Glossary
Factory planning A–Z
Short, citable definitions of the key terms in layout planning, material flow analysis and plant structure planning.
The methods themselves are covered in depth in the guides with step-by-step approaches, worked examples and checklists.
- Aisle width
- The usable width of a traffic route between objects, racks or machines. In Germany the technical rule for workplaces ASR A1.8 derives the required width of vehicle routes from the width of the vehicle or its load plus safety allowances; two-way traffic and routes shared by vehicles and pedestrians increase the requirement. Guide: Online layout planning →
- Block layout
- The coarse arrangement of functional areas as blocks of space inside a building, without individual machines. The block layout fixes adjacencies, the shape of each area and the main route network, and the big decisions of a layout planning run are made at this level. Guide: Online layout planning →
- Factory planning
- The planning, design and transformation of factories across all levels, from site selection through plant structure and building layout down to the workplace. The German guideline series VDI 5200 describes the planning process as a sequence of phases from setting objectives to ramp-up support. Guide: Factory planning software →
- Floor space balance
- The structured recording and evaluation of all types of floor space in a factory building or area: production space, storage and buffer space, traffic routes, social areas and other space. The floor space balance shows how efficiently space is used and forms the basis for replanning and expansion decisions. Guide: Online layout planning →
- From-to matrix
- A table of all transport relationships between areas, stations or workplaces. Rows represent sources, columns represent destinations; each entry contains the transport volume (units, weight or transport trips) per period. The from-to matrix is the basis for material flow analysis and for calculating transport intensities. Guide: Material flow analysis with a from-to matrix →
- Ideal layout
- The arrangement of functional areas with no regard for building boundaries, column grid or existing structures, governed solely by the transport relationships. The ideal layout is an intermediate planning step: it shows the flow-oriented arrangement before constraints turn it into the real layout. Guide: Online layout planning →
- Layout planning
- The graphical and computational planning of the spatial arrangement of machines, equipment, workplaces, storage and conveyor technology within a building or area. Layout planning takes material flows, occupational safety requirements, traffic routes and space efficiency into account. In matflow, layout planning happens in the browser. Guide: Online layout planning →
- Lead time
- The time an order or workpiece needs from entering to leaving the section under review, including processing, transport, queueing and waiting time. In processes that have grown over time, lead time is dominated by waiting at inventory points rather than by processing. Guide: Value stream design vs. material flow →
- Material flow analysis
- The systematic recording and evaluation of all transport relationships within an area or plant. Its basis is the from-to matrix; multiplied by the distances in the layout it yields transport intensities per relationship and transport performance as the comparison figure between layout variants. Guide: Material flow analysis with a from-to matrix →
- Plant structure planning
- Planning the fundamental spatial and organisational structure of a plant or site, including site selection, site division, access and building arrangement. Plant structure planning is the top planning level that frames factory planning and layout planning.
- Sankey diagram
- A flow diagram in which the width of each band is proportional to the volume transported. In material flow analysis it shows the proportions between sources and destinations independently of the geometry, which makes it suitable for decision papers. Named after Matthew H. Sankey, who used the representation for energy flows in 1898. Guide: Material flow analysis with a from-to matrix →
- Takt time
- The available working time of a period divided by customer demand in the same period. Takt time sets the rhythm production has to deliver in and is the reference against which the cycle times of individual process steps are checked. Guide: Value stream design vs. material flow →
- Transport intensity
- The product of transport volume and transport distance (volume × distance), typically in tonne-kilometres or unit-metres per period. A high transport intensity between two areas indicates that they should be located close to each other in an optimised layout. Guide: Material flow analysis with a from-to matrix →
- Transport performance
- The total transport work of a conveyor system or factory per unit of time, expressed as transport volume × distance (e.g. t·m/h or units·m per shift). Used as a key figure for the utilisation of transport equipment and the efficiency of factory layouts. Guide: Material flow analysis with a from-to matrix →
- Value stream design
- The design of a target value stream based on value stream mapping. It follows principles such as producing to takt time, continuous flow where possible, pull control through defined buffers, a single pacemaker process and levelled programmes. The result is a target value stream map with an action plan. Guide: Value stream design vs. material flow →
- Value stream mapping
- A method from the lean environment that maps the path of a product family from raw material to customer: process steps, inventory, material and information flow, and the control logic. Its key figures include lead time, days of inventory coverage and the flow ratio. The representation is deliberately not to scale. Guide: Value stream design vs. material flow →
- Variant evaluation
- The systematic comparison of several planning scenarios (variants) against defined criteria, e.g. transport intensity, space requirements, investment costs and flexibility. The aim is a traceable, data-based decision rather than a purely intuitive choice of layout. Guide: Factory planning software →