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Process
• Process: Process can be viewed as a sequence of steps
connecting inputs to outputs
• Example:
• A customer walks-in to Paint shop – Orders a particular
shade-store employee enters information into a machine
that automatically dispenses appropriate pigments in to
a can of base white paint—another machine shakes the
can –
• Result: Consistent color throughout the can – customer
walks-away
• The simple process used to create customized paint
combined: customer preference, employee skills and
automated technology
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Process View of Business
From
Customer
To Customer
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Process Flowcharting
• Purpose: To describe a process visually to find ways of
improving the current process.
– Find repetitive operations
– Identify bottlenecks
– Describe directions and distances of flows
(people, material and information)
– Reduce waste
• Required for certifications such as ISO9000
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Process Flowcharting
1. Select a transformation process to study.
2. Form a team to develop flowchart & for analysis (to
improve the system).
3. Specify the boundaries of transformation process.
4. Identify and sequence the operational steps.
5. Identify the performance metrics for the steps.
- e.g., time to complete each step
6. Draw the flowchart, using consistent symbols.
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Common Flowcharting Symbols
Process, operation, activity, or task
Decision or evaluation
Terminator: “START” “END”
Flow of work (inventory, customers)
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Flowchart Example: Selecting a Supplier
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Symbols for Flow-Process Chart
Operation - task or work activity
Inspection - inspection of product for
quantity or quality
Transportation - movement of material from
one point to another
Storage - inventory or storage of materials
awaiting next operation
Delay - delay in the sequence of operations
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Flow-Process
Chart Example:
Picking Operations
at Grocery Store
Distribution Center
(Figure 6.5)
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Questions to Ask in Process-Flow Analysis
• What does the customer need? What operations are necessary? Can
some operations be eliminated, combined, or simplified?
• Who is performing the job? Can the operation be redesigned to use less
skill or less labor? Can operations be combined to enrich jobs?
• Where is each operation conducted? Can layout be improved?
• When is each operation performed? Is there excessive delay or
storage? Are some operations creating bottlenecks?
• How is the operation done? Can better methods, procedures, or
equipment be used?
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Questions to Ask in Process-Flow Analysis
• Flow balanced? Where is the bottleneck? Are all steps necessary? How
jumbled is the flow?
• Time How long to produce one unit? Can it be reduced? Cycle time?
Excessive set-up time? Excessive waiting time?
• Quantity Theoretical production amount? How easy to change? How
many units actually produced?
• Quality Historical defect rate? Which step contributes to defect rate?
Where do errors occur?
• Cost to produce one unit? What are cost buckets for one unit? Can some
of the buckets be reduced or eliminated?
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Measuring Process Flows
• Capacity of a system = capacity of the most
constraining resource
→ This resource is called the bottleneck.
• The flow rate of a process = minimum (Supply,
Demand, Capacity)
• Throughput time = from when processing
begins until product/service is finished
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Measuring Process Flows
• Little’s Law
– Relates number of items in the system to arrival
rate and throughput time.
– Calculation:
I=TxR
I = average number of items in the system
T = average throughput time
R = average flow rate into the process
• Assumes system is in a ‘steady state.’
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Pizza: example
Activity Minutes Who/What
Take order 1 Assistant
Make crust 3 Chef
Prepare/add 2 Chef
ingredients
Bake pizza 24 Oven
Cut/box pizza 1 Assistant
Take payment 1 Assistant
Details: Assume all toppings added to every pizza
Two employees working at a time
Oven can bake up to 4 pizzas at a time
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Map the process
Start Take Make Prep/add
order crust ingredients
1 min. 3 min. 2 min.
Take Cut/box Bake
End
payment pizza pizza
1 min. 1 min. 24 min.
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What is the throughput time?
Throughput time = time to complete one
product or service
Pizza throughput time?
1+3+2+24+1+1 = 32 min.
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What is process capacity?
3 resources:
Assistant takes 3 min. per pizza, can process 20
pizzas per hour.
Chef takes 5 min. per pizza, can process 12
pizzas per hour.
Oven takes 6 min. per pizza, can process 10
pizzas per hour.
Therefore, process capacity (flow rate) = 10
pizzas/hour
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What is the process bottleneck?
The OVEN is the slowest activity….. that
determines process capacity.
The process cannot produce more than
the slowest activity (flow rate = 10
pizzas/hr).
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Process Flow for Bread-Making with Two-
Parallel Baking Lines
Mix Proof Bake
W.I.P
Raw
Material Pack
F.G.
Mix Proof Bake
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Process Redesign
• Identify, analyze, improve critical
processes (may cross organizational
boundaries).
• Extreme cases: Complete process
reconfiguration (eliminating many steps).
• Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
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Principles of Process Redesign
• Organize around outcomes, not tasks.
• Have the people who do the work process
their own information (avoid handoffs).
• Put the decision point where work is
performed, and build control into the process.
– Decisions made at lowest possible level.
• Eliminate unnecessary steps in the process.
– Simplify, eliminate non-value-added activities.
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Objectives of Facility Layout
• Minimize material-handling costs
• Utilize space efficiently
• Utilize labor efficiently
• Eliminate bottlenecks
• Facilitate communication and interaction
• Reduce manufacturing cycle time
• Reduce customer service time
• Eliminate wasted or redundant movement
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Objectives of Facility Layout contd..
• Facilitate entry, exit, and placement of
material, products, and people
• Incorporate safety and security measures
• Promote product and service quality
• Encourage proper maintenance activities
• Provide a visual control of activities
• Provide flexibility to adapt to changing
conditions
• Increase capacity
Basic Layouts
• Process layouts
• group similar activities together according to process
or function they perform
• Product layouts
• arrange activities in line according to sequence of
operations for a particular product or service
• Fixed-position layouts
• are used for projects in which product cannot be
moved
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Manufacturing Process Layout
A Product Layout
In
Out
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