Operations Management Lesson 2 (chaps 6 + 7)

Process mapping can be used to understand the operations

• Established common ground for understanding

• Understand how the process is currently designed

• Align the process with performance objectives

work in progress

number of items in the process as an average over a period of time

throughput rate

the rate at which items emerge from a process

cycle time

time between items emerging from the process (reciprocal of throughput rate)

—> average processing time it takes to complete a specific task or process

Little’s law

throughput time = work in process x cycle time

lead time

customer centric view of throughput which considers the time from first contact to payment

pre-processing time

average time between order creation and order start

tact time

cycle time needed to match rate of production to rate of consumption

tact time = available production time / number of ordered units

bottleneck

the stage in a production process that reduces overall speed and efficiency due to limited capacity.

long thin process design: sequential arrangement

controlled flow, simpler handling, lower capital requirements, potentially more efficientshort fat pro

short fat process design: parallel arrangement

higher variability flexibility, higher volume flexibility, higher robustness/resilience, work is less boring

utilisation of process resources

proportion of available time that the resources within the process are performing useful work

types of processes

• project

• jobbing

• batch

• mass

• continuous

• professional service

• service shop

• mass service

project processes

discrete, highly customised products, relatively long timescale between completion of each item, well-defined start and finish --> low volume and high variety

jobbing processes

high variety, low volumes. Each product has to share the operation's resources with many others

batch processes

Wide range of volume and variety levels

mass processes

high volume, low variety production of standardized products.

continuous process

high volume, highly standardized production of products that flow continuously

professional services

services that require specialized expertise and are tailored to individual client needs. (management consultants, lawyers,…)

service shops

service environments that provide a moderate level of customization for customers, combining both high interaction and some standardization. (banks, high-street shops, schools, restaurants…)

mass services

services that are highly standardized and provided to a large number of customers, with little to no customization. Examples include retail stores and fast-food restaurants.

natural diagonal of the product-process matrix

moving off the natural diagonal of the product process matrix will incur excess cost

process mapping

describing processes in terms of how the activities within the process relate to each other. this is needed to expose the reality of process behavior

touchpoints

everything the consumer uses to verify their service’s effectiveness

design

activity that shapes the physical form and purpose of both products and services and the processes that produce them

process network advantages

• establish appropriate objectives for the process

• make sure everyone in a process has a clear ‘line in sight’ forward through to end customers

• make the role and importance of suppliers easier to understand