OM (Chapter 8)

Advantages: Lower work-in-process inventories, shorter processing times, less material handling, lower labor skills, and simple planning and control systems.

Disadvantages: A breakdown at one workstation can cause the entire process to shut down; a change in product design or the introduction of new products may require major changes in the layout, limiting flexibility.

Consists of a functional grouping of equipment or activities that do similar work.

(Legal office, shoe manufacturing)

Advantages: A lower investment in equipment, the diversity of jobs inherent in a process layout can lead to increased worker satisfaction.

•Disadvantages: High movement and transportation costs, more complicated planning and control systems, longer total processing time, higher in-process inventory or waiting time, and higher worker-skill requirements.

Self-contained groups of equipment (cells) needed for producing a particular set of goods or services.

(Medical specialties: maternity, surgery)

Advantages: Reduced materials-handling requirements, quicker response to quality problems, more efficient use of floor space, more worker responsibility increasing morale.

Disadvantages: Duplication of equipment among cells, greater worker skills requirements.

The resources necessary to manufacture a good or deliver a service, such as people, materials, and equipment, are consolidated in one physical location.

(heavy machine tools, airplanes)

Advantages: Work remains stationary, reducing movement.
Disadvantages: High level of planning and control required.

-Flow-blocking delay occurs when a work center completes a unit but cannot release it because the in-process storage at the next stage is full. The worker must remain idle until storage space becomes available.

•Lack-of-work delay occurs whenever one stage completes work and no units from the previous stage are awaiting processing.

Combining the components of a good or service that has been created previously.

Technique to group tasks among workstations so that each workstation has—in the ideal case—the same amount of work.

one employee: 1 minutes/part

three employees: .5 Minutes/part

two employees: .5Minutes/ part

Intervall between successive outputs coming off the assembly line.

1 employee: 1 min.
2 employee: 0.5 min
3 employee: 0.5 min
 

1. The job must be designed so it is unlikely to injure himself.
2. Worker must be educated
3. Surrounding environ. must be conducive to safety.

Ergonomics is concerned with improving productivity and safety by designing workplaces, equipment, instruments, computers, workstations, and so on that take into account the physical capabilities of people.

A job is the set of tasks an individual performs.

Job tasks, responsibilities

work environment

methods by which the tasks will be carried out

• Job enlargement is the horizontal expansion of the job to give the worker more variety — although not necessarily more responsibility.
  
   
• Job enrichment is vertical expansion of job duties to give the worker more responsibility.