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The purpose of this paper is to show how the successful implementation of the just‐in‐time (JIT) philosophy in the manufacturing industry has helped to reduce cost and time and increase quality of products. Existing studies on JIT principles in the building industry were predominantly focused on the construction stage.

The empirical part consisted of pilot interviews with architects who designed ramp‐up light factories and a survey of tenants operating out of these factories.

The findings from the survey of tenants suggest that architectural designs, in terms of space and layout, have met the tenants' operational facilities needs. The tenants were generally satisfied with the ramp‐up light factory facilities design features, in relation to the relevant JIT principles.

The empirical findings were based on the user's perceptions and not on analyzing the actual physical facilities design of the ramp‐up factories with respect to JIT principles. This area is recommended for future research.

The application of JIT principles to further improve the facilities design of ramp‐up light factories would help to reduce waiting time and double handling of goods during transportation. In addition, the application of JIT principles also enhances the smooth flow of delivery to every unit with less damage to the quality of the goods being delivered.

This exploratory study is not about how the management of the design process can be improved. Rather, it examines, for the first time, whether the application of JIT principles to improving the facilities design of ramp‐up light factories would effectively meet the tenants' operational facilities needs and improve their productivity after they have moved into the premises.

The paper aims to present the concept, the layout design and the evaluation performed of a flexible field factory for construction industry. Both the concept and layout are focused on flexibility and mobility factors, providing a versatile system for manufacturing and assembly that can be transported to construction sites without need of special permissions.

The design is based on the design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) principles, lean manufacturing, and construction industry experts' knowledge.

The developed factory layout is dimensioned to fit in a standard 20‐feet‐long container. Simulation processes have been run to verify the viability of the system. The time estimates calculated in the simulations are compared with traditional in and off‐site construction method estimates, providing quantified cost and time benefits.

This paper presents the concept of the robotized field factory designed for on‐site prefabrication, the design of which began during the EU 6FP ManuBuild Project. This reconfigurable and flexible system is oriented to the production of small and medium size modular systems. The viability of the field factory has been evaluated thanks to the application of a modular system for building installations called Service Core. Its design has been based on DFMA and lean principles as well as the expertise from construction partners from the ManuBuild Project.

Examines the factors to be considered when developing a functional layout for new factories or offices. Considers the importance of gaining information from work studies, and developing an ideal layout before construction starts if the building is new. Concludes that factors such as travel times, facilities, communications, and location of equipment, and the opinions of employees are all worthy of consideration.

The purpose of this article is to develop a bi-directional relaxed flexible bay structure (BRFBS) in the layout for the unequal area facility layout problems (UA-FLPs) and test the suitability of the proposed approach using literature data.

This research adopts a two-stage solution approach for UA-FLPs to form BRFBS in the layout. The solution to UA-FLPs is carried out in discrete space. The proposed heuristic method optimises the layout plan for minimising the material handling cost (MHC), and also, it indirectly optimises the space utilisation by reducing the empty space in the layout. The first stage of layout design assumes that all facilities are equal in size and uses quadratic assignment problem (QAP) model. QAP is solved with a simulated annealing heuristic method. In the second stage, a heuristic method is proposed to find the optimum width for each bay and the dimension for facilities. The proposed heuristic method is tested with numerical data available in the literature. Results are compared with the results obtained by layout planning software, and with the simulated annealing algorithm for flexible bay structure (SA-FBS) heuristic procedure for continuous space UA-FLPs.

The proposed two-stage solution approach gives the BRFBS for the UA-FLPs. BRFBS helps to create proper aisle structure in the layout plan. The layout configuration and solution of the proposed method is better than the layout planning software solution and SA-FBS solution. The application of the proposed heuristic method to case data gave lesser MHC, better space utilisation and better aisle formation than the existing layout.

The proposed approach has the limitation that it can be applied only to UA-FLPs solved in discrete space. When the UA-FLPs are solved in continuous space, then it is not possible to make application of this approach to form bi-directional relaxed flexible bays in the layout plan.

Most of the modern industries are automated, and they use material handling equipment (MHE) like automated guided vehicles (AGVs). Design of layout plans that help to create proper aisle structure for AGV’s in the layout plan is a challenging to the researchers. The BRFBS configuration is more suitable in the flexible manufacturing system where AGVs are used for material transportation.

This paper proposes a novel two-stage heuristic method for solving the UA-FLPs in discrete space. The proposed approach generates a BRFBS in the layout plan. The BRFBS helps to create a proper aisle structure suitable for better material handling operations. Hence, this type of layout helps in easy interaction of the MHE (e.g. AGVs) with the boundaries of the facilities touching the aisle.

DRAUGHTSMEN can make a major contribution to productivity provided they are trained in work study. This fact emerged from a paper presented by Mr. B. A. Dyson, General Manager (Overseas Production) of Hoover Ltd., to a joint work study conference organised by the British Institute of Management.

A PROGRESSIVE increase in the standard of living is now widely accepted as both possible and desirable, even if the notion that it can be doubled within the next 25 years is dismissed as an optimistic flight of Butlerian fancy. The prerequisite is a substantial upsurge in the country's production. This was expressed succinctly by Mr. Victor Feather four years ago when, as Assistant Secretary to the Trades Union Congress, he told the Institute of Directors that ‘what can be done by any Government by way of social improvement depends on what Industry can produce and sell. About half the strikes that take place have nothing to do with hours or wages or conditions, but have a great deal to do with human relations. That field is one in which there must be patience, tolerance, concentration and great endeavour, but the rate of progress can and should be accelerated.’

Provides a link between the total quality philosophy and building design/factory layout. The basic principles of TQ are incorporated into the design of a 45,000sq.ft development (comprising offices of 15,000sq.ft and 30,000sq.ft of electronics assembly and test) through meeting the requirements, management by prevention, cost of quality and error‐ free work.

In this paper, the authors elaborate the notion of a hybrid factory: factories in which some production capacity is dedicated to process‐oriented manufacturing, and some is dedicated to product‐oriented manufacturing. We present the results of a field study of one such factory and, using it as an example, develop a list of eight issues that may arise as a part of implementing and managing a hybrid factory. Where possible, we tie these issues into existing research streams. We show how our field site addressed these issues and, based on their experience, suggest new areas for investigation by researchers. An examination of the way our field site implemented and managed a hybrid factory also provides insight for managers facing similar situations.

Time and Motion Study, as its name implies, has always advocated the integration of all Work Study interests. It has always held the view that Motion Study and Time Study are complementary to one another.

A new method for the measurement of the complexity of a facility layout problem is described which can be viewed as the degree of ease (unease) with which a given number of facilities can be optimally arranged. The existing approaches, namely, coefficient of variation and problem complexity rating, do not always produce consistent results. In the proposed approach, a cost matrix is converted into a similarity coefficient matrix and the standard deviation of the elemental values of a similarity coefficient matrix is used to determine layout complexity. The application of the proposed approach is illustrated through examples and the results are shown to be consistent and reasonably acceptable.