Process Layout is planning and integrating the paths of the component parts of a product to obtain the most effective and economical interrelationshop between human workers, equipment, and the movement of materials from receiving, through fabrication and assembly, to the dispatch of the finished product.

Process (Plant) layout may refer to an existing installation, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional plan, or the work involved in designing the most effective interrelationship between operating equipment and personnel, materials movement, storage facilities, service functions, and auxiliary equipment. Frequently, plant layout is thought of as dealing only with the careful and detailed planning of production equipment arrangement. However, this is really only one phase of a very extensive series of interrelated activity areas making up a typical industrial plant layout.

TMSS Online will configure manufacturing facilities for cost effective and efficient material flow. In order to evaluate potential layouts we use the criterion of minimisation of material handling cost. Since the material handling cost is a function of the frequency and distance of material moves, minimising the material moves and frequencies results in lower material handling costs. The advantages of using reduced material movement are.

• Reductions in aisle space requirements;
• Lower work-in-progress (WIP) levels;
• Lower throughput time;
• Less product damage;
• Lower probability of obsolence;
• Reduced requirements for storage space;
• Simplified material control and scheduling; and
• Less congestion in the system.