have full flexibility

employ conveyor belts, trucks, tractors etc.

be a general purpose type

be designed as special purpose for a particular application

an idea of the flow of materials at various stages

a compact estimate of the handling which must be done between various work sections

the information for changes required in rearranging material handling equipment

an approximate estimate of the handling which must be done at a particular station

batch production

continuous production1

effective utilization of machine

all of the above

specialisation exists

machines are arranged according to sequence of operation

few number of nonstandardised units are to be produced

mass production is envisaged

product layout

functional layout

automatic material handling equipment

specialization of operation