A NEW FLOW DIAGRAMMING SCHEME FOR MAPPING AND ANALYSIS OF MULTI-PRODUCT FLOWS IN A FACILITY

Issue title: MANUFACTURING AND DESIGN

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zhou, Jin | Irani, Shahrukh A.

Affiliations: Department of Industrial, Welding and Systems Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A.

Abstract: The design of layouts for facilities that process a high variety of products requires the analysis of a large number of different product routings and their spatial representation on a planar layout of the facility. Traditionally, the representations of multiple product routings have been segregated into two categories: The From-To Chart, Flow Diagram and Multi-Product Process Chart are used for facility layout; whereas, the Machine-Part Matrix and Cluster Analysis Dendrogram are used for cell formation. This concept paper proposes a new charting tool – Modified Multi-Product Process Chart (MM-PPC) – that combines the capabilities of these traditional tools. The theoretical development of this new tool is explained and its utility illustrated using real-world layout problems.

Keywords: Material flow analysis, facility layout, cluster analysis, string alignment, cascading flowlines, modified multi-product process chart (MM-PPC)

Journal: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 25-58, 2003