Simulation for facility layout redesign : Coventry city council : reengineering a multi-activity depot layout

This paper presents an application of simulation modelling within a facility layout reengineering on behalf of a services' organisation; Coventry City Council (CCC). This organisation was burdened with its operational activities that take place at its depot. The available parking places were not adequate to meet the fleet's needs and, in addition, were disproportionally dedicated to the operational activities. Some parts of the depot were bustle with life whereas others were laid idle. Consequently, the poor depot design resulted in inefficiencies in terms of heavy congestion at the entry-exit points, at the resources (fuel station, waste transfersite etc.), Health and Safety issues, lack of control, low space utilisation, high risk of vandalism, and untidy appearance. Therefore, the major objective of this project constitutes the redesign of the depot's layout after evaluating alternative viable plans and deciding on the most valuable. To address this facility layout problem, simulation modelling was employed. Testing various risk-free scenarios, managers could study the performance characteristics of the proposed layouts without affecting the real system. The recommended layout involved the reallocation of resources, the reorganisation of the network of roads, the operational vehicles to be parked at dedicated parking places, and explicit operating rules to be followed by the drivers. © ECMS, 2006