The article titled “Improvement Plant Layout Using Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) for Increased Productivity” authored by Wiyaratn & Watanapa (2010) studies plant layout of iron manufacturing in relation to the systematic layout planning pattern theory (SLP). Wiyaratn & Watanapa (2010) posited that with the incessant increase of demand in production, industrial manufacturers need to step up their capabilities in production as well as effectiveness to be at par with their market rivals. On the same note, as the authors stated, the process of production needs to be equipped with the potential to have lower cost, but with higher effectiveness. According to the authors, several issues affect the production process. For example, staff can fail to work in an orderly manner, and that likely leads to confusion and a lack of standard time. Therefore, as the authors suggest, one of the ways of improving the working process is to redefine the steps in working, as well as the work area. This can be done through observation and fieldwork as well as proposing tools that facilitate the tasks to set a balance and find the standardized time. In essence, the most prominent way of achieving efficiency in production is to have a proper plant layout.
To illuminate on the core issues of the article, it was established that there was a significant waste of time and delay in manufacturing in the steel rod factory under study. To be specific, the main problems identified by the researchers were the movement of materials in a long line, interrupted flow of work, and useless area in the plant. In an attempt to solve such problems, the researchers applied the systematic layout planning method that showed a step-by-step plant design starting with input data to the evaluation of the plant layout.
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Data collection was the first step in the process. This step mainly involved observation, and to capture the data and the various aspects accurately, the researchers developed the operation process, the flow of material, and activity relationship charts. According to the collected data, the first problem with the original layout of the plant was that raw materials were transported over a long distance, which consequently means that there was considerable waste in time and energy. Secondly, the area was not used to the full potential; remaining materials and old machines still occupied the space in the working area, resulting in a useless area in the plant. Thirdly, material handling equipment, especially of the raw materials, was not good enough; forklift moved materials only in one direction, and the pathway was rigid because of the untidy arrangement of things. Lastly, although the storage area of billet had an actual potential of containing 9,310 tons per month, it could only store 8,000 tons per month.
Analysis of the plant layout using SLP established that efficiency could be achieved by organizing the critical sequence of the manufacturing process. In this way, work would flow continuously. Therefore, according to the researchers, efficiency could be bolstered at the steel rod factory by rearranging the processes. The production processes, which depended on each other, needed to be close to each other, to reduce the time of transport. Secondly, unwanted machines, old equipment, and the enormous unused materials in some of the spaces were to be removed. In so doing, the staff had more space to move. As the spaces were made more useful, the efficiency of the staff was also enhanced. The essential thing in this article, especially in relation to the steel rod factory is that SLP concerns the best arrangement and organization of space to make it more useful, and to boost the potential of staff.
Reference
Wiyaratn, W., & Watanapa, A. (2010). Improvement plant layout using systematic layout planning (SLP) for increased productivity. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology , 72 (36), 269-273.
