The process of arranging a work space for a factory or office is often done informally. The people working in the area all have opinions about who should be where or what equipment goes here or there. Here’s a better way, Richard Muther’s Simplified Systematic Layout Planning:
- Chart the Relationships
- Establish Space Requirements
- Diagram Activity Relationships
- Draw Space Relationships
- Evaluate Alternative Arrangements
- Detail the Selected Layout Plan
Let’s dig in … To chart the relationships make a list of each activity involved on a relationship chart and code and score the interaction between pairs as so :
- A – Absolutely necessary = 16
- E – Especially important = 8
- I – Important = 4
- O – Okay = 1
- U – Unimportant = 0
- X – Undesirable = -80
Here’s the current map.
Here’s a rearrangement.
Here’s the math…
