(a) (i) Re-organising the existing facility is an expensive exercise. Explain how you can delay the factory layout under the following situations:

• The facility is experiencing increased production volume

• Over time the facility has become congested.

(ii) If you have a discrete item manufacturing system, what should be the best approach to factory layout? (Indicate what should be the focus and how you will go about creating the new layout design)

(b) (i) Briefly outline the SMED procedure and explain how cost, quality and flexibility are affected by set –up time reduction.