1. Lean Office – Layout & Cells
Lean Office Series

2. Objectives of the Layout Strategy
Develop an economical layout which will meet the requirements of:
product design and volume (product strategy)
process equipment and capacity (process strategy)
quality of work life (human resource strategy)
building and site constraints (location strategy)
This may be again a good time to reinforce the point that all of an organization’s strategies must work together.

3. Six Layout Strategies Fixed-position layout Process-oriented layout
large bulky projects such as ships and buildings
Process-oriented layout
deals with low-volume, high-variety production (“job shop”, intermittent production)
Office layout
positions workers, their equipment, and spaces/offices to provide for movement of information

4. Six Layout Strategies - continued
Retail/service layout
allocates shelf space and responds to customer behavior
Warehouse layout
addresses trade-offs between space and material handling
Product-oriented layout
seeks the best personnel and machine use in repetitive or continuous production

5. Emergency Room Layout Surgery Radiology E.R. beds Pharmacy
Billing/exit
E.R.Triage room
E.R. Admissions
Patient B - erratic pacemaker
Patient A - broken leg
Laboratories
Students may be asked to evaluate alternative layouts for an emergency room. Perhaps a visit to view a local emergency room might be helpful.

6. Cellular Workplaces Includes Every Step Source Inspection
Point of Use Storage
Flexible Output
Reduced Lot Size
Simplified Handling
Visual Goals & Metrics
Okay, here's the equipment layout that a Cell Design Kaizen Team. A U-shaped flow cycles from the Raw Material (RM) through the 8 Work-stations to the Finished Goods (FG).
The cell works in a counter-clockwise U-shaped flow
The next step is to populate the cell with raw materials, components, drums of coolant & cleaners. All in labeled containers.
Now, we need access aisles all around the cell for material replenishment, equipment servicing and quicker changeovers. Main aisles on both ends of the cell allow for material flow and personnel flow between cells.
We've right-sized the material containers, so we eventually run out of raw materials and the green diamond represents a Kanban Post that will play a vital role in material replenishment
Now, the blue bin runs empty--no more parts--what happens next????
This rack on the backside of the cell contains a second set of components in a second set of labeled and right-sized containers.
So the operator simply walks the side-aisle to the rack, picks up a new container of parts and puts it in the work-station
But how do we get it replenished again?? Put the empty labeled bin on the Kanban Post and the Material Clerk who circulates throughout the shop will take the empty back and refill it before the backup container can be emptied.... FG RM

7. Retail Layouts - Some Rules of Thumb
Locate high-draw items around the periphery of the store
Use prominent locations such as the first or last aisle for high-impulse and high margin items
Remove crossover aisles that allow customers the opportunity to move between aisles
Distribute what are known in the trade as “power items” (items that may dominate a shopping trip) to both sides of an aisle, and disperse them to increase the viewing of other items
Use end aisle locations because they have a very high exposure rate
Students can be asked to provide examples of instances in which these rules were implemented.

8. Precedence Diagram ExampleB E H C D F G I
10 Min. 5 11 12 3 7 4