Layout improvement of railway workshop using systematic layout planning (SLP) – A case study

Railways workshop is responsible for periodic overhauling of coaching stock and serves as a base for manufacturing, repairing and supply parts to Sheds/Depots. With increasing demand for rolling stock, workshop needs to increase its potential in maintenance and effectiveness to satisfy the demand of passengers. At the same time, the maintenance process needs to be equipped with the ability to have lower cost with higher effectiveness. Plant layout is one of the most effective ways to reduce the cost of maintenance for the improvement in productivity. It also increases good workflow in the production route. This Paper describes existing workshop layout, coach flow analysis that will include areas and distances among different shops. After studying the present layout, it has been found that there is scope of reduction in time delay in maintenance. Problems of movement of coaches in a long line, interrupted flow and useless area of the plant are existing. Considering these problems, Systematic layout planning (SLP) is the best method to improve workshop layout, which shows step-by-step improvement in layout and evaluation of layout. This method suggests a new workshop layout that improves the flow among the shops and helps to decrease movement in the workshop.