Workplace Organisation As A Tool of Restructuring

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Workplace organisation as a tool of restructurisation of production systems
Chapter · October 2013
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Marek Dudek
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in: Contemporary economies in the face of new challenges: economic, social and legal aspects / eds. R. Borowiecki, A.
Jaki, T. Rojek; Cracow University of Economics. Cracow 2013. ISBN: 978-83-62511-03-7. S. 439–447. SOURCE
Marek Dudek
Department of Operations Research & Information Technology
AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Management
WORKPLACE ORGANISATION AS A TOOL OF

RESTRUCTURISATION OF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
Abstract
A proper organisation of working posts is a necessary element of undisturbed functioning of
production systems, working in a variable environment. Organising working posts that aims at such
coordinating all work that will provide release of products of appropriate quality in the quickest and
cheapest possible way relies on release of precisely set seven stages (steps). These stages the subject
of evaluation, as a result of which the level of working position organisation is estimated. Taking into
consideration numerous implementations of WCM systems (World Class Manufacturing) in Poland,
particular activities and tools leading to the increase of working position organisation level were
estimated within particular defined stages.
***
1. Introduction
Achieving the highest defined level of production system organisation, so called RAM
(Real Agile Manufacturing), requires structural elasticity and, related to it, reaction speed and
ability to adjust to changing market and technological environment. It is based on
assumptions of decentralisation, automation and structural autonomy. Its aim is to increase
ability to produce changeable assortment in a very short time (in response to violent changes
in the environment) through its practically unlimited abilities to create structures (created on
the principals of virtuality, agility, slimness and elasticity), emerging new, more and more
universal forms of organisation depending on its needs.
In pursuit of increasing elasticity, a more frequent phenomenon, especially among
huge production enterprises, is defining, and then creating own concepts of organisation of
production systems. Following the example of TPS (Toyota Production System), groups of
integrated methodologies, models, tools, optimising production-logistic processes, allowing
constant improvement of achievements (results) of production systems. They are supported by
implementing various systems of audit, aiming at achieving set goals supported by the system
of properly chosen indicators (KPI). They are created in order to:
 control and gradual reduction of all kinds of unjustified costs expressed as losses
(muda),
 maintain the highest level of production quality,
 reduce duration of all processes to the minimum,
1
 popularise (visualise) and standardise achieved results,

 rigidly apply standards and organisational tools used,
 involve all workers on every organisational level and motivate them,
 maintain structural elasticity as a response to market changes,
 evaluate own path of constant improvement so as to achieve production standard of
the world class.
These concepts are usually created basing on the organisational guidelines borrowed
from Toyota and concentrated around the WCM model (WCM - World Class Manufacturing).
2. Workplace organisation (WO)

The basic element of manufacturing system is work position, that is workplace also
defined as working post. Working post is the place of performing one technological operation.
It consists of various elements that include:
 area (production, working, storage, emergency etc.)
 working resources, that is technical equipment, materials, facilities and tools,
 working post service (worker or working team).
Working post should be adjusted to its function and should take into consideration the
relations between itself and other elements of organisation (production) structure to which the
post belong. The working post can be described with the view of the following criteria:
 activity goal,
 output that is the result of the work on the post,
 input as the information, resources,
 way of work performance,
 the post environment,
 equipment, its type, placement, way of using.
Organising work on the working post has two main goals. The first is fulfilling the
expectations of the system to which it belongs concerning productivity, effectiveness,
operational efficiency and product quality. The other is satisfying the needs of an individual
(worker assigned to the post) within his interests, challenges and achievements. Proper
organisation of working area provides easy and safe work performance and reduces
unnecessary effort, as well as protects the worker from injuries and negative influence. These
goals are clearly related to each other so an ultimate goal of organisation should be integration
2
of the individual's needs with the needs of the system (superior units). Organising work
should be double-trackingly released:
 accommodating the system expectations,
 as well as the individual working on the post.
Organising starts with the analysis of what should be performed – the tasks that are to be
released if the system or organisational unit is to achieve its goal. On this stage process
planning, system analysis and work research techniques are introduced, which are supposed to
improve organisation results. The concentrate on the work that must be performed , and not
on the individual that performs it. The starting point of working post organisation must also
be the requirements connected with the work, because they are the reason why the working
place exists. Also, the social commitments have to be made to the people working for it
through the improvement of working conditions. While organising working posts general
rules of lean manufacturing are implemented in order to eliminate all kind of losses. The
losses, most often as bad ergonomics, unnecessary motion of the workers, lack of
performance standards or over-storage, results from badly organised working place.
3. The position of WO in the WCM structure

World Class Manufacturing is a project basing on the TPS organisation and the
concept of Lean Manufacturing, assuming as a final goal production that is:
 accident-free,
 loss-less,
 faultless,
 malfunction-free.
The WCM is also a way to organise an enterprise so as to achieve the highest possible
level of production organisation through implementing modern methods of management
starting with the basic ones, such as 5S, visualisation, value chains to more complex methods
like SMED or KAIZEN to complex methodologies of enterprise management like Total
Industrial Engineering (TIE), Total Quality Management (TQM), Total Productive
Maintenance (TPM), Lean Manufacturing (LM). The WCM was created as the result of
observation of measures and work methods of the best Japanese companies (Yamashina1,
Schonberger2).
1
WCM use: TQM as a brain, JIT as a nervous system, TPM as a muscle system, TIE as a blood.
2
R. J. Schonberger, World Class Manufacturing: the next decade, The Free Press, New York 1996.
3
Organising according to the WCM principals currently means the highest possible to
achieve level of enterprise organisation3. It can be a model and soon become the standard of
contemporary production organisation. It should be noticed, however, that the WCM is only
one of the middle stages when developing production organization that aims at achieving the
highest presently defined level of perfection, that is RAM. The WCM organization consist of
two areas (pillars): technical and managements areas.
The technical area lynchpins most often include: cost deployment (CD), focused
improvement (FI), autonomous maintenance (AM), workplace organization (WO),
professional maintenance (PM), quality control (QC), early product management (EPM),
early equipment management (EEM), logistic (L), customer service (CS), people development
(PD), safety management (SM), environment management (EM). Each of the technical
lynchpins is a set of guidelines that are divided into so called steps (each lynchpin has
precisely determined 7 steps). Then the level of implementation scale of each lynchpin is
estimated during audits (internal and external). On this basis each technical lynchpin is given
points that summed up depict the total WCM implementation level in an enterprise (for better
visualisation of level of implementation scale medals are awarded – bronze for over 50 points,
silver for more than 60 pt., gold for over 70 and World Class for over 85 pt.)4. The point
ranges for medals are stipulated and depend on enterprise's preference, in particular the
differences are noticeable for silver medal (possible for over 70 pt.) and gold (over 80 pt.).
Creating individual systems of the WCM class relies on determining and choice of 10
lynchpins out of available methodologies chosen in such a way as to include in the evaluation
all the defined areas.
Management lynchpins compliment technical lynchpins – without their introduction
the implementation of the latter ones would not be possible. Management lynchpins, which
are more of a set of guidelines, include5: management involvement in the change process,
clearly defined goals – KPI, creating general plan of project realisation, assigning human
resources, all the staff involvement, the staff oriented at improvement, defining deadlines and
budget, determining a certain level of development that we want to achieve, determining
precision (detail) level, motivating production workers. Implementing management lynchpins
is realised every time a particular technical lynchpin is implemented. It means that while
introducing (putting into practice) subsequent steps of particular technical lynchpins, each
3
L. C. Hendry, Applying world class manufacturing to make-to-order companies: problems and solutions,
International Journal of Operations & Production Management, no 18/11/1998.
4
K. Kamiński, WCM, http://www.odchudzonaprodukcja.com/2010/11/mamy-know-how-cz-1-wcm.html
4
time management lynchpins should be implemented (it happens that at an early stage of
WCM implementing management lynchpin first occurs, and then corresponding technical
lynchpin, going over to synchronised implementation of the lynchpins). While evaluating the
scores of particular technical lynchpins the level of management lynchpins implementation is
taken into consideration.
Workplace organization (WO) is one of the most important technical area in the WCM
organization. Workplace organization route map is shown in figure 1.
Figure 1: WO route map

Tidying up process Synchronization at
Improve quality Standard work Involving in keeping
and establish basic operation and
conditions sequence WCM
conditions material feeding
MAIN ACTIONS
WCM tools Learning about

Removeing
implementation processes and
wastes from Raising skills
Training products
inventory Avoiding stocks
Tidying up structure
Removeing Standarding Keeping and
Standarize to Overall
wastes from works and controlling
maintain mistakes proof
human motion systems standards
process inspection
Standarization Avoiding
condition Overall tool and
JiT mistakes
Balancing equipment
synchronizing
Tagging inspection
Step 1 Step 1 Step 1 Step 1 Step 1

STEPS

WCM LEVEL 0 WCM BRONZE WCM SILVER WCM GOLD WORLD CLASS
Source: own research
4. Seven steps of introducing WO

Working place organisation is a lynchpin in which operators are given responsibility
for: their working positions, their work quality (auto-control in the place of operation
performance) and generating organisational improvements (workplace kaizens).
Implementing WO is performed through gradual, constant introduction of particular steps.
Implementation stages:
0. Introduce initial process
1. Introduce cleaning of working positions.
5
K. Kamiński, WCM, op. cit.
5
2. Introduce visual management and measurements of working positions' achievements.

3. Create work organisation standards.
4. Create workers' constant improvement system.
5. Introduce material feed (Butterfly +JiT).
6. Create operation performance standard and follow it.
7. Improve and standardize all activities (standardize work)
The main 7 steps are shown in figure 2.
Figure 2: Main seven steps
Step 0.
The first step is about releasing the initial activities, necessary for correct defining, and then
implementing of efficiently functioning work organisation. Step "0" aims at:
 area cost analysis (with Cost Deployment),
 area quality problem analysis,
 area time analysis (sub-process duration time),
 area economical classification (benefit/cost),
 defining project goals,
 defining model area,
 appointing working team,
 preparing resources necessary for planning and releasing tasks.
Step 1.
Initial cleaning relies on eliminating all the unnecessary materials and removing all kinds of
pollution to make working place (working posts) clean. Additionally, the systems of material
feed are cleared and places and zones of tool and equipment positions are marked. Cleaning
6
the positions plays the role of auto-control, helping detect anomalies and define critical
activities in the places that produce pollution and problems related to it (AM/WO Tag). Step
"1" aims, among others, at:
 training of the team on the 5S method,
 cleaning the working place,
 removing unnecessary objects,
 labelling anomalies,
 enlisting anomalies.
Step 2.
During this step the processes are redesigned so as to improve working conditions
(ergonomics), increasing productivity, improving quality by preventing errors and quality
controls in order to avoid passing defects to further steps of the process. It is performed
through muri, mura and muda analysis. Muri means non-ergonomic work – excessive
bending, turning, reclining, moving arms up or down, kneeling, lifting, carrying, and also
work monotony, that is everything that causes speedy tiredness of the worker while
performing his duties. Mura means lack of standardization, irregular activities. Muda is all
that does not generate the added value. Step "2" aims at:
 analysing and eliminating so called muri,
 analysing and eliminating mura,
 analysing and eliminating muda,
 proper placing of components and containers that comprising the element of material
feed,
 labelling,
 standardization of the elements,
 error prevention (poka yoke),
 creating so called golden zone.
Step 3.
Step 3 aims at defining initial standards necessary for maintaining the effects achieved in the
previous steps. It assumes full standardization of not only particular technological operations,
but also of all logistic ones related to organising and functioning of a working post. Step "3"
aims at:
 creating initial standards of cleaning and keeping order,
 introducing visual control,
7
 creating full standards of all operation performances, both basic and additional ones.
Step 4.
The goal of this step is popularizing and consolidating all kinds of structures and functions of
the products in order to provide production quality and supporting the machine service
operations (autonomous and professional maintenance). This step is performed by improving
workers' consciousness within 'own' processes quality control, which results in the possibility
of eliminating potential threats and taking preventive actions. Step "4" aims at:
 defining basic quality problems in 'own' processes,
 implementing good practices and examples and special devices (poka yoke) that
eliminate error possibilities,
 simplifying device functioning,
 creating a base for a potential TPM implementation,
 worker training on the methods of error detection in the processes.
Step 5.
In Step 5 synchronisation of all activities is done according to the 'just in time' rule. Such
synchronisation leads most often to balancing the duration time of particular activities, both
basic and additional ones. Synchronisation also enables flexible move from producing large
batches to lean organisation, enabling in this way differentiation of the assortment. Step "5"
aims at:
 optimising material feed (butterfly),
 synchronisation of particular phases of the process while minimising the storage,
 creating optimised post placement that ensures reduction of transportation.
Step 6.
Step 6 aims at redefining initial standards and making them more efficient so as to enable
faster and easier operation performance. It aims, among others, at:
 reduction of irregular operations,
 component standardization,
 setting the pacing of the operation in order to reduce arduousness by introducing
motion sequences according to the natural pace,
 comparing processes to initial standards in order to adjust procedures to pre-defined
processes.
Step 7.
8
In this step standardization of working sequences and service operations is performed in order
to reduce quality fluctuation. The step is released through:
 determining work standards,
 making processes flexible at minimum cost (agile),
 developing focal skills of the workers,
 supporting innovative actions of the workers (forwarding new kaizen).
5. Tools and methods of WO implementation

During the implementation of the Workplace Organization component all various
methods and facilities can be used. They usually originate from the lean management concept.
To make the division clear, they were divided into 2 groups: general – used over the whole
period of WO implementation, and detailed – assigned to particular 7 steps. The general
methods and tools include:
 5S – a method of self-supporting manner of caring for working place, which serves to
create a mental habit of keeping own working place clean and in order through
performing small but constant improvements of working conditions. It's the most often
implemented in steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7;
 5WXH – it is a tool of logical analysis that serves to identify problems by answering
the questions: who, what, where, when, why and how. Due to different levels of
complexity of analyses, in this tools, instead of "X", the number of expected solutions
to the problem is placed (usually 1 or 2). Providing answers to those 5 basic questions
helps to better understand the processes and their dysfunctions. They are most often
implemented in steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7;
 5Whys – it is a tool whose goal is to look for the causes of any phenomena of
anomalous type through answering a series of questions "why", to which answers must
be provided getting to the core of the issue. It mainly serves to find out the origins
(causes) of a certain anomaly. They are most often implemented in steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
and 7;
 XTag – it is the most often a sheet of paper that clearly describes detected defects and
is attached to a machine, facility, tool, element in case of defect occurrences. Its goal
is to visibly signal any anomalies or defects of process release to all. It is usually used
in steps 1, 2, 3, 4;
9
 Kanban – it is a tool to manage production flow in the sucking system. Kanban is a

tool of visual communicating the demands on particular production sections. It serves
to reduce storage of produce on the course. It is most often used in steps 5, 6 and 7;
 OPL – is a tool of visual presentation of the problem or process in the form of one
entry, which serves to quickly comprehend the presented content. It is usually
prepared as an easy-to-remember text with numerous drawings, figures and photos. It
is most often used in steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7;
 Poka Yoke – it is a tool for preventing possible human errors while performing any
activities. It serves to prevent error occurrence or a clear showing of anomalies when
they happen. It is usually used in steps 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
The detailed tools are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Basic tools

Steps Tools Chosen key indicators
0 ICE matrix
OPL skill
Radar chart skill
Cost matrix
Sector map
ABC analysis
1 5S Number of cards (tags)
AM Tag Amount of materials removed from the post
WO Tag Amount of OPL
Cleaning time
Benefit/cost
2 Golden zone Amount of loss elimination
OPL Number of improved working places
Muri matrix Amount of saved space
Before/after card Number of kaizen
Statistical analysis Number of repairs
Time reduction
3 Visual maps Number of reported kaizen
Before/after card Number of elaborated standards
4 QA Matrix Number of worker errors
4M Number of poka yoke
QA network Number of elaborated standards
Operators Classification Number of errors reported in the process
5 Kanban DOH, ADD,

Supermarket WIP
Gannt charts
Before/after card
6 All of steps 2-5 Number eliminated worker errors
Number of reported poka yoke
Number of elaborated standards
Number of modified standards
7 All of steps 2-5 EPE
10
5. Summary
Organisation of working place is one of the basic technical lynchpins of production in
the world class (WCM). It is a lynchpin in which the workers are given responsibility for
proper functioning of their working place, for quality of performed work and for generating
organisational improvements.
Implementing the lynchpin of workplace organisation most often serves to:
 improve global efficiency of production system,
 improve position efficiency,
 reduce fault and defect level during processes,
 engage workers in the production process,
 increase workers' competence,
 improve ergonomy and work safety,
 increase work motivation, position innovativeness (kaizens),
 eliminate losses on working position.
Among others, actions are taken to:
 maintain order on the working position and eliminate excess of useless materials,
 systematically clean working position,
 eliminate sources of delays in the process,
 automate production processes,
 relocate responsibility for product quality to a particular worker,
 direct workers' activities at quality control (control at source),
 create favorable working conditions (team spirit).
References:
1. Dudek M., Produkcja w klasie światowej - fanaberia najbogatszych czy standard w
zarządzaniu produkcją? „Przegląd Organizacji”, 2012, no 3.
2. Dudek M., Produkcja w klasie światowej, czyli przystanek na drodze ku doskonałości
produkcji. „Przegląd Organizacji”, 2012, no 5.
3. Hendry L. C., Applying world class manufacturing to make-to-order companies:
problems and solutions, “International Journal of Operations & Production
Management”, 1998, no 18/11.
4. Kamiński, WCM, http://www.odchudzonaprodukcja.com
5. Schonberger R. J., World Class Manufacturing: the next decade, The Free Press, New
York 1996.
11
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Workplace organisation as a tool of restructurisation of production systems

Chapter · October 2013

world class manufacturing systems View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

WORKPLACE ORGANISATION AS A TOOL OF

 popularise (visualise) and standardise achieved results,

2. Workplace organisation (WO)

3. The position of WO in the WCM structure

Figure 1: WO route map

WCM tools Learning about

Step 1 Step 1 Step 1 Step 1 Step 1

Step 3 Step 3 Step 3 Step 3 Step 3

Source: own research

4. Seven steps of introducing WO

2. Introduce visual management and measurements of working positions' achievements.

Figure 2: Main seven steps

Source: own research

5. Tools and methods of WO implementation

 Kanban – it is a tool to manage production flow in the sucking system. Kanban is a

Table 1: Basic tools

5 Kanban DOH, ADD,

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