WorkDesignMeasurement

Process Flow Charts

• Definition: Graphic representation of a process.

• Purpose: Problem-solving and process-improvement tool to identify problem areas.

• Creation Steps:

  • List steps in the process.

  • Classify steps as procedure, decision point, or buffer.

  • Balance detail—not too detailed or omit key steps.

  • Generally flows from left-to-right or top-to-bottom.

  • Use "swim-lanes" for different resources.

• Basic Symbols:

  

UA Vaccination POD

• Value to Customer: Quick and safe service.

• Process Steps:

  • Arrival

  • Verification

  • Vaccination

  • Observation

  • Departure

Job Design

• Definition: Specifying the contents and methods of jobs.

• Key Components:

  • What will be done.

  • Who will do it.

  • How it will be performed.

  • Where it will take place.

• Importance:

  • Critical for organizational goals

  • Affects productivity and improvement.

• Objectives:

  • Productivity

  • Safety

  • Quality of work life

Efficiency vs. Behavioral Job Design

• Efficiency School:

  • Focus on a systematic, logical job design.

• Behavioral School:

  • Focus on satisfying employee needs and wants.

• Disagreement: Specialization as a primary issue.

Specialization

• Definition: Concentration on aspects of a product or service.

• Management Advantages:

  • Simplifies training for management

  • Enhances productivity

  • Reduces wage costs

• Employee Advantages:

  • Lower education and skill requirements

  • Minimal responsibility

  • Reduced mental effort needed

• Management Disadvantages:

  • Difficult to motivate quality for management

  • Potential worker dissatisfaction leading to absenteeism and turnover.

• Employee Disadvantages:

  • Monotonous work

  • Limited advancement opportunities

  • Little control and self-fulfillment.

Behavioral Approaches to Job Design

• Job Enlargement:

  • Enlarging a worker's task horizontally.

• Job Rotation:

  • Periodically exchanging jobs among workers.

• Job Enrichment:

  • Increasing responsibility for planning and coordination tasks through vertical loading.

Methods Analysis

• Definition: Analyzing how a job is accomplished.

• Process:

  • Start with overall operation analysis.

  • Progress from general to specific job details focusing on:

    • Workplace arrangement

    • Movement of workers/materials

Guidelines for Selecting a Job to Study

• Consider Jobs That:

  1. Have high labor content.

  2. Are performed frequently.

  3. Are unsafe, tiring, unpleasant, or noisy.

  4. Are designated problem areas, such as quality issues or processing bottlenecks.

Methods Analysis Procedure

• Steps to Follow:

  1. Identify operation to study and gather data.

  2. Discuss job details with operators/supervisors.

  3. Study and document present methods.

  4. Analyze the job.

  5. Propose new methods.

  6. Install new methods

  7. Follow up for improvement.

Analyzing Job Flow Process Charts

• Purpose:

  • Examine sequence of an operation by focusing on movements of the operator or flow of materials

  • Identify nonproductive parts of the process (delays, temporary storage, distance traveled)

    

Worker-Machine Chart

• Purpose: Determines portions of the work cycle when an operator and equipment are busy or idle.

  • Highlights worker & machine utilization

• Application: Used in specific scenarios like weighing at bulk food sections.

  

Work Measurement

• Definition: Concerned with the duration for job completion.

• Not Focused On:

  • Job content

  • Method of completion (assumed given).

Standard Time

• Definition: Time a qualified worker takes to complete a task, at a sustainable rate, with specified methods, tools, raw material inputs and workplace setup.

Historical Times

• Description: Derived from a firm’s historical data through time studies.

• Benefit: Collects elemental times for various jobs for future reference (eliminating the need for new studies).

Predetermined Time Standards

• Definition: Uses published data for standard elemental times.

• Origin: Developed by the Methods Engineering Council in the 1940s.

• Usage: MTM tables based on extensive research of elemental motions

• Usage: Job analysis by breaking it into basic elements (reach, move, turn, etc.) measure distances involved, rate of difficulty of element and refer to table of data obtaining times for that element

Work Sampling

• Definition: Technique to estimate proportions of time spent by a worker or machine on activities, including idle time.

• Characteristics:

  • Not require timing an activity or involve continuous observation

  • Brief observation of worker or machine at random intervals noting the nature of activity performed

  • results are counts of number of times each category of activity or non activity was observed

• Uses:

  1. Ratio-delay studies: percentage of a workers time that involves unavoidable delays or the proportion of time a machine is idle

  2. Non-repetitive job analysis; percentage of time spent doing various tasks

Work Sampling Process Steps

1. Identify the worker/machine for study.

2. Notify worker/supervisor about study purpose to prevent misunderstandings.

3. Estimate initial sample size (n) using preliminary data of p ( p = 0.5)

4. Develop random observation schedule.

5. Conduct task observations

Determine proportions of time spent on tasks.

Work Sampling (cont.)

Stopwatch Time Study

• Purpose: Develop time standards based on one worker's observations over multiple cycles.

• Basic Steps:

1. Define task to study and inform the worker.

2. Determine cycles to observe.

3. Time the job and assess performance.

4. Compute standard time.

Number of Cycles to Observe

• Depends on:

  • Variability of observed times.

  • Desired accuracy level.

  • Confidence level for estimated job time.

Observed Time Calculation

• Average of recorded times from observations, showcasing a practical example of averaging times.

  

Normal Time Calculation

• Definition: Performance rating-based adjustment of observed time, reflecting worker performance against expected norms.

  • PR > 1 (if OT faster than normal)

  • PR < 1 (if OT slower than normal)

  • PR = 1 (normal pace, machine)

  

Standard Time Calculation

• Definition: Normal time multiplied by allowance factors (personal, delays).

  • personal (fatigue, breaks)

  • unavoidable delays ( machine adjustment & repair, talking to supervisor, waiting for materials)

  

Work Sampling vs. Stopwatch Time Studies

Advantages of Work Sampling

1. Observations spread over time reduce short-term fluctuation impact.

2. Minimal disruption to work.

3. Less worker resentment.

4. Lower time and cost of studies.

5. Can interrupt studies without affecting results.

6. No timing device necessary.

7. Suitable for non-repetitive tasks.

Disadvantages of Work Sampling

1. Provides less detail than stopwatch studies.

2. Workers may change patterns if they notice observers.

3. Often lacks record of method used by workers.

4. Requires strict adherence to observation schedules.

5. Not suitable for short, repetitive tasks.

6. Time may be significant for randomization challenges.