Plant Layout Ergonomics: Impact of Problem and Solver Features on Layout Quality

Abstract

A study of people solving facility layout problems was made to estimate the effects of problem features on the quality of solutions obtained by novice and experienced subjects. An empirical experiment was conducted. Three features of these problems which were systematically varied in this study were: 1. Problem size, 2. Fraction of strong inter-departmental relationships, and 3. Fraction of departments requiring a non-standard amount of floor space. Both quantitative and subjective layout evaluations were made. It was found that layout quality was not affected by feature 3 for any values of the other features, using either evaluation method, and with either novice or experienced subjects. However, feature 2 proved to be significant for all experimental conditions, both evaluation methods, and with both subject groups. Feature 1 was a significant feature in some situations, but was not significant in others. Some differences in problem solving approaches were observed. There was a significant relationship between the design of higher quality layouts by experienced subjects and the use of a Relationship Diagram. Reducing the problem size and/or percentage of strong inter-departmental relationships in a problem may make a higher quality layout easier to achieve.