Process Analysis and Work Design

Flashcards covering key concepts from process analysis and work design.

Process Flowcharting

A common type of process map that visually represents the steps of a process, system, or workflow in sequential order.

Value Stream Mapping (VSM)

A lean manufacturing technique used to analyze, design, and manage the flow of materials and information required to bring a product to a customer.

Cycle Time (C/T)

The actual amount of time that it takes to create a product or work a process, defined as the time between the completion of successive units.

Throughput

The amount of product or service that a company can produce or deliver to a client within a specified time.

Bottleneck

A point of congestion in a production system that limits the overall capacity or speed of the entire process.

Theory of Constraints (TOC)

A problem-solving methodology that helps identify the most important bottleneck or limiting factor standing in the way of achieving goals.

Lead Time

Total time from a customer's order to delivery, including all wait times and processing times.

Little's Law

A formula that describes the relationship between Work-in-Process (WIP), throughput, and lead time in any workflow.

Value-Added Time

Actions that increase product worth from the customer's perspective, directly contributing to the product's transformation.

Non-Value-Added Time

Activities that do not enhance value and are often considered waste; includes waiting, overproduction, and unnecessary motion.

Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR)

A production scheduling method that manages the primary bottleneck and optimizes overall performance while controlling work-in-progress.

Performance Measurements

Metrics such as efficiency and utilization that assess actual output against design capacity, helping to identify bottlenecks and improve operations.

Common Symbols in Flowcharts

Symbols like process steps, decisions, inputs/outputs, and connections used to create a flowchart for visualizing processes.

Standard Time

The time that includes normal working time plus allowances for personal, fatigue, and delay; used in time studies.

Allowances in Time Studies

Factors such as personal allowance, fatigue allowance, and delay allowance that are accounted for to make time studies realistic.

Work Sampling

A time study method that estimates the proportion of time spent on different tasks over a defined period.

Process Efficiency (PE)

A measure of productivity defined as the ratio of value-adding time to the total time involved in a process.