Operation management 9e stevenson mcgrwhill chap007

7

Design of
Work Systems

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All


Learning Objectives







Explain the importance of work design.
Briefly describe the two basic approaches to job
design.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
specialization.
Explain the term knowledge-based pay.
Explain the purpose of methods analysis and
describe how methods studies are performed.
Describe four commonly used techniques for
motion study.
7-2

Learning Objectives







Discuss the impact of working conditions on job
design.
Define a standard time.
Describe and compare time study methods and
perform calculations.
Describe work sampling and perform calculations.
Compare stopwatch time study and work
sampling.
Contrast time and output pay systems.

7-3


Job Design
 Job design involves specifying the content
and methods of job
 What will be done
 Who will do the job
 How the job will bob will be done
 Where the job will be done
 Ergonomics: Incorporation of human factors
in the design of the workplace

7-4


Design of Work Systems
 Specialization
 Behavioral Approaches to Job Design
 Teams
 Methods Analysis
 Motions Study
 Working conditions

7-5


Job Design Success
Successful Job Design must be:
 Carried out by experienced personnel with
the necessary training and background
 Consistent with the goals of the
organization
 In written form
 Understood and agreed to by both
management and employees

7-6


Specialization in Business: Advantages
Table 7.1

For Management:

For Labor:
1. Simplifies training 1. Low education and
2. High productivity
3. Low wage costs

skill requirements

2. Minimum
responsibilities
3. Little mental effort
needed

7-7


Disadvantages
Table 7.1

For Management:

For Labor:

1. Difficult to motivate
quality

1. Monotonous work

2. Limited opportunities
for advancement
2. Worker dissatisfaction,
possibly resulting in
3. Little control over work
absenteeism, high
4. Little opportunity for
turnover, disruptive
self-fulfillment
tactics, poor attention
to quality
7-8


Behavioral Approaches to Job
Design
 Job Enlargement


Giving a worker a larger portion of the total
task by horizontal loading

 Job Rotation


Workers periodically exchange jobs

 Job Enrichment


Increasing responsibility for planning and
coordination tasks, by vertical loading

7-9


Motivation and Trust
 Motivation
 Influences quality and productivity
 Contributes to work environment
 Trust
 Influences productivity and employeemanagement relations

7-10


Teams
 Benefits of teams
 Higher quality
 Higher productivity
 Greater worker satisfaction
 Self-directed teams
 Groups of empowered to make certain
changes in their work process

7-11


Methods Analysis
 Methods analysis

 Analyzing how a job gets done
 Begins with overall analysis
 Moves to specific details

7-12


Methods Analysis
The need for methods analysis can come
from a number of different sources:
 Changes in tools and equipment
 Changes in product design
or new products
 Changes in materials or procedures
 Other factors (e.g. accidents, quality problems)

7-13


Methods Analysis Procedure
1. Identify the operation to be studied
2. Get employee input
3. Study and document current method
4. Analyze the job
5. Propose new methods
6. Install new methods
7. Follow-up to ensure improvements
have been achieved

7-14

Selecting an Operation
 Selecting a job to study consider:
 High labor content
 Done frequently
 Unsafe
 Tiring
 Unpleasant
 Noisy
 Designated problem

7-15


Analyzing the Job
 Flow process chart
 Chart used to examine the overall
sequence of an operation by focusing on
movements of the operator or flow of
materials
 Worker-machine chart
 Chart used to determine portions of a
work cycle during which an operator and
equipment are busy or idle

7-16


rage

S to

me

nt

Ins
pe c
t io n
Del
ay

Details of Method

Mo
ve

ANALYST PAGE
Job Requisition of petty cash D. Kolb 1 of 2

n

FLOW PROCESS CHART

Op
era
ti o

Figure 7-2

Requisition made by department head
Put in “pick-up” basket
To accounting department
Account and signature verified
Amount approved by treasurer
Amount counted by cashier
Amount recorded by bookkeeper
Petty cash sealed in envelope
Petty cash carried to department
Petty cash checked against requisition
Receipt signed
Petty cash stored in safety box
7-17


Motion Study
Motion study is the systematic
study of the human motions used
to perform an operation.

7-18


Motion Study Techniques
 Motion study principles - guidelines for
designing motion-efficient work procedures
 Analysis of therbligs - basic elemental
motions into which a job can be broken down
 Micromotion study - use of motion pictures
and slow motion to study motions that

otherwise would be too rapid to analyze
 Charts
 Therbligs
7-19


Developing Work Methods
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Eliminate unnecessary motions
Combine activities
Reduce fatigue
Improve the arrangement of the workplace
Improve the design of tools and equipment

7-20


Therbligs
 Therbligs: Basic elemental motions that make up a
job.
 Search
 Select
 Grasp
 Hold
 Transport load

 Release load

7-21


Working Conditions
T e m p e ra tu re &
H u m id it y

I llu m in a t io n

V e n t ila t io n

C o lo r

7-22


Working Conditions (cont’d)
Noise & Vibration

Work Breaks

Safety

Causes of Accidents

7-23

Work Measurement
 Work measurement: Determining how long it
should take to do a job.
 Standard time
 Stopwatch time study
 Historical times
 Predetermined data
 Work Sampling

7-24


Standard time
Standard time:
The amount of time it should take a qualified
worker to complete a specific task, working at a
sustainable rate, using given methods, tools and
equipment, raw materials, and workplace
arrangement.

7-25