Production flow analysis and simplification toolkit

The layout of a facility is a key factor that influences its ability to reduce throughput times, maintain low WIP levels and maximize space utilization. Traditionally, a facility planner uses, as-is, the from–to chart representation of the material flow network in the facility to design a new layout. This paper introduces the production flow analysis and simplification toolkit (PFAST) to evaluate and simplify the material flow network in any facility prior to the design of the layout. The idea for PFAST resulted from the observation that algorithms for machine and part family grouping for cell formation could be applied to layout design. The algorithms for cell formation tend to use operation sequences (or a 0–1 matrix, bipartite graph or hypergraph representation). The algorithms for facility layout primarily use the from–to chart derived from the operation sequences. Depending on the type of input data and desired results, PFAST offers a variety of algorithms to the facility planner. In this survey paper, eleven algorithms that comprise the current version of this toolkit are reviewed and demonstrated using a single data set. The paper concludes with a description of several ways in which the outputs from different algorithms in this library could be used synergistically to support facility layout.