The importance of a layout can be described as under: Avoidance of Bottlenecks: Bottlenecks refer to any, place in a production process where materials tend to pile up or produced at rates of speed less rapid than the previous or subsequent operations. Bottlenecks are caused by inadequate machine capacity, inadequate storage space or low speed on the part of the operators. The results of bottlenecks are delays in production schedules, congestion, accidents and wastage of floor area. All these may be overcome with an efficient layout. Avoidance of Unnecessary and Costly Changes: A planned layout avoids frequent changes which are difficult and costly. The incorporation of flexibility elements in the layout would help in the avoidance of revisions. Better Production Control: Production control is concerned with the production of a product of the right type at the right time and at reasonable cost. A good plant layout is a requisite of good production control and provides the plant control officers with a systematic basis upon which to build organisation and procedures. Better Supervision: A good plant layout ensures better supervision in two ways: (a) Determining the number of workers to be handled by a supervisor and (b) enabling the supervisor to get a full view of the entire plant at one glance. A good plant layout is, therefore, the first step in good supervision. Economies in Handling: Nearly 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the manufacturing costs are accounted for by materials handling. Every effort should, therefore, be made to cut down this cost. Long distance movements should be avoided and specific handling operations must he eliminated. Effective Use of Available Area: Every unit of the plant area is valuable, especially in urban areas. Efforts should therefore, be made to make use of the available area by planning the layout properly. Improved Employee Morale: Employee morale is achieved when workers are cheerful and confident. This state of mental condition is vital to the success of any organisation. Morale depends on better working conditions: better employee facilities; reduced number of accidents, and increased earnings. Improved Quality Control: Timely execution of orders will be meaningful when the quality of the output is not below expectations. To ensure quality, inspection should be conducted at different stages of manufacture. An ideal layout provides ample space to carryout inspection to ensure better quality control. Improved Utilisation of Labour: A good plant layout is one of the factors in effective utilisation of labour. It makes possible individual operations, the process and flow of materials handling in such a way that the time of each worker is effectively spent on productive operations. Minimisation of Production Delays: Repeat order and new customers will be the result of prompt execution of orders. Every management should try to keep to the delivery schedules by minimising delays in production. Minimum Equipment Investment: Investment on equipment can be minimised by planned machine balance and location, minimum handling distances, by the installation of general purpose machines and by planned machine loading. A good plant layout provides all these advantages. Illustration 9. The present layout is shown in the figure. The manager of the department is intending to interchange the departments C and F in the present layout. The handling frequencies between the departments is given. All the departments are of the same size and configuration. The material handling cost per unit length travel between departments is same. What will be the effect of interchange of departments C and F in the layout A E V4 B D F 30 B D E F From / To A C 90 0 160 0 B - 70 50 100 0 180 0 130 0 20 D 10 E 40 F