Plant layout improvement of the stainless-steel cookware manufacturing using CORELAP and graph–based method

Abstract

          Improving production efficiency by using new plant layout design as a guideline for improvements can be applied in a variety of industries. We studied the small stainless-steel cookware manufacturing in Chiang Mai province. This factory still had problems with the improper placement of machines. Machines used in successive production processes should be positioned close to each other, but instead of long-distance positions, which cause to use a long time of transportation. As a result, the production cost is high. In addition, the current economic situation is not good and market competition is high. Most industrial factories want to increase productivity and reduce production costs. This study was aimed to improve the plant layout to be more efficient by using CORELAP (computerized relationship layout planning) and graph-based method. The adjacency-based scorings were compared and it was found that the highest scores were the same. Therefore, we chose the CORELAP plant layout because the total rectilinear transport distance was less and the remaining space was more than the graph-based method plant layout. It was revealed that the total transportation distance compared with the current layout was reduced from 97.50 meters to 60 meters, or decreased by 38.50 percent. This reduces the overall cost of material handling or manufacturing costs.