Plant Floor Organization Formats: Job Shop versus Flow Shop

flow, not job shop. Each work center (line) consists of some very dissimilar
pieces of equipment in a precise sequence: a bottle cleaner, a
filler, a cotton stuffer, a capper, a labeler, a case packer, and so forth.
Note: They don’t have all of the cotton stuffers in one corner of the
department, as the job shop layout would call for. This would be very
slow, inefficient, and a waste of space.
Many flow shops don’t use formal routing information inside the
computer because the routing is defined by the way the equipment is
located within the line or the cell. Where formal routings are maintained
in this environment, they often consist of only one operation.
In such a case, the routing might read “make the product” or “make
the part.”
In most situations in most companies, flow is superior to job shop:
• Products can be made much faster via a flow process than job
shop. Hence, shorter lead times and better response to customers’
needs.
• Inventories, both work-in-process and other, are much smaller.
Hence, less space is required; fewer dollars are tied up; obsolescence
is less likely.
• Less material handling is required. Hence, less risk of damage
and, more important, non-value-adding activities are reduced
with an attendant rise in productivity.
• Workers are more able to identify with the product. Hence, more
involvement, higher morale, better ideas for improvement.
There are other benefits from flow, one of which is simplicity (see
Figure B-1). Which is simpler? Which is easier to understand? Which
is less difficult to plan and schedule? Which allows for more visual
control and more immediate feedback?
The obvious answer, and the correct one, to all of these questions
is: flow shop. Well, so what? Unless you’re fully a flow shop today,
what should you be doing? The answer is, wherever possible, you
should be converting to flow, because if you don’t and your competition
does, you might be in trouble. And your competitors may be doing
just that because, as a general principle, the manufacturing world
is moving to flow. It’s too good not to do it.