Chapter 3 -----cond

3. Design of the Operations system

3.5 Work System Design

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3.5 Work system Design
1. Introduction

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 Work System Design consists of job design,
work measurement, establishment of
standard time and worker compensation.
 The interesting fact is that decisions in other
areas of design can affect the work system or
 a change in the work system design can
change the decisions in other areas.
 Likewise Product or Service design will affect
Design of Work Systems,
 Layout Decisions will also affect Design of
work Systems.

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 It is thus logical to ensure that SYSTEMS
approach is followed in a decision for
DESIGN,
 Decision in one area must be related to
the overall system.
 E.g. Product or Service Design would
require proper people with standardized
job description

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Work System Design consists of:
 1. Job design, 2. Work measurement,
3.Establishment of standard time and
 4. Worker compensation.
 1.Job Design
 Job Design specifies work /activities of an individual
or group
 Jobs are designed by answering questions like:
 What is the job’s description?
 What is the purpose of the job?
 Where is the job done?
 What background, training, or skills are required to do the
job?
 Who does the job?

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Job design……….Contd
Additional Job Design Factors
 Technical feasibility:
 The job must be physically and mentally doable
 Economic feasibility:
 Cost of performing the job must be less than the
value it adds
 Behavioral feasibility:
 Degree to which the job is intrinsically satisfying to
the employee

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Job design……….Contd
 Ergonomics is an important part of job
design. Ergonomics is the incorporation of
human factors in the design of the workplace.
 It relates to design of equipment, design of
work methods and the overall design of the
work environment.
 Among other things, ergonomics seeks to
prevent common work place injuries.
 Companies have compelling interests in
reducing worker injuries. 7
Job design……….Contd
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
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 Job design……….Contd
 An alternative workplace brings work to the worker
rather than the worker to the workplace
 Alternative workplaces are made possible by
technologies like email, e-networks, cell phones, & video
conferencing. Current situation:
 More than 30 million employees work in alternative workspaces
 A survey at IBM reveals that 87% of alternative workplace
employees believe their effectiveness has increased significantly
 Sun Microsystems gives many of its designers the option to work
at home

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 Approaches to study of job design

 Following are approaches to study job

design:
 i. Specialization
 ii. Behavioral Approaches to Job Design
 iii. Teams Approaches to Job Design
 iv. Methods Analysis
 v. Motions Study
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 vi. Working conditions
i. Job Specialization

 Level of labor specialization:

 Higher levels of specialization - can reduce the
employee’s scope of expertise on the entire work of an
org.
 Lower levels of specialization – can increase the
employee’s scope of expertise on the entire work of an
org.
 Worker satisfaction helps to define level of
specialization
 Specialization can result in employee boredom
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i. Specialization--------cond
Specialization: Management’s View
Advantages:
 Readily available labor

 Minimal training required

 Reasonable wages costs

 High productivity

Disadvantages:
 High absenteeism

 High turnover rates

 High scrap rates

 Grievances/compliant filed

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i.Specialization--------cond
Specialization: Employee’s View
Advantages:
 Minimal credential/documentation required

 Minimal responsibilities

 Minimal mental effort needed

 Reasonable wages
Disadvantages:
 Boredom
 Little growth opportunity
 Little control over work
 Little room for initiative
 Little intrinsic satisfaction

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ii. Behavioral Approaches to Job
Design
 1. Job enlargement
 Horizontal expansion of the job through increasing the scope of the
work assigned.
 2. Job enrichment
 Vertical expansion of the job through increased worker
responsibility
 Adding work planning or inspection to a routine assembly task
 3. Job rotation
 Shifting of cross trained workers to other tasks
 Broadens understanding and can reduce fatigue
 Workers periodically exchange jobs
 4. Empowerment
o Increasing the authority given to people to make decisions with in
the job or changes to the job itself.

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iii.Teams Approach to Job Design
 1. Problem-solving teams:
 Small groups, trained in problem-solving techniques.
 Used to identify, analyze, & propose solutions to workplace problems
 2. Special-purpose task forces:
 Highly-focused, short-term teams with a focused agenda (often cross-
functional)
 3. Self-directed or self-managed teams:
 Team members work through consensus to plan, manage, & control
their assigned work flow
 Groups of empowered- to make certain changes in their work process
 Benefits of teams
 Higher quality
 Higher productivity
 Greater worker satisfaction

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iii. Teams Approach………cond
 The leading problems of teams are conflicts b/n team members
which can have a detrimental/harmful impact on the
effectiveness of a team.
 Requirements for successful team building are:
 1. Clearly stated and commonly held vision and goals
 2. Talent and skills required to meet goals
 3. Clear understanding of team members roles
 4. Efficient and shared understanding of procedures and norms
 5. Effective and skilled interpersonal relations
 6. A system of reinforcement and celebration/ reward
 7. Clear understanding of the team’s relationship to the greater
organization.

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iv.Work Methods Analysis:

 Is a detailed step-by-step analysis of how a

given job is performed
 It can distinguish between value-added & non-
value-added steps
 Analysis can revise the procedure to improve
productivity
 After improvement, must revise the new
standard operating procedure
 Follow-up to insure that changes actually
improve the operation
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iv.Work Methods Analysis -----Cond

Methods analysis consists of:

1. Identifying the operation to be analyzed
2. Gathering all relevant information
3. Talking with employees who use the operation
4. Charting the operation
5. Evaluating each step
6. Revising the existing or new operation as needed
7. Putting the revised or new operation into effect, then
follow up on the changes or new operation

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v. Motion Study
 Motion study is the systematic study of human
movement used to perform an operation.
 An operations manager along with an analyst aims
for motion efficiency by:
 Elimination of unnecessary motions through:
 1. Combination of various activities
 2. Reduction in fatigue/ tiredness
 3. Improvement in arrangement of the workplace
 4. Improvement in design of tools and equipment

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vi. Working conditions

 Working conditions can affect worker

productivity, product quality and worker
safety.
 Temperature, ventilation, noise and lighting
etc can have a significant impact on worker
performance.
 These factors need to be considered in
analyzing the method of doing jobs.
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2. Work Measurement
 Work Measurement helps to determine how
long it should take to do a job.
 Work measurement techniques include:
 A. Historical experience
 B. Time study
 C. Work sampling
 D. Predetermined standard time
 The choice of techniques depends on the level
of detail desired and the nature of work itself.

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2. Work Measurement … Cont
A. Historical experience
 Is based on how many labor hours were required to do a
task the last time it was performed.
 Is available from employee time cards or production
records
Advantages
- relatively easy
- inexpensive to obtain.
Disadvantages
- they are not objective
- we do not know their accuracy.

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2. Work Measurement … Cont
B. Time study
 was originally proposed by Frederick W.

Taylor in 1881.
 A time study procedure involves timing a

sample of worker’s performance and using

it to set standard.
 Is generally made with a stop watch, either

on spot or by analyzing the video of the job.

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2. Work Measurement … Cont
Steps in making Time study:
1. Define the task to be studied
2. Divide the task in to precise elements
3. Decide how many times to measure the
tasks(cycles to observe)
4. Record elemental time and rating of performance
5. Compute average actual cycle time.
6. Compute the normal time
7. Add the normal times for each element
8. Compute the standard time
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2. Work Measurement … Cont
C. Work Sampling: is a technique for estimating the proportion of
time that a worker or machine spends on various activities and the
idle time.
It is developed in England by L. Tippet in 1930s. Steps:
1. Identify the worker or machine to be sampled
2. Define the activities to be observed
3. Estimate the sample size based on level of accuracy and
confidence level
4. Develop the random observation schedule. Make observations
over a time period that is representative of normal work
conditions
5. Make your observations and record the data. Check to see
whether the estimated sample size remains valid
6. Estimate the proportion of time spent on the given activity

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2. Work Measurement … Cont
 In work sampling , the observer makes,
brief observation of a worker or machines at
random intervals and simply notes the
nature of the activity.
 For example, a machine may be busy or
idle; a secretary may be typing, filling,
talking on the telephone, and so on.

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2. Work Measurement … Cont
 The resulting data are counts of the number of
times each category of activity or non activity
was observed.
 This is an important tool in developing job
description.
 Although work sampling is occasionally used
to set time standard, it has two primary uses in:
 Ratio delay studies- involves unavoidable delays or
proportion of time a machine is idle.
 Analysis of non-repetitive tasks.

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2. Work Measurement … Cont
 D. Predetermined Standard time:
 Standard time is length of time a qualified

worker take to do the job,

 using appropriate processes and tools to

complete a specific job,

 allowing time for personal fatigue, and

 unavoidable delays

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2. Work Measurement … Cont
 Standard time is used:
 To schedule work and allocate capacity.
 To provide an objective basis for motivating the
work forces and measuring the performance.
 To bid for new contracts and to evaluate
performance on existing ones
 To provide benchmarks for improvement.
 To track employee performance
 To schedule & plan required resources
 To make wage incentive plan

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3. Establishing standard time
Setting Standard Times include the ff steps:
 Step 1: Choose the specific job to be studied

 Step 2: Tell the worker whose job you will be studying

 Step 3: Break the job into easily recognizable units

 Step 4: Calculate the number of cycles you must observe

 Step 5: See time for each element, record data & rate the

worker’s performance
 Step 6: Compute the normal time

 Step 7: Compute the standard time

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 How to do a Time Study?
 When making a time study several decisions
are made to assure desired results:
 Number of observations to make
 Desired level of accuracy
 Desired level of confidence for the estimated
standard time
 Desired accuracy level is typically expressed
as a % of the mean observed times

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 Calculating Standard Time
 The normal time (NT) is the mean observed
time (OT) multiplied by the performance
rating factor (PRF).
 OT = sum of recorded times/number of observation
 NT = OT x PRF
 The PRF is a subjective estimate of a worker’s
pace relative to a normal work pace.
 The frequency of occurrence (F) is how
often the element must be done each cycle.
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 Calculating Standard Time---cond
 Allowance factor (AF) is the amount of time allowed
for personal fatigue and unavoidable delays. AF = 1/(1 – PFD)
 Standard Time=allowance factor (AF) x normal
time(NT),
 For 1st row in the next table for example ST= AF x NT= 1.176 x 0.135 =
0.159, 0.294, etc do the same for the rest.

1 1
 where: AF days    1.176
1  PFD 1  0.15 PFD is Percentage For allowance
ST  (AF) (NT) based on Days in work

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 Calculating Normal Time and
Standard Time at Pat’s Pizza
A B C D E F
12 Example 11.4 Calculating Standard Time for a Hand-Tossed Cheese and Pepperoni Pizza
13 Revised Observed Performance Rating Frequency Normal Time Standard Time
14 Work Element Time (minutes) Factor (minutes) (minutes)
15 1. Get ball of dough 0.15 0.90 1 0.135 0.159
16 2. Flatten dough 0.25 1.00 1 0.250 0.294
17 3. Spin and toss dough 0.60 0.85 1 0.510 0.600
18 4. Place dough on counter 0.15 1.10 1 0.165 0.194
19 5. Pour sauce on formed dough 0.30 1.20 1 0.360 0.423
20 6. Place grated cheese on top 0.28 1.00 1 0.280 0.329
21 7. Place pepperoni on sauce 0.28 0.95 1 0.266 0.313
22 Total Time 1.966 2.312

 How many pizzas can be prepared in 8 hrs?

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 Calculating NT and ST at Pat’s Pizza….cond
A B C D E F
12 Example 11.4 Calculating Standard Time for a Hand-Tossed Cheese and Pepperoni Pizza
13 Revised Observed Performance Rating Frequency Normal Time Standard Time
14 Work Element Time (minutes) Factor (minutes) (minutes)
15 1. Get ball of dough 0.15 0.90 1 0.135 0.159
16 2. Flatten dough 0.25 1.00 1 0.250 0.294
17 3. Spin and toss dough 0.60 0.85 1 0.510 0.600
18 4. Place dough on counter 0.15 1.10 1 0.165 0.194
19 5. Pour sauce on formed dough 0.30 1.20 1 0.360 0.423
20 6. Place grated cheese on top 0.28 1.00 1 0.280 0.329
21 7. Place pepperoni on sauce 0.28 0.95 1 0.266 0.313
22 Total Time 1.966 2.312
 Solution:
 The standard time for preparing a large, hand-tossed pizza is 2.312
minutes, how many will be prepared in 8hrs (480 minutes)? i.e. (8 x
60= 480 minutes divided by 2.312 minutes).
 This means that a worker can prepare 207 pizzas in an 8-hour shift.
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Standard time Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages
 A single observer can observe several workers
simultaneously, it is less expensive.
 Observers usually do not require much training,

 The study can be made temporarily at any time with

little impact on results.
 Because work sampling uses instantaneous (direct )
observations over a long period, the worker has little
chance of affecting the study’s out come.

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Standard time … …Cont
Disadvantages
 It does not divide work elements as

completely as time study.

 It is less effective than time studies when

cycle times are short.

 It can yield biased or incorrect results.

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4. Worker Compensation
 Is a significant issue for the design of
work systems.
 It is important for the organizations to
develop suitable compensation plans for
their employees.
 If wages are too low, organizations may
find it difficult to attract and hold
competent workers and managers.

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4. Worker Compensation---cond

 If wages are too high, the increased

costs may result in lower profits, or may
force the organization to increase its
prices, which might adversely affect
demand for the organizations’ products
or services.
 So compensation should be planned
carefully.
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Compensation---
 Organizations use two basic systems for
compensating employees:
 1. Time-based systems: also known as hourly and
measured day work system
 It is compensation based on time an employee has
worked during a pay day.
 2. Output based incentive system:
 is compensation based on amount of output an
employee produced during a pay period.
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