Lee Hales

By Lee Hales

Warehouses that are running out of space or capacity, or which require excessive travel, could benefit from a new layout. But how can you be sure to consider all factors when developing your new plan?

Systematic layout planning (SLP) is an easily learned process that gets better layouts faster than normal instinct and experience. It involves a team to assure that all relationships and alternatives are considered. In its simplest form, SLP follows these steps:

1. Record all operational relationships in the facility. Typically, there are dozens that matter and SLP gives you a simple chart to record and prioritise them all.

2. Estimate space requirements, tied to volume and inventory plans and considering the possibility of space-saving equipment.

3. Diagram activity relationships. Visualise which activities need to be closest, which can be far apart, and which should be separated for various operational reasons.

4. Prepare several "block" layouts showing placement of activity-areas. Each should honour your relationships yet differ in some significant way. This approach ensures a quick and better outcome than "single-threading" one layout at a time. No need to lay out all the equipment yet. Show just enough detail to ensure that the proposed layouts will fit and operate as intended.

5. Formally evaluate the block plans, measuring their travel if the facility is larger than 30,000 sqft. (3,000 sqm). Rate your plans against a set of factors or considerations and arrive at a total score for each. Include such intangibles as: ease of supervision, flexibility, appearance, ease of installation... And of course, evaluate the economics of each plan based on installation and operating costs. If you are lucky, the lowest-cost plan will also score the highest. But if not, you will be able to decide if intangible benefits are worth their higher cost.

6. Detail your selected plan. Lay in racks, shelves, benches, conveyors, stretch-wrappers, floor scales, battery charging and the like with confidence that you are detailing the best plan.

Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) provides a set of Excel templates for each step. If you are an industrial engineer, you are likely already aware of SLP. It is widely used throughout the world. But if not, you have an opportunity to learn it at the University of Kansas, April 17 - 19, and to practise on several case exercises. To learn more, visit Warehouse & Distribution Center Layout Seminar.

Lee Hales, president, Richard Muther & Associates, is an internationally recognised planner of manufacturing and distribution facilities.