Product Flow & Facility Design - Coursework Example

Product Flow & Facility Design Student’s Name: Institution: Introduction Product flow and facility design forms an essential part of the hospitality and tourism industry. Product flow within the hospitality is greatly dependent on the customer preference towards a particular product, for example, a tourist attraction destination. Facility design represents the enterprises put in place to run the flow product within the facility. A facility in this case represents a hotel property offering a number of services to its end consumers. Hospitality Facilities Management and Design outlines the methods or techniques that ought to be taken into account to ensure the smooth running of the hotel business. The various areas of a hotel property that should keep running smoothly include the food section, the sanitary section and the bakery section etc. Product flow within the facility should be eased to increase efficiency through the better management of space which also saves on operational time. Thesis Statement The focus of this paper is to highlight on the various factors that influence the operational factors within a facility and the relevant measures that should be taken to ensure that a building space are considered for maximum layout effectiveness. This discussion emphasizes on the factors that have to be considered in determining the layout and design approach to implement within a hotel facility. Facility layout and design is a significant element of business general processes. This is intended to expedite the flow of product within the operational premises with the aim of accomplishing the business set goals, for example, meeting the needs of employees and set terms of maximizing the effectiveness of the production process. The elementary objective of a lean layout design is to guarantee a smooth workflow of business operations, handling of material and information via a designed system. Facility Layout and Design The fundamental meaning of a facility is the space in which a business's undertakings take place. It is worth noting that the layout and design of that space greatly impacts on how the work is done within the business premises. The work flow majorly determines the output of production. The material handling costs and that formation processed via the system form key components that run a good facility having a cost effective layout and design. Furthermore, it is important to appropriately integrate the needs of the working staff and customers, the raw materials both those in processing and those finished. All these machinery components should work together in in such a way that they create a single, well-functioning system The hospitality business is big and very diverse. This is because most of the time, individuals travel, eat out, go to the movies and stay in a hotels. Clients are patronizing institutions within the hospitality industry via creating a market need for a wide range of products offered or provided by a single institution. This can be witnessed in malls and big hotels that offer many services, for example, swimming pools, gyms, accommodation, conference area and movie theatres and even cyber cafes. The administration of business that operates in the hospitality industry proves to be quite challenging. This is because constantly managers are required to be adequately flexible to anticipate and meet the diverse requirements the hospitality industry has to satisfy or the numerous clients. The supervision section of the industry also has the responsibility to handle the tasks such as handling the work staff, training new workers and implementing the policies or setting standards for operating the business. The factors mentioned below need to be considered: 1. Ease of future expansion or change This is the most paramount factor to consider before getting into the hospitality industry. The facilities, for instance, hotels ought to be planned in such a way that they can be simply adjusted or expanded to meet any fluctuating production needs. Although restructuring a facility can prove to be a major and costly undertaking for a businessman or manager, there is always the probable time that a redesign of the business premises will be necessary to conform to its growing production requirements. Therefore, it is advisable to design a flexible system that is highly automated to facilitate for more room in case there is need to increase the volume of production for all the various products volume production of a variety of products. The main aim for optimizing production is to minimize or reduce setup times or remodelling for manufacturing the diverse goods while still attaining close to assembly line (single-product) manufacturing rates. 2. Number of Movements between Work Centres The first and most fundamental part to look into in this particular operational scenario is the movement of the inventory (products) and the individual activities carried out by the business personnel. The movement of inventory, for example, meals or food products being served to customers within or around the business premises, regulates the choice of layout plan to be implemented for the business. Consequently, the minimization of the stock movement is crucial in the success of operations and subsequently saves on time and operational costs. The industrial layout should be in such a way that the movement between the working centres are smooth and easy, that is, facilitates any movement among any of the work centres, back and forth without wasting a lot of operational time emphasized by (ELBERT 2013) on the topic regarding lean production. The most exemplary and logical way to accomplish this working criteria would be to designate any two working departments with large amount stock movement proximity so as to save on fuel costs, transportation costs and most importantly operational time. So as to categorize which particular centres frequently have a large amount of stock or inventory movement within the business centres, a work Travel Chart is created to indicate the weekly sum of the activities and travels among the different departmental centres. The table below shows the operation sequence of all the products manufactured by the business. It also shows the respective allocated business sub-sections used during the production of each of the products. Notably, this will aid in appropriate decision making during the layout designing processes (DENNIS 2002). 3. Workers Movements The overall movement of the workers also form an important aspect in the decision making process of choosing an appropriate work out plan. Selecting the safest layout plan is essential in minimizing movement, which not only saves on costs, but also conforms to a working ethic which minimizes the risk involved during working hours. These risks comprise of the injuries incurred by workers during the daily operational errands from one department section to the next. The design of the facility ought to reflect an acknowledgment of the significance of smooth process flow. In the case the hospitality industry, the idealistic plan would depict the reception of raw supplies entering the hotel at one end and the consumer utilizing the finished product at the other. Conversely, backtracking is to be eluded in whatsoever pattern is chosen in developing a flow diagram. Criss-crossed handling of material in a way that tends to interfere with the workflow and most of the time employees, the paperwork become confusing to manage. It is vital for the administration or layout planner to implement a coordinated work flow diagram that is not complicated, but instead favours movements. 4. Material Handling Costs Entrepreneurs ought to make sure that the layout of the facility eases material handling (for example, containers, equipment and machinery) in an efficient, simple and orderly manner. The costs incurred while handling the material in the business can be determined through analysing the movement of foodstuffs between the different departments. In most cases, between 20%-50% of the business operation expenditures are usually instigated by the expenses gotten from the handling of material. Consequently, a well-designed layout facilitates the reduction in operational costs. An assessment carried amid the different departments aimed at identifying the most efficient way to handle product movement showcases numerous and different alternate ways that output the best production. This subsequently reduces the out to identify the most cost efficient layout. This evaluation established on computing the material handling costs can be viewed below on the work centre analysis tree and the table of comparison between working centres. 5. Both visual and audio management In any processing business, operational activities have to be coordinated to effectively execute one activity after the other to successfully go through all the running stages. To achieve the highest form of communication within the premises, numerous visual or graphical communications are including within the lean layout plan or schematics to aid in showing various instructions. For example, the placement of overhead an electronic board, that provides the business working staff with information regarding the current status of products in the production line. In the hospitality industry, most facilities tend to have receptionist who aid the clients by giving them direction, for example, welcoming them into the premises. Communication is eased through the use of support systems automated menus in hotels; drive in food outlets, waiters in restaurants, all with the sole aim of satisfying the customers’ needs. Any facilities operating within the hospitality industry ought to lay out communication strategies within several areas of the business. Similarly, the interactions that happen between the customers and vendors can be achieved in a realistic and effective manner. Furthermore, the support or customer care centres should be positioned in locales that aid service within the operational areas. 6. Safety The layout of the facility should support the business to efficiently function in accordance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommendations and other legitimate limitations. Signs and symbols can also be used in scheme to give directions and warnings on the most risky sections of the production house. For instance, there might be a work section that has a slippery floor or another work centre with sharp objects like knives in the kitchen. Electrical charges or even varying temperature might end up hurting an individual. In addition to that, the while layout plan is wired with phone booths with speaker phones that complement or improve the communication speed to the specific work centres. 7. Impact on employee morale and job satisfaction Subsequently, numerous readings have specified that employee self-esteem has a key effect on output. Business managers and owners ought to be mindfulness towards this factor every time considering facility design options: Certain layout designs that can increase employee confidence include windows that provide ample lighting, ample spacing of devices and equipment, clean waxed floors or even colourful painted walls. Other methods that may be less evident and are not openly related to the manufacturing process may comprise of a gymnasium or even a cafeteria within the facility design. Providing a meeting area for the workforce or even an entertainment area where personnel take work breaks can go a long way in ensuring morale is kept high. Conversely, a manger should look into the business expenses that are incurred through traded off. For instance, a hotel owner should ration and quantify if it is cost effective to the increase employee morale through offering supplementary services to their workers, e.g., a staff cafeteria or break time lounge. The increase in productivity should accrue revenue to the point that it covers the cost of building and staffing the cafeteria. 8. Promotional value and Thinking Green This mainly involves the incorporation plant life within the business premises. The placement of flowers and attractive structures in the whole layout, for example, placing the flower pots offer a pleasing and appealing environment to work. In addition to the complementary look like using flowers, the whole layout can have dustbin instalments to promote environmental cleanliness via aiding in proper waste management. Since the industry or facility generally takes in visitors in the form of investors, vendors and customers. As a business owner, it is important ensure that the layout of the facility possesses an attractive outlook that further endorses the industry's status or public image. Initiative elements that can impact the level of attraction that a facility retains comprise of not only the plan of the production area itself, but the effect that it has on, for example, ease of gratifying cleanliness expectations of the facility. Sample Workflow Diagram for Industry Providing Bakery Services Conclusion Convincingly, product flow within the hospitality industry is greatly dependent on the transport and communication structure that support and facilitate the design for all the hotel buildings and food warehouses. The basic design of any industry determines the time and schedule for receiving and processing goods. Customers need to get there goods and services availed on time to ensure client satisfaction and in turn earn the hotel and leisure industry revenue. A well implemented layout in any business premises aids or eases the flow of products within the system. Additionally, the business save on operational time while minimizing the operation costs. References ELBERT, M. (2013). Lean production for the small company. Boca Raton, FL, CRC Press. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=968001. DENNIS, P. (2002). Lean production simplified: a plain language guide to the world's most powerful production system. New York, Productivity Press. LITTLEFAIR, P. J. (2011). Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight: a guide to good practice. [Bracknell], IHS BRE Press. RIPNEN, K. H. (1960). Office building and office layout planning. New York, McGraw-Hill. YONS, A. C., VIDAMOUR, K., JAIN, R., & SUTHERLAND, M. (2013). Developing an understanding of lean thinking in process industries. Production Planning & Control. 24, 475-494. HARRIS, C., HARRIS, R., & STREETER, C. (2011). Lean supplier development establishing partnerships and true costs throughout the supply chain. Boca Raton, CRC Press. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=589896. Read More