Facility Layout Project Alliance College Library Submitted to: Dr. Madhumita Mazumder Submitted by: Group 1 Aakanksha Agnihotri Anurag Agarwal Saloni Singh Smeet Patel Sushmita Chakraborty Yoga Moorthy
4/6/2009
ALLIANCE BUSINESS SCHOOL
CONTENTS
Sl.No.
Topic
Page No.
1
Introduction
1
2
Service Layout
1-4
3
Library Service Layout
5
4
Library Layout Map Exhibits
6-8
5
Analysis of Library Layout
9-11
6
Recommendations
12
7
Conclusion
13
2
1. Introduction Layout decisions entail determining the placement of departments, work groups within the departments, workstations, machines, and stock-holding points within a production facility. The objective is to arrange these elements in a way that ensures a smooth work flow (in a factory) or a particular traffic pattern (in a service organization). In general, the inputs to the layout decision are as follows: 1. Specification of the objectives and corresponding criteria to be used to evaluate the design. The amount of space required, and the distance that must be travelled between elements in the layout, are common basic criteria. 2. Estimates of product or service demand on the system. 3. Processing requirements in terms of number of operations and amount of flow between the elements in the layout. 4. Space requirements for the elements in the layout. 5. Space availability within the facility itself, or if this is a new facility, possible building configurations.
2. Service Layout The objective of a service layout (as is found in stores, banks, and restaurants) is to maximize net profit per square foot of store space. A company that has been very successful in leveraging every inch of its layout space to achieve this objective is Taco Bell Restaurants. Exhibit 1 illustrates Taco Bell store layouts used in 1986 and from 1991 to the present. The nature of the layout changes reflects actions required to support the company’s value strategy of speed and low prices. Key operational modifications include elimination of many on-site food preparation steps, which simultaneously increased the speed of service while reducing the amount of working space needed. For example, the chopping and bagging of lettuce and the precooking and seasoning of meats, beans, and hard tortilla products are now done at central kitchens or by suppliers. The restaurant kitchens are now heating and assembly units only. In addition to such outsourcing, changes were made in queue structures, such as moving from a single line running parallel to the counter, to a double line running perpendicular to it. This improved product flow facilitated serving drivethrough windows, increased capacity, and allowed customers to see assembly workers’ faces (as opposed to just their backs, as was the case before). The following exhibit is the floor space area of Taco Bel Restaurant and it clearly depicts how effective use of floor space can help in increased production as was witnessed by the restaurant.
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Following are the few factors to be considered while coming up with a service layout: •
Service capes
As previously noted, the broad objective of layout in retail services is generally to maximize net profit per square foot of floor space. Operationally, this goal is often translated into such criteria as “minimize handling cost” or “maximize product exposure.” However, as Sommers and Kernan observed more than 30 years ago, employing these and similar criteria in service layout planning “results in stores that look like warehouses and requires shoppers to approach the task like order pickers or display case stockers.”7 There are other, more humanistic aspects of the service that must also be considered in the layout. Bitner coined the term services cape to refer to the physical surroundings in which the service takes place and how these surroundings affect customers and employees. An understanding of the services cape is necessary to create a good layout for the service firm (or the service-related portions of the manufacturing firm). The services cape has three elements that must be considered: the ambient conditions; the spatial layout and functionality; and the signs, symbols, and artefacts.
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•
Ambient Conditions
The term ambient conditions refers to background characteristics such as the noise level, music, lighting, temperature, and scent that can affect employee performance and morale as well as customers’ perceptions of the service, how long they stay, and how much money they spend. Although many of these characteristics are influenced primarily by the design of the building (such as the placement of light fixtures, acoustic tiles, and exhaust fans), the layout within a building can also have an effect. Areas near food preparation will smell like food, lighting in a hallway outside a theatre must be dim, tables near a stage will be noisy, and locations near an entrance will be airtight. •
Spatial layout and Functionality
Two aspects of the spatial layout and functionality are especially important: planning the circulation path of the customers and grouping the merchandise. The goal of circulation planning is to provide a path for the customers that exposes them to as much of the merchandise as possible while placing any needed services along this path in the sequence they will be needed. It is common practice now to base merchandise groupings on the shopper’s view of related items, as opposed to the physical characteristics of the products or shelf space and servicing requirements. This grouping-by-association philosophy is seen in boutiques in department stores and gourmet sections in supermarkets. Special mention is in order for a few guidelines derived from marketing research and relating to circulation planning and merchandise grouping: 1 People in supermarkets tend to follow a perimeter pattern in their shopping behaviour. Placing high-profit items along the walls of a store will enhance their probability of purchase. 2 Sale merchandise placed at the end of an aisle in supermarkets almost always sells better than the same sale items placed in the interior portion of an aisle. 3 Credit and other non-selling departments that require customers to wait for the completion of their services should be placed either on upper floors or in “dead” areas. 4 In department stores, locations nearest the store entrances and adjacent to front-window displays are most valuable in terms of sales potential. •
Signs, Symbols and artefacts
Signs, symbols, and artefacts refer to the parts of the service that have social significance. As with the ambiance, these are often a characteristic of the design of the building, although the orientation, location, and size of many objects and areas can carry special meaning. As examples,
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• In the old days, bank loan officers were easily identified because their desks were located on a raised section of the bank floor called the platform. • A person seated at the desk closest to the entrance is usually in charge of greeting customers and directing them to their destination. • In a department store, the tiled areas indicate the aisles for travel, while carpeted areas indicate departments for browsing. • Some car salespeople have blackboards installed in their offices because a person writing on a blackboard symbolizes someone who should be listened to and trusted (such as a teacher). The influence of behavioural factors makes the development of hard and fast rules for services cape layout rather difficult. Suffice it to say that making the layout choice is not simply a matter of choosing between display space and ease of operation.
3. Library Service Layout There are three dimensions to the type of service- standard or custom design, amount of customer contact, and the mix of physical goods and intangible services. Objectives of Library Service layout operation: • • • • • •
• •
• •
Easily understood service flow pattern. Adequate waiting facilities. Easy communications with customers. Easily maintained customer surveillance. Clear exit and entry points with adequate checkout capabilities. Departments and processes arranged so that customers see only what you want them to see. Balance between waiting areas and service areas. Minimum walking and merchandise (books) movement. Lack of clutter. Attractive display of merchandise (books)
We have analysed layout of Alliance Business Library and given our recommendations to enhance the service layout and effective floor space utilization. Library services to be provided ➢ Copying: Self-service photocopiers, both black and white and colour. ➢ Binding: The Copy Centre offers a binding service at very competitive rates ➢ Just visiting: Any member of the public who needs to do so can visit the Library and
consult its collections. Individual and corporate external memberships are available upon application and allow members to borrow. .
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4. Library Layout Map
Exhibit 1: The Foyer
Source: Authored by the group
8
Exhibit 2: The books section
Source: Authored by the group
9
Exhibit 3: The elevated reading area
Source: Authored by the Group
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5. Analysis of Library Layout
Library is a service layout, hence the objective here should be to maximise the customer’s exposure i.e. the student’s exposure to the books and the reading facilities available in the library. The technique that we will be using here is ALDEP (Automated Layout Design Program). We will then select the best possible layout from a set of layout scores. The various departments of the library that we have considered are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Issue & Return Section Reading Area Reference Books Section Issuable Books section Dissertations & Reports Section Magazines Section
Total number of departments = 6 The closeness ratings that are considered are as shown in the table below: CLOSENESS
NOTATION
VALUE
Absolutely Necessary
A
64
Necessary
E
16
Important
I
4
Slightly Important
O
1
Unimportant
U
0
Undesirable
X
-1024
Some of the other assumptions are: • •
Minimum Department Preference = 4 Sweep Width = 2
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RELATIONSHIP (REL) CHART The relationships (REL) chart showing the departments and the area requirement as follows:
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DEPARTMEN TS
1.Issue & Return 2.Reading Area 3.Reference Books Section 4.Issuable Books Section 5.Dessertatio n & Reports Section 6.Magazine& Newspaper Section TOTAL AREA
1
-
2
3
4
5
6
AREA REQUIREMEN T (SQ.MT) (approx.)
Required Blocks 50sq.mt = 1 block
U
U
O
U
U
100
2
-
E
I
I
A
900
18
-
E
O
U
100
2
-
U
U
300
6
-
U
100
2
-
200
4
1700
34
Total approximate area is taken as 1700 sq.mts for the operating zone.
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Iteration1: Starting with Dept.2 at random i.e. the Reading Area, the layout can be designed as below: Blocks
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
2
4
4
4
4
2
2
2
6
6
4
4
3
2
2
6
6
5
5
4
2
2
2
2
1
1
5
2
2
2
2
3
3
6
2
2
2
2
0
0
Layout Score, LS1 =90 Iteration 2: Selecting Dept.5 at random after dept.6, the new layout design is: Blocks
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
2
5
5
3
3
2
2
2
6
6
4
4
3
2
2
6
6
4
4
4
2
2
2
2
4
4
5
2
2
2
2
1
1
6
2
2
2
2
0
0
Layout Score, LS2 =74 Since the design with the minimum layout score is most efficient, hence the second layout design is the best with a score of 74. 14
6. Recommendations for Library The following are the recommendation to improve the present layout of the library in order to maximise the exposure of the students to the books and other facilities in the library: ➢ It is important that the reference books section should be placed nearer to the reading
area so that more and more students can conveniently read them as there books are non-issuable. Whereas now only 2-3 tables are provided near the reference books. ➢ Lighting cost can be saved in the book shelf area by installing motion sensors that activate lights in a particular place whenever there is a person there and deactivate it when nobody is there. Presently lights are switched on and off as and when people walk into and out of a particular area in the book shelf area, leading to inefficiency. ➢ Books falling under one category or similar categories may be placed in shelves such that they are opposite each other, instead of the linear approach used now. Placing books in parallel shelves, facing each other, would result in reduced movement of people, saving their time, and saving electricity costs for the library. ➢ Entry/exit register could be shifted to the entrance of the main library from the entrance of the library building so as to avoid no-count registration of those who walk into the building to return/re-issue books or to go to use the reading room above the library or to use the lavatory. ➢ Library Catalogue is the key to checking what books, journals, DVDs and other
materials the library has in stock. Books are shelved by subject using the classification numbers on their spines. Journals (periodicals) are kept in the same general subject areas as the books but are shelved A-Z by title. Student requirements vary and can conflict with one another! To work together in small groups, the Library provides Group Study areas on Floor 1. All other work areas are designated for silent study. Study carrels on Ground Floor are available for private study to final year students and postgraduates.
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CONCLUSION The space in the library is used effectively but the services can be enhanced further to serve the students in the best possible and effective manner. Thus the recommendation on the basis of closeness chart as well as emphasising the various factors like Service capes, Signs, Symbols and artefacts, Spatial layout and Functionality, ambience etc the facility can be further improved. The library has sufficient space and resources to support large number of users. With a few changes as suggested before it can enhance its performance.
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