment,
and   raw materials required for the in-house production of products. Output is generally 
given in the form of a route sheet. A route sheet should contain at least the data given 
in table 1 below.
Sequencing  Required Processes

The only process selection information not yet documented is the method  of 
assembling the product.
Sequencing  Required Processes (Assembly Chart)

An assembly chart (figure 6) provides such documentation. The easiest method of

constructing an assembly chart is to begin with the completed product and to trace the
product disassembly back to its basic components.
For example, the assembly chart given in figure 6 would be constructed by  beginning in
the lower right-hand corner of the chart with a  finished  air  flow  regulator. The first
disassembly operation would be to unpackage the  air  flow  regulator (operation A-
4). The operation that precedes packaging is the  inspection of  the air flow
regulator. Circles denote assembly operation. inspections are indicated on assembly
charts as squares. Therefore, in figure 6 a  square  labeled  I-1  immediately precedes
operation A-4. The first component  to  b e  disassembled  from the air flow
regulator is part number 1050, the pipe plug, indicated by operation A-3. The lock nut is
then disassembled, followed by the disassembly of the body assembly (the subassembly
made during subassembly operation SA-1) and the body. The only remaining steps
required to complete the assembly chart are the labeling of the circles and lines of the
seven components following into SA-1.
“The easiest method of constructing an assembly chart is to begin with the completed
product and to trace the product disassembly back to its basic components.”
 
Note: 
Route sheets-  provide information on production  methods
assembly  charts - indicate how components are combined, neither provides an overall
understanding of the flow within the facility.
Sequencing  Required Processes (Operations Process Chart)

Operations Process Chart - a chart results that does give an overview of the flow within
the facility
Figure 7. Operation Process Chart for the airflow regulator
 
To construct an operation process chart, begin at the upper right side of the chart with
the components included in the first assembly operation. If the components are
purchased, they should be shown as feeding horizontally  into  the  appropriate 
assembly operation. If the components are manufactured, the production methods 
should be extracted from the route sheets and shown as feeding vertically into the
appropriate assembly operation. The operation process chart may be completed by
continuing in this manner through all required steps until the product is ready  for
release to the warehouse.
 
The operation process chart can be complemented with transportations, storages,
and delays (including distances and times) when the information is available.
Sequencing  Required Processes (Precedence Diagram)

Precedence Diagram

 A second viewpoint is to interpret the charts as network representations, or

more accurately, tree representations of production processes. A variation of
the network viewpoint  is to treat the assembly chart and the operation 
process chart as special   cases of a more general graphical model.
 The precedence diagram is a directed network and is used in project planning
 Examples of Precedence diagram are 
o critical path  diagrams 

o  PERT charts  (Program Evaluation Review Technique) 

Note:  Review of Project Management 

Critical Path Analysis (CPA) or the  Critical Path  Method (CPM) - In project management,
a critical path is the sequence of project network activities which add up to the longest
overall duration, regardless if that longest duration has float or not. This determines the
shortest time possible to complete the project.
PERT charts- Is a project management planning tool used to calculate the amount of time
it will take to realistically finish a project.
A precedence diagram for the air flow regulator is given in Figure 8 The precedence
diagram shows part numbers on the arcs and denotes operations and inspections by
circles and squares, respectively. A procurement operation, 0100, is used in Figure 8 to
initiate the process.
The following convention is used in the construction of the precedence diagram as
illustrated in Figure 8. Purchased parts and materials that do not require modifications
are placed on the top and bottom part of the diagram so that they can be inserted in the
center part of the diagram when needed (packaging materials,  pipe plug, lock nut, spring,
and O-rings). The center part of the diagram is then used to include purchased materials
and/or components that require some work before being assembled (body, plunger
housing, plunger, seat ring, and plunger retainer). Fabrication and assembly operations
are placed in the center part of the diagram.
The precedence diagram representation of the operations and inspections involved in a
process can be of significant benefit to the facilities planner. It establishes the
precedence relationships that must be maintained in manufacturing and assembling a
product. No additional constraints are implicitly imposed; no assumptions are made
concerning which parts move to which parts; no material handling or layout decisions are
implicit in the way the precedence diagram is constructed. The same claims cannot be
made for the assembly chart and operation process chart.
 
Group Technology

Group technology is having an impact on product and process design. Group technology
refers to the grouping of parts into families and then  making  decisions based on family
characteristics. Groupings are typically based on part  shapes,  part sizes, material types,
and processing requirements. In those cases where there are thousands of individual
parts, the number of families might be less than 100. group technology is an aggregation
process that has been found to be quite useful  in  achieving standardized part numbers,
standard specifications of purchased parts, for example, fasteners and standardized
process selection.