An activity relationship chart (ARC) is a tabular means of displaying the closeness rating among all pairs of activities or departments.[1] In an ARC there are six closeness ratings which may be assigned to each pair of departments, as well as nine reasons for those ratings (each is assigned by a reason code).
Rating symbols
- A: Absolutely necessary
- E: Especially important
- I: Important and core
- O: Ordinary
- U: Unimportant
- X: Prohibited or Undesirable [2]
Reason codes
- Same table
- Flow of material
- Service
- Convenience
- Inventory control
- Communication
- Same personnel
- Cleanliness
- Flow of parts[2]
A rule of thumb is used to restrict the choice of rating letters:
- Very few A and X relationships (no more than five percent) should be assigned
- No more than 10 percent should be E
- No more than 15 percent should be I
- No more than 20 percent should be O
- About 50 percent of the relationships should be U
Developing an ARC
- List all the departments within the facility, and draw a rectangle around each one.
- Draw a rhombus between each department, until you fully construct the rhombus as a tree.
- Divide each rhombus into two halves; the upper half will contain the rating letter, while the lower half will contain the rating-reason code.
References[edit]
- ^ Groover, M. P. (2007). Work Systems: The Methods, Measurement & Management of Work, Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0-13-140650-6
- ^ a b Tompkins, J. A., White, J. A., Bozer, Y. A. (2010). Facilities Planning, Wiley, ISBN 978-0-470-44404-7
How to Create Activity Relationship Chart in Excel
Introduction to Activity Relationship Chart
Designing the arrangement of the amenities that already exist on the production floor in order to maximize their productivity is known as facility layout. These resources could be tools, personnel, spaces, etc. For increased output, all of the assets must be appropriately organized on the shop floor. The foundation for creating any form of plant layout is an Activity Relationship Chart. For this chart to provide a useful plant layout, extreme care must be taken in its design.
What Is Activity Relationship Chart?
An Activity Relationship Chart is also known as ARC in short. It’s in a tabular form to express the closeness rating between all sets of activities or departments. Each pair of departments in an ARC may be given one of the six closeness ratings, with nine justifications for each rating (each is assigned by a reason code).
Closeness Rating and Basis of the Coding in Activity Relationship Chart
The relationship chart shows which entities are connected to one another and assesses how important that connection is. The ratings and their closeness are given below.
| RATING | CLOSENESS |
|---|---|
| A | Absolutely necessary |
| E | Especially important |
| I | Important and core |
| O | Ordinary |
| U | Unimportant |
| X | Prohibited/Undesirable |
Also, there are some reasons behind this closeness. We express them through number codes. So, you can see them below.
| CODE | REASON |
|---|---|
| 1 | Flow of Material |
| 2 | Ease of Supervision |
| 3 | Common Personnel |
| 4 | Necessary Contact |
| 5 | Noise |
| 6 | Similar Pieces of Equipment |
Importance of Activity Relationship Chart
The primary goal of the Activity Relationship Chart is to guarantee that the facility you are developing has the shortest possible distance between two pieces of equipment or departments that are crucial to one another. If the prior activity hasn’t been completed, no other activities can be performed. Imagine if you assigned a metal object to paint first, then welding, as opposed to welding first, then painting? Therefore, putting facilities closer together and shortening cycle times are the main goals.
4 Steps to Create Activity Relationship Chart in Excel
In this section, we’ll learn the 4 basic steps to create an Activity Relationship Chart in Excel. So, let’s go through them one by one.
Here, we have used Microsoft Excel 365 version, you may use any other version according to your convenience. Don’t forget to inform us if you face any trouble while using any other versions of Excel.
Step 01: Create Basic Outline
In the first and foremost step, we should create a basic outline where all the elements of the chart can accommodate themselves. It’s so simple and easy also. So, let’s see it in action.
📌 Steps:
- At the very beginning, create a table in the B4:M14 range.
- In cell B4, we wrote down the text Departments.
- Besides, we can see 1 to 10 in Column B and in Row 4. These are the serial number of the departments which we’ll input in the next step.
- Also, we have left the D5:M14 range blank for future usage.
Step 02: Disclosure of Department Names
In the next step, we’ll insert the names of the departments of the facility. Here, we’ll use 10 different departments in our sheet. So, without further delay, let’s dive in!
📌 Steps:
- At this time, write down the name of the departments one after one in the C5:C14 range.
- In this case, we adverted the Fabrication, Welding, Paint, etc. departments.
Step 03: Construct Cell Borders
Now, the main part of embellishment comes. We’ll modify the blank spaces in the table to create the Activity Relationship Chart. Let’s see the process in detail.
- At first, select cells in the D5:M14 range.
- Then, go to the Home tab.
- After that, click on the Borders drop-down on the Font group of commands.
- Later, select All Borders from the list.
- Again, select the previous range.
- Additionally, repeat the previous steps to open the Borders drop-down list.
- But, this time, select the More Borders option at last.
Immediately, the Format Cells dialog box appears before us. Automatically, it will take us to the Border tab.
- Then, apply the diagonal border as shown in the image below.
- As usual, click OK.
Step 04: Give Closeness Rating and Reasons in Each Cell
In this last step, we’ll do the technical part of this chart. Before starting, the dataset is purely fictitious and used only for your understanding. So, let’s get started.
📌 Steps:
Before inserting the data, we’ll restrict some cells. Because no data will sit in them. To do this,
- Firstly, select the cells along the diagonal in the D5:M14 range.
- Secondly, proceed to the Home tab.
- Thirdly, click on the Fill Color drop-down icon on the Font group.
- Afterward, select Black from the Theme Colors.
- Now, select cell E5 and write down the following text in that cell.
There are 5 blank spaces between these two letters. We did it intentionally to accommodate these on both sides of the diagonal border in the cell.
- After that, press the ENTER key.
- Similarly, fill up the other cells with correct data.
If you want to find the relationship between the Welding and Receiving departments, how could you do that? It’s so easy.
The serial numbers of these two departments are 2 and 5 respectively. So, you will find the result at the intersection of 2 and 5.
