experiment_version: "1.0"
experiment_id: "TPS-TC-007"
metadata:
name: "Cell Layout Design: U-Line vs Straight Line"
description: |
Validate that physical layout significantly impacts performance.
U-shaped cells enable better operator balancing through multi-machine
handling, reducing balance delay loss.
author: "PAIML Engineering"
created: "2025-12-11"
tags: ["tps", "operations", "cell-design", "u-line", "layout"]
equation_model_card:
emc_ref: "operations/littles_law"
hypothesis:
null_hypothesis: |
H₀: Physical layout and material flow patterns have no significant impact
on system performance when processing times are identical.
alternative_hypothesis: |
H₁: U-shaped layout improves operator utilization and balancing
efficiency by 10%+ compared to straight line.
expected_outcome: "reject"
reproducibility:
seed: 42
ieee_strict: true
simulation:
stations: 8
operators: 3
layouts:
- name: "straight_line"
topology: "linear"
operator_zones: [[1,2,3], [4,5], [6,7,8]]
walk_time_factor: 1.0
description: "Traditional straight production line"
- name: "u_shape"
topology: "u_cell"
operator_zones: [[1,2,8], [3,4,7], [5,6]]
walk_time_factor: 0.7 description: "U-shaped cell with multi-machine handling"
processing:
task_times: [8, 10, 9, 11, 7, 12, 8, 10] takt_time: 12
demand:
rate: 300
duration:
warmup: 60 simulation: 480 replications: 20
falsification:
criteria:
- id: "TC7-UTIL-VAR"
name: "Utilization variance"
condition: "util_var_u < util_var_straight * 0.5"
severity: "major"
interpretation: "U-line balances workload better"
- id: "TC7-BALANCE"
name: "Balance efficiency"
condition: "balance_eff_u > balance_eff_straight * 1.1"
severity: "major"
- id: "TC7-CT"
name: "Cycle time improvement"
condition: "ct_u < ct_straight"
severity: "minor"
jidoka:
enabled: true
stop_on_severity: "critical"
verification:
metrics:
- name: "balance_delay"
formula: "(n * CT - sum(task_times)) / (n * CT)"
description: "Fraction of time lost to imbalance"
- name: "operator_utilization_variance"
type: "variance"
description: "Variance in utilization across operators"
statistics:
comparison_test: "paired_t_test"
alpha: 0.05
reporting:
format: "markdown"
output: "reports/tps/tc7_cell_layout.md"