Process Analysis, Job Design, and

Work Measurement
Selected Slides from Jacobs et al, 9th Edition
Operations and Supply Management
Chapter 6 and 6A
Edited, Annotated and Supplemented by
Peter Jurkat

6-2

Process Analysis Terms

Process: Is any part of an organization that

takes inputs and transforms them into
outputs
Cycle Time: Is the average successive time
between completions of successive units
Utilization: Is the ratio of the time that a
resource is actually activated relative to the
time that it is available for use

6-3

Process Flowcharting
Defined

Process flowcharting is the use of a diagram to

present the major elements of a process
The basic elements can include tasks or
operations, flows of materials or customers,
decision points, and storage areas or queues
It is an ideal methodology by which to begin
analyzing a process

6-4

Flowchart Symbols

Purpose and Examples

Tasks or operations

Decision Points

Examples: Giving an
admission ticket to a
customer, installing a
engine in a car, etc.
Examples: How much
change should be given
to a customer, which
wrench should be used,
etc.

6-5

Flowchart Symbols

Purpose and Examples

Storage areas or
queues

Examples: Sheds, lines of

people waiting for a
service, etc.

Flows of
materials or
customers

Examples: Customers
moving to a seat,
mechanic getting a tool,
etc.

6-6

Process Flowcharting

Process flowcharting is the use of a diagram to

present the major elements of a process
The basic elements can include tasks or
operations, flows of materials or customers,
decision points, and storage areas or queues
It is an ideal methodology by which to begin
analyzing a process

6-7

6-8

Process Architecture

push

pull

6-9

In-process-inventory

A buffer refers to a storage area (in-process

inventory) between stages where the
output of a stage is placed prior to being
used in a downstream stage

Multi-stage Process with Buffer

Buffer
Stage 1

Stage 2

6-10

Step 1 Buffer Step 2 Example

Now you/we do 6.8

6-11

Other Process Terminology

Blocking
Occurs when the activities in a stage must stop because
there is no place to deposit the item just completed
If there is no room for an employee to place a unit of work
down, the employee will hold on to it not able to continue
working on the next unit
Fix with buffer?

Starving
Occurs when the activities in a stage must stop because
there is no work
If an employee is waiting at a work station and no work is
coming to the employee to process, the employee will
remain idle until the next unit of work comes
Fix with pull system?

6-12

Other Process Terminology (Continued)

Bottleneck
Occurs when the limited capacity of a process
causes work to pile up or become unevenly
distributed in the flow of a process
If an employee works too slow in a multi-stage
process, work will begin to pile up in front of that
employee. In this is case the employee represents
the limited capacity causing the bottleneck.

Pacing
Refers to the fixed timing of the movement of
items through the process
Now you do 6.9

6-13

Other Types of Processes

Make-to-order (pull)
Only activated in response to an actual order
Both work-in-process and finished goods inventory
kept to a minimum

Make-to-stock (push)
Process activated to meet expected or forecast
demand
Customer orders are served from target stocking
level

6-14

Measuring Process Performance

Throughput time can also be estimated by

Littles Law (time) = Work-in-process inventory (units)
/throughput rate (units/time)
Now you do 6.10

6-15

Cycle Time Example

Suppose you had to produce 600 units in 80 hours to

meet the demand requirements of a product. What is
the cycle time to meet this demand requirement?

Answer: There are 4,800 minutes (60

minutes/hour x 80 hours) in 80 hours. So the
average time between completions would have
to be: Cycle time = 4,800/600 units = 8 minutes.
Now you do 6.4 and 6.5

6A-16

What is Job Design?

Defined

Job design is the function of

specifying the work activities of an
individual or group in an
organizational setting
The objective of job design is to
develop jobs that meet the
requirements of the organization and
its technology and that satisfy the
jobholders personal and individual
requirements

6A-17

Job Design Decisions

Who
Mental and
physical
characteristics
of the
work force

What

Where

Tasks to be
performed

Geographic
locale of the
organization;
location of
work areas

When

Why

How

Time of day;
time of
occurrence in
the work flow

Organizational
rationale for
the job; objectives and motivation of the
worker

Method of
performance
and
motivation

Ultimate
Job
Structure

Trends in Job Design

Quality control as part of

the worker's job
Cross-training workers to
perform multi -skilled jobs

Employee involvement and

team approaches to
designing and organizing
work
"Informating [sic]
ordinary workers through
e-mail and the Internet

Extensive use of
temporary workers
Automation of heavy
manual work
Creating alternative
workplaces
Shared offices
Tele-commuting
Virtual offices
Organizational
commitment to providing
meaningful and rewarding
jobs for all employees

6A-19

Physical Considerations in Job Design

Work physiology sets work-rest cycles
according to the energy expended in various
parts of the job. The harder the work, the
more the need for rest periods.
Ergonomics is a term used to describe the
study of the physical arrangement of the work
space together with tools used to perform a
task. Fit the work to the body rather than
forcing the body to conform to the work.

6A-20

Work Measurement
Defined

Work measurement is a process of

analyzing jobs for the purpose of
setting time standards
Why use it?
Schedule work and allocate capacity
Motivate and measure work
performance
Evaluate performance
Provide benchmarks

6A-21

Time Study Normal Time Formulas

Normal time(NT)=Observed performance time per unit

x (Performance rating)*

*The Performance Rating is usually expressed in

decimal form in these formulas. So a person working
10% faster than normal would have a Performance
Rating of 1.10 or 110% of normal time. Working 10%
slower, 0.90 or 90% of normal.

NT=

Time worked
_ x (Performance rating)*
Number of units produced

6A-22

Time Study Standard Time Formulas

Standard time = Normal time

+ (Allowances x Normal times)
Allowances: add time for breaks, fatigue, equipment
maintenance and/or failure

Standard time = NT(1 + Allowances)

Standard time =

NT
.
1 - Allowances

6A-23

Time Study Example Problem

The employee produced 20 units of product in an 8

hour day.
Your observations made the employee nervous estimate employee worked 10 percent faster than
normal.
Allowances for the job represent 25 percent of the
normal time.

Question: What are the normal and standard times

for this job?

6A-24

Time Study Example Solution

Normal time =
Time worked
x (Perf. rating)
Number of units produced
= (480 minutes/20) x (1.10)
= 26.4 minutes

Standard time =

NT
.
1 Allowances

= (26.4)/(1-0.25)
= 35.2 minutes

6A-25

6A-26

Work Sampling

Time studies make workers nervous; often restricted

by unions
Better to use inference to make statements about
work activity based on a sample of the activity use
statistical methods (select confidence, calculate
sample size, observe, analyze)
Ratio Delay

Activity time percentage for workers or equipment

(portion of time work is actually done value added)

Performance Measurement

Relates work time to output (performance index)

Standard task times

Time Standards

Advantage of Work Sampling over Time Study

Several work sampling
studies may be
conducted
simultaneously by one
observer
The observer need not
be a trained analyst
unless the purpose of the
study is to determine a
time standard
No timing devices are
required
Work of a long cycle time
may be studied with
fewer observer hours

The duration of the study is

longer, which minimizes
effects of short-period
variations
The study may be
temporarily delayed at any
time with little effect
Because work sampling
needs only instantaneous
observations (made over a
longer period), the
operator has less chance to
influence the findings by
changing work method