Ch 11: Process Design and Analysis

any part of an organization that takes inputs and transforms them into outputs

process

the average successive time between completions of successive units

cycle time

the ratio of the time that a resource is actually activated relative to the times that it is available for use

utilization

the use of diagram to present the major elements of a process; an ideal methodology for laying out the relevant elements to analyze a process

process flow charting 

What are the basic elements included in process flow charting

Tasks or operations
Flows of materials or customers
Decision points and storage areas or queues

What shape is the flowchart symbol for tasks or operations 

rectangle 

What shape is the flowchart symbol for decision points

diamond

What shape is the flowchart symbol for storage areas or queues (waiting lines)

triangle

What shape is the flowchart symbol for flows or material or customers

arrow

a storage area between stages where the output of a stage is placed to be used in the downstream stage 

buffer

occurs when the activities in a stage must stop because there is no place to deposit the item

blocking

occurs when the activities in a stage must stop because there is no work

starving

stage that limits the capacity or throughput of the process

bottleneck

a single path for all stages of production

serial flow process

some of production has alternative paths where two or more machines are used to increase capacity

parallel process

the movement of things such as materials, people, or finished goods

logistics processes

process only activated in response to an actual order; both WIP and FG inv to a minimum 

Make to Order (MTO) 

Process activated to meet forecast demand; customer orders are served from target stocking level

Make to Stock (MTS)

the average time between completion of successful units; often used in the context of a process; can also be used in the context of a specific job or process stage

cycle time

the output rate that the process is expected to produce over a period of time (aka flow rate)

throughput rate

the maximum rate which the process can generate outputs 

process capacity 

the average time that is takes a unit to move through an entire process or system; includes the time that the unit spent actually being worked on together with the time spent waiting in a queue

flow time

operation time =

setup time + run time

flow time =

avg time for a unit to move through the system

Velocity= 

value added time / flow time 

cycle time =

avg time between completion of units

throughput rate=

1 / cycle time

Efficiency =

Actual output / standard output

Productivity = 

Output / Input 

Utilization =

time activated / time available

What is Little’s Law

Inventory = Throughput Rate x Flow Time

Within little’s law, inventory is often measured as:

WIP

The formula represents a long term relationship among inventory, throughput, and flow time 

Little’s Law 

made high speed , low cost production possible; greatly enhanced standard of living; adverse effects on workers 

specialization of labor 

making job more interesting to the worker

job enrichment

worker performs a greater number of variety of tasks

horizontal enrichment

worker is involved in planning, organizing, and inspecting work

vertical enrichment

process of analyzing jobs for the purpose of setting time standards; used for scheduling work, allocating capacity, motivating and measuring work performance, evaluating performance, and providing benchmarks  

work measurement 

What are the two work measurement techniques

Direct
Indirect

What are the direct methods of work measurement techniques?

Time study
Work sampling

What are the indirect methods of work measurement techniques?

Predetermined motion time data system
Elemental data

What are the ways to reduce processing time? 

Perform activities in parallel
Change the sequence of activities to optimize labor or machine use 
Reduce interruptions and bottlenecks 

If the cycle time decreases, the output of the process will ___

increase

Which of the following terms describes the ratio of the time that a resource is activated, relative to the time that it is available for use?

utilization

The term ___ is used to indicate that multiple activities have been pulled together for analysis purposes.

stage

The average time between completion of successive units is which of the following?

cycle time

Which of the following describes a resource that limits the capacity or maximum output of a process?

bottleneck

If the productivity of a stand-alone process increases, the output of that process will:

increase

Which of the following types of processes has a large amount of finished good inventory?

make to stock 

Which of the following is a term used to describe the movement of items through a process that is coordinated through a timing mechanism?

pacing

multiple-stage process has multiple groups of activities that are linked through:

flows

The term that describes when activities in the process stage must stop because there is no place to deposit an item is known as which of the following?

blocking

___ productivity answers the question of how much output we can get from a given level of input.

partial factor

A process that produces standard products that can be delivered quickly to the customer is known as which is of the following?

make to stock

refers to the fixed timing of the movement of items through the process.

pacing

the time required to produce a batch of parts.

run time

used to indicate that multiple activities have been pulled together for analysis purposes.

stage

the time in which useful work is actually being done on the unit.

value added time

Comparing the metrics of one company to another, is often referred to as:

benchmarking

Total factor productivity is usually measured in:

monetary units

___ time includes the time the unit spends actually being worked on, together with the time spent waiting in a queue.

flow

Also known as throughput ratio.

process velocity

Which of the following describes the function of specifying work activities of an individual or a group?

job design