Question

Watch the videos about the Arnold Palmer Hospital and the Wheeled Coach. Refer to chapter 9.

1) Identify the many variables that a hospital needs to consider in layout design.
2) What are the advantages of the circular pod design over the traditional linear hallway layout at Arnold Palmer?
3) What suggestions about Wheeled Coach layout would you make to Bob Collins?

Answer 1

When designing a hospital layout, variables such as room size, location of emergency rooms, and flow of patients and supplies need to be considered. The circular pod design at Arnold Palmer Hospital offers advantages such as shorter walking distances and better visibility. Suggestions for Wheeled Coach layout include efficient flow, proper organization, and quality control stations.

Step-by-step explanation:

1) Variables to consider in hospital layout design:
When designing a hospital layout, several variables need to be considered. These variables include:

• Size and number of patient rooms
• Location of emergency rooms and operating rooms
• Placement of support services like pharmacies and labs
• Efficient flow of patients, staff, and supplies
• Accessibility and safety considerations

2) Advantages of circular pod design at Arnold Palmer:
The circular pod design at Arnold Palmer Hospital offers several advantages over the traditional linear hallway layout. These advantages include:

• Shorter walking distances for patients, visitors, and staff
• Better visibility and wayfinding due to the circular layout
• Improved communication and collaboration between departments
• Efficient use of space and potential for expansion
• Enhanced patient experience and satisfaction

3) Suggestions for Wheeled Coach layout:
To Bob Collins, I would suggest considering the following for the Wheeled Coach layout:

• Efficient flow of materials and people, ensuring a smooth production process
• Clear separation of work zones to minimize cross-interference
• Optimization of space utilization to accommodate different departments and functions
• Proper organization and storage solutions for equipment and inventory
• Placement of quality control stations at critical points in the production line

Answer 2

The variables that a hospital needs to consider in layout design are:

• Hospitals need to consider patient flow, staff flow, equipment placement, infection control, safety, and cost when designing their layout.

2) The advantages of the circular pod design over the traditional linear hallway layout at Arnold Palmer are:

• Reduced travel time for nurses
• Improved patient monitoring
• Increased staff efficiency
• Reduced noise levels

3) The suggestions about Wheeled Coach layout would you make to Bob Collins are

• Continue to reduce work-in-process inventory
• Consider using a just-in-time (JIT) inventory system
• Invest in technology to improve communication and coordination

The Arnold Palmer Hospital's circular pod design prioritizes patient care with enhanced visibility, efficient communication, and minimized disturbance.

So, In hospital layout considerations, variables include space efficiency, patient flow, specialized departments, privacy, technology integration, regulatory compliance, accessibility, and emergency preparedness. Wheeled Coach Industries' layout tells more on proximity and flexible labor deployment, etc.

video transcript below

at first glance you may think the

0:24

assembly line at wheel coach looks like

0:26

controlled chaos but take a closer look

0:29

the company's ambulance assembly

0:31

activity actually uses a combination of

0:33

assembly line and work cell layout all

0:35

aided by a precise arrangement of people

0:38

skills and tools the arrangement chosen

0:42

by wheeled coach has evolved over the

0:44

years

0:44

when Weyland plant manager explains you

0:47

know layout is very important to the

0:49

manufacturing organization as with any

0:51

type of business I'm sure and ours did

0:54

go through an evolutionary process but

0:56

over the years there's a few things that

0:57

we've hung on to they've always worked

0:59

well for us and that's proximity keeping

1:02

support items is support functions and

1:05

support materials as close as possible

1:08

continuum of layout choices ranges from

1:49

main line there they'll spend eight days

3:11

force and skill across those lines so

4:24

we'll have kind of a cell within the

4:26

assembly line that can float back and

4:28

forth as the labor requirements for

4:30

different lines increase or decrease we

4:32

were able to get a capacity plan for

4:35

that line station and from that capacity

4:38

plan a departmental capacity plan for

4:40

the line station the leadership in that

4:42

area can look at the needs of the

4:44

vehicle by labor requirement

4:47

and move the skills that are all trained

4:48

across those lines to move from this

4:51

line to that line depending on the day's

4:52

requirements at the end of each workday

4:56

five custom-built ambulances roll off

4:58

the assembly line ready for delivery to

5:01

the customer who may be as close as the

5:03

next County or as far away as England

5:05

Egypt Australia or Japan in the past

5:09

we've had twenty-seven throughput days

5:12

or work-in-process days going through

5:14

our factory and anybody that's

5:16

associated with working process knows

5:18

that working process is money and

5:20

interest tied up in inventory it's

5:22

spreading out your geographical span of

5:24

control and it's a loss of communication

5:27

just by sheer distance and more process

5:30

management over the years we've worked

5:33

to eliminate work in process and today

5:35

and our large model products we call our

5:38

mods we have a 19 day throughput which

5:40

reduced us eight days and we've reduced

5:42

our van production to a 14 day

5:44

throughput this decrease in throughput

5:47

or the amount of time that it takes to

5:49

get the process out from beginning to

5:50

end has helped us in a number of ways

5:52

one we've cut our holding cost of money

5:54

we reduce our inventory levels and third

5:57

and most important to me we've gained

5:59

tighter control over our quality and our

6:02

manufacturing process the facility

6:05

layout at wheeled coach industries is a

6:07

good example of how operations

6:09

management techniques can be applied to

6:11

a real manufacturing setting it also

6:14

shows why layout is one of the ten

6:16

critical decisions of operations

6:18

management by considering material

6:21

handling capacity space environment and

6:24

information flow the company is

6:27

constantly reducing costs and achieving

6:29

greater efficiency

English (auto-generated)