Plant Location
Plant location refers to the choice of region and the selection of a particular site for setting up a business or factory.
Factors Affecting Plant Location
Plant location must be selected properly by entrepreneurs while planning to set up their business units. While taking such a decision, they must consider some important factors.
The ten main factors that affect a plant location are as follows:
1. Law and order situation,
2. Availability of infrastructure facilities,
3. Good industrial relations,
4. Availability of skilled workforce,
5. Social infrastructure,
Factors Affecting Plant Location
6. Investor friendly attitude, 7. Nearness to market,
8. Nearness to raw-materials' source,
9. Nearness to supportive industries and services, and 10. Must meet safety requirements.
Plant Layout
After deciding above the proper site for locating an industrial unit, next important point to be considered by an entrepreneur is to decide about the appropriate
layout for the plant. Plant layout is primarily concerned with the internal set up of an enterprise in a proper manner.
It is concerned with the orderly and proper arrangement and use of available resources viz., men, money, machines, materials and methods of production inside the factory. A well designed plant layout is concerned with maximum and effective utilisation of available resources at minimum operating costs.
The concept of plant layout is not static but dynamic one. It is on account of continuous manufacturing and technological improvements taking place
necessitating quick and immediate changes in production processes and designs.
A new layout may be necessary because of technological changes in the products as well as simple change in processes, machines, methods and materials”.
Plant Layout
A new layout also becomes necessary when the existing layout becomes ineffective and poor or is not conducive to the changed circumstances.
There are certain indications which raise alarm for immediate changes in the existing layout of plant.
These indications may be in the form of excessive manufacturing time, improper storage, lack of control over materials and employees, poor customer service, excessive work in progress and work stoppages etc.
Plant Layout
In order to clearly understand the concept of Plant layout, a few definitions can be
enumerated here:
“Plant layout is the arrangement of machines, work areas and service areas within a factory”. —George R. Terry
“Plant layout involves the development of physical relationship among building, equipment and production operations, which will enable the manufacturing process to be carried on efficiently”. —Morris E. Hurley
“Any arrangement of machines and facilities is layout”. —F.G. Moore
Plant Layout
“Plant layout can be defined as a technique of locating machines, processes and plant services within the factory so as to achieve the
greatest possible output of high quality at the lowest possible total cost of manufacturing”. —Sprigal and Lansburg “Plant layout ideally involves the allocation of space and the arrangement of equipment in such a manner that overall operations cost can be minimized.” —J. Lundy
From these definitions it is clear that plant layout is arrangement and
optimum utilization of available resources in such a manner so as to ensure maximum output with minimum input.
Objectives of Plant layout:
A properly planned plant layout aims at achieving the following objectives:
1. To achieve economies in handling of raw materials, work in- progress and finished goods.
2. To reduce the quantum of work-in-progress.
3. To have most effective and optimum utilization of available floor space.
4. To minimize bottlenecks and obstacles in various production processes thereby avoiding the accumulation of work at important points.
5. To introduce system of production control.
6. To ensure means of safety and provision of amenities to the workers.
Objectives of Plant layout:
7. To provide better quality products at lesser costs to the consumers.
8. To ensure loyalty of workers and improving their morale.
9. To minimize the possibility of accidents.
10. To provide for adequate storage and packing facilities.
11. To workout possibilities of future expansion of the plant.
12. To provide such a layout which permits meeting of competitive costs?
Types of Plant layout
Some of the important types of plant layout are:
A. Product or line layout,
B. Process or functional layout,
C. Layout by stationary material (Project Layout)
