UNIT 2 – Technical Domain of
Operations Management
Module 5: Facility and Location
Planning
Introduction:
• In both goods-producing and service-
providing organizations, facility
layout and work design influence the
ability to meet customer wants and
needs, and provide value. A poorly
designed facility can lock
management into a noncompetitive
situation, and be very costly to
correct. For many service
organizations, the physical facility is
a vital part of service design. In can
also play a significant role in creating
a satisfying customer experience,
particularly when customer contact is
high.
• Location decisions represent a key
part of the strategic planning process
of virtually every organization. And,
although it might appear that location
decisions are one-time problems
pertaining to new organizations,
existing organizations often have a
bigger stake in these kinds of
decisions than new organization.
CONTENT:
➢ Facility Layout – refers to the specific
arrangement of physical facilities.
Facility layout studies are necessary
whenever
(1) a new facility is constructed;
(2) there is a significant change in
demand or throughput volume;
(3) a new good or service is
introduced to the customer benefit
package; and
(4) different processes, equipment,
and/or technology are installed.
“A good layout should support the
ability of operations to accomplish its
mission.”
➢ The purposes of layout studies are to
minimize delays in materials handling
and customer movement, maintain
flexibility, use labor and space
effectively, promote high employee
morale and customer satisfaction,
provide for good housekeeping and
maintenance, and enhance sales as
appropriate in manufacturing and
service facilities.
FOUR MAJOR LAYOUT PATTERNS
1. PRODUCT LAYOUT
• Is an arrangement based on the
sequence of operations that is
performed during the manufacturing
of a good or delivery of a service. It
support a smooth and logical flow
where all goods or services move in a
continuous path from one process
stage to the next using the same
sequence of work tasks and
activities. Examples of industries that
are using a product-layout pattern
include winemaking, credit card
processing, paper manufacturers,
insurance policy processing, and
automobile assembly lines.
ADVANTAGES:
1. Lower work-in-process
inventories
2. Shorter processing times
3. Less material handling
4. Lower labor skills
5. Simple planning and control
systems
DISADVANTAGES:
1. A breakdown of one piece of
equipment can cause the entire
process to shut down
2. A change in product design or
the introduction of new
products may require major
changes in the layout
3. Flexibility can be limited
2. PROCESS LAYOUT
• Consists of a functional grouping of
equipment or activities that do similar
work. Job shops are an example of
firms that use process layouts to
provide flexibility in the products that
 can be made and the utilization of cellular manufacturing system, they
equipment and labor. Legal offices, become more aware of their
shoe manufacturing, jet engine contribution to the final product; this
turbine blades, and hospitals use a increases morale and satisfaction
process layout. and ultimately, quality and
productivity.
Advantages:
1. Generally require a lower investment 4. FIXED-POSITION LAYOUT
in equipment • Consolidates the resources
2. Equipment is normally more general necessary to manufacture a good or
purpose deliver a service, such as people,
3. The diversity of jobs inherent in a materials, and equipment, in one
process layout can lead to increased physical location. Rather than
worker satisfaction moving work-in-process from one
work center to another, it remains
DISADVANTAGES: stationary. The production of large
1. High movement and transportation items such as heavy machine tools,
costs airplanes, buildings, locomotives,
2. More complicated planning and and ships usually accomplished in a
control systems fixed-position layout. The fixed
3. Longer total processing time and position layout is synonymous with
higher worker-skill requirements the “project” classification of
process. Service-providing firms also
3. CELLULAR LAYOUT use fixed-position layouts; examples
• The design is not according to the include major hardware and software
functional characteristics of installations, sporting events, and
equipment, but rather by self- concerts.
contained groups of equipment
(called cells) needed for producing a Comparison of Basic Layout Patterns
particular set of goods or services.
The cellular concept was developed Characteristics Product Process Cellular Layout Fixed-Position
at the Toyota Motor Company. Layout Layout Layout
Demand High Low Moderate Very low
Cellular layout facilitate the volume
processing of families or parts with Equipment High Low High Moderate
utilization
similar processing requirements. Automation High Moderate High Moderate
The procedure of classifying parts potential
into such families is called group Set up/ change High Moderate Low High
over
technology. requirements
• Because the workflow is Flexibility
Type of
Low
Highly
High
General
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
standardized and centrally located equipment specialized Purpose specialization specialization
in a cellular layout, materials-
handling requirements are reduced,
enabling workers to concentrate on FACILITY LAYOUT IN SERVICE
production rather than on moving ORGANIZATIONS
parts between machines. Quicker • Service organizations use a product,
response to quality problems within process, cellular, and fixed-position
cells can improve the overall level of layouts to organize different type of
quality. Since Machines are closely work. In service organizations, the
linked within a cell, additional floor basic trade-off between product and
space becomes available for other process layouts concerns the degree
productive uses. Because workers
have greater responsibility in a
 of specialization versus flexibility.
Services must consider:
1. volume of demand;
2. range of the types of services
offered;
3. degree of personalization of the
service;
4. skills of employees; and
5. cost
Those that need the ability to provide a
wide variety of services to customers with
differing requirements usually use a
process layout. For example, libraries place
reference materials, serials, and microfilms
into separate areas; hospitals group
services by function also, such as
maternity, oncology, surgery, and X-ray; and
insurance companies have office layouts in
which claims, underwriting, and filing are
individual departments. Service
organizations that provide highly
standardized services tend to use product
layouts. For example, the layout of the
kitchen at a small pizza restaurant that has
both dine-in and delivery.
LOCATION STRATEGY
• Once management is committed to a
specific location, many costs are
firmly in place and difficult to reduce.
For instance, if a new factory location
is in region with high energy cost,
even good management with an
outstanding energy strategy is
starting at a disadvantage.
Management is in similar bind with its
human resource strategy if labor in
the selected location is expensive, ill-
trained or has a poor work ethic.
• The location decision often depends
on the type of business. For
industrial location decisions, the
strategy is usually minimizing cost,
whereas for retail and professional
service organizations, the strategy
focuses on maximizing revenue.
Companies make location decisions
relatively infrequently, usually
because demand has outgrown the
current plant’s capacity or because of
changes in labor productivity,
exchange rates, costs or local
attitudes.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT LOCATION
DECISIONS
1. Labor productivity
2. Exchange rate and currency risk
• although wage rates and
productivity may make a
country seem economical,
unfavorable exchange rates
might negate savings.
3. Costs
a. Tangible costs are those costs that
are readily identifiable and precisely
measured.
b. Intangible costs – a category of
location costs that cannot be easily
quantified such as quality of life and
government.
4. Attitudes
• attitudes of national, state and
local governments toward
private property, zoning,
pollution and employment
stability may be in flux. Work
attitudes may also differ from
country to country, region to
region, and small town to city.
5. Proximity to markets
• for many firms it is extremely
important to locate near
customers. Particularly, service
organizations, like drugstores,
restaurants, post offices find
proximity to market is the
primary location factor.
6. Proximity to suppliers
• Firms locate near their raw
materials and suppliers
because perishability and
transportation cost or bulk.
7. Proximity to competitors Clustering
• the location of competing
companies near each other,
often because of a critical
mass of information, talent,
venture capital or natural
resources.
FACTORS AFFECTING COUNTRY DECISION
• Government rules, attitudes, stability,
incentives
• Labor availability, attitudes,
productivity, cost
• Availability of suppliers,
communications, energy
• Culture and economy
• Location of markets
• Exchange rate
FACTORS AFFECTING REGION/
COMMUNITY DECISION
• Attractiveness of region (culture,
taxes, climate, etc.)
• Labor availability, costs, attitudes
towards unions
• Environmental regulations of state
and town
• Proximity to customers and suppliers
• Corporate desires/costs and
availability of utilities
• Government incentives
• Land/construction costs
FACTORS AFFECTING SITE DECISION
• Access to air, rail, highway and
waterway systems
• Proximity to needed
services/suppliers
• Site size and cost
• Zoning restrictions
• Environmental impact issues
THE VALUE OF LOCATION
• The growing popularity of mapping
web sites and handled GPS (Global
Positioning Satellite) devices is
indicative of the continuing
recognition of the value of location.
And even with the growth of online
shopping and virtual commerce, all
business transactions and events
still take place with the parties
located at some physical location.
Clearly, the nature of business
transactions and events is influenced
by location as well as the associated
demographics of the participating
parties.
WHAT IS LOCATION INTELLIGENCE?
• Location intelligence blends the
analysis of objects (such as people,
business, points of interest, or
geographic regions) with their spatial
attributes (such as average age,
median income, average driving
distance, or average educational
attainment) to inform decision-
making for operational efficiencies,
revenue growth, or more effective
management. These location
intelligence capabilities can be
integrated with both operational and
analytical applications to help
increase revenues, decrease costs,
and improve productivity and
satisfaction.
TYPES OF LOCATIONS
• The type of location you choose
depends largely on the type of
business you’re in, but there are
enough mixed-use areas and creative
applications of space limit that you
should give some thought to each
type before making a final decision.
1. Home-based
• this is perhaps the trendiest location
for a business these days, and many
entrepreneurs start at home, then
move into commercial space as their
business grows. You can run a home-
based business from an office in a
spare bedroom, the basement, the
attic-even the kitchen table.
2. Retail
• retail space comes in a variety of
shapes and sizes and may be located
in enclosed malls, strip shopping
centers, free-standing buildings,
downtown shopping districts or
mixed-use facilities. You’ll also find
retail space in airports and other
transportation facilities, hotel
lobbies, sports stadiums, and a
variety of temporary or special event
venues.
3. Mobile
• Whether you’re selling to the general
public or other businesses, if you
have a product or service that you
take to your customers, your ideal
location may be a car, van or truck.
4. Commercial
• commercial space includes even
more options than retail. Commercial
office buildings and business parks
offer traditional office space geared
to business that do not require a
significant amount of pedestrian or
automobile traffic for sales. You’ll
find commercial office space in
downtown business districts,
business parks, and sometimes
interspersed among suburban retail
facilities.
5. Industrial
• If your business involves
manufacturing or heavy distribution,
you’ll need a plant or warehouse
facility. Light industrial parks
typically attract smaller
manufacturers in nonpolluting
industries as well as companies that
need showrooms in addition to
manufacturing facilities. Heavy
industrial areas tend to be older and
poorly planned and usually offer rail
and/or water port access.
MODULE 7: HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
As cited by ROBERTA RUSSEL, most
successful quality-oriented firms today
recognize the importance of their
employees when developing a competitive
strategy. Quality management is an integral
part of most companies ‘strategic design,
and the role of employees is an important
aspect of quality management. To change
management ‘s traditional control-oriented
relationship with employees to one of
cooperation, mutual trust, teamwork, and
goal orientation necessary in a quality-
focused company generally requires a long-
term commitment as a key part of a
company's strategic plan.
One of the important concepts of quality
management is employee involvement. It is
a very important factor to consider in any
quality management initiative, as it is a
system wherein employees are encouraged
to use their expertise and knowledge to
suggest methods for improvement in their
work areas.
Some of the most successful companies
are those that have achieved a close
relationship between workers and the
managers. The policies in these companies
fostered teamwork, participation,
continuous learning and flexibility. The key
is to let employees take a big role in the
success of the company. By trying to allow
them to be part of the decision making can
somewhat make them feel that the
organization is seeing them as part of the
growth.
One of the important concepts of quality
management is employee involvement. It is
a very important factor to consider in any
quality management initiative, as it is a
system wherein employees are encouraged
to use their expertise and knowledge to
suggest methods for improvement in their
work areas.
Some of the most successful companies
are those that have achieved a close
relationship between workers and the
managers. The policies in these companies
fostered teamwork, participation,
continuous learning and flexibility. The key
is to let employees take a big role in the
success of the company. By trying to allow
them to be part of the decision making can
somewhat make them feel that the
organization is seeing them as part of the
growth.
As an example, Nissan Motor Philippines'
corporate philosophy includes a statement
about the value of its human resources.
They see their employees as the heart of
their company.
A safe, healthy working environment is a
basic necessity to keep employees
satisfied. Successful companies provide
special services like recreational activities,
day care, flexible work hours, cultural
events, picnics, and fitness centers. Notice
that these are services that treat employees
like customers, an acknowledgment that
there is a direct and powerful link between
employee satisfaction and customer
satisfaction
It is important that employees understand
what the strategic goals of the company are
and that they feel like they can participate in
achieving these goals. Employees need to
believe they make a difference, to be
committed to goals and have pride in their
work.
Employee commitment and participation in
the strategic plan can be enhanced if
employees are involved in the planning
process, especially at the local level. As the
strategic plan passes down through the
organization to the employee level,
employees can participate in the
development of local plans to achieve
overall corporate goals.
THE CHANGING NATURE OF HUMAN
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
• The principles of scientific
management developed by F. W.
Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s
dominated operations management
during the first part of the twentieth
century. Taylor's approach was to
break jobs down into their most
elemental activities and to simplify
job designs so that only limited skills
were required to learn a job, thus
minimizing the time required for
learning. This approach divided the
jobs requiring lees skill from the work
required to set up machinery and
maintain “ñ, which required greater
skill. In Taylor's system, a job is the
set of all the tasks performed by a
worker, tasks are individual activities
consisting of elements, which
encompass several job motions, or
basic physical movements.
• Scientific management broke down a
job into its simplest element and
motions, eliminated unnecessary
motions, and then divided the tasks
among several workers so that each
would require only minimal skill. This
system enabled companies to hire
large numbers of cheap, unskilled
laborers, who were basically
interchangeable and easily replaced.
If a worker was fired or quit, another
could easily be placed on the job with
virtually no training expense. In this
system, the timing of job elements
(by stopwatch) enabled management
to develop standard times for
producing one unit of output.
Workers were paid according to their
total output in a piece-rate system. A
worker was paid “extra" wages
according to the amount he or she
exceeded the “standard" daily
output. Such a wage system is based
on the premise that the single
motivating factor for a worker to
increase output is monetary reward.
• Scientific management also proved to
have serious disadvantages. Workers
frequently became bored and
dissatisfied with the numbing
repetition of simple job tasks that
required little thought, ingenuity, or
responsibility. The skill level required
in repetitive, specialized tasks is so
low that workers do not have the
opportunity to prove their worth or
abilities for advancement. Repetitive
tasks requiring the same
monotonous physical motions can
result in unnatural physical and
mental fatigue.
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION
• Motivation is a willingness by an
employee to work hard to achieve the
company's goals because that effort
satisfies some employees' need or
objective. Thus, employee motivation
 is a key factor in achieving company
goals such as product quality and
creating a quality workplace.
However, different things motivate
employees. Obviously, financial
compensation is a major motivating
factor, but it is not the only one and
may not be the most important. Other
factors that motivate employees
include self-actualization (such as
integrity, responsibility, and
naturalness), achievement and
accomplishment recognition,
relationships with coworkers and
supervisors, the type and degree of
work supervision, job interest, trust
and responsibility, and the
opportunity for growth and
advancement.
• In general, job performance is a
function of motivation combined with
ability. Ability depends on education,
experience, and training, and its
improvement can follow a slow but
clearly defined process. On the other
hand, motivation can be improved
more quickly. but there is no clear-cut
process for motivating people.
However, certain basic elements in
job design and management have
been shown to improve motivation,
including
• Positive reinforcement and
feedback
• Effective organization and
discipline
• Fair treatment of people
• Satisfaction of employee needs
• Setting of work-related goals
• Design of jobs to fit the
employee
• Work responsibility
• Empowerment
• Restructuring of jobs when
necessary
• Rewards based on company as
well as individual performance
• Achievement of company goals
Table 1 Evolution of Theories of Employee
Motivation
CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN HUMAN
RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
JOB TRAINING
• In companies with a commitment to
quality, job training is extensive and
varied. Expectations for performance
and advancement from both the
employee and management tend to
be high. Typically, numerous courses
are available for training in different
jobs and functions. Job training is
considered part of a structured
career- development system that
includes cross training and job
rotation. This system of training and
job rotation enhances the flexibility of
the production process we
mentioned earlier. It creates talent
reserves that can be used as the
need arises when products or
processes change or the workforce is
reduced
• Training is a major feature of all
companies with quality management
programs. Two of W. E. Deming's 14
points refer to employee education
and training. Most large companies
have extensive training staffs with
state-of-the-art facilities. Federal
Express has a television network that
broadcasts more than 2000 different
training course titles to employees.
Many UPS employees are part-time
college students, but each receives
 more training than most skilled
factory workers in the United States.
CROSS TRAINING
• In cross training an employee learns
more than one job in the company.
Cross training has a number of
attractive features that make it
beneficial to the company and the
employee. For the company it
provides a safety measure with more
job coverage in the event of
employee resignations and
absenteeism, and sudden increases
in a particular job activity. Employees
are given more knowledge and
variety so that they won't get as
easily bored, they will find more value
in what they do, and their interest
level in the company will increase.
Because of their increased
knowledge, they will have the
opportunity to move to other jobs
within the company without leaving.
Employees will respect each other
because they will be more familiar
with each other's jobs. However,
cross training requires a significant
investment in time and money, so the
company should be committed to its
implementation and sure of the
benefits it hopes to realize from cross
training.
JOB ENRICHMENT
• The objective of job enrichment is to
create more opportunities for
individual achievement and
recognition by adding variety,
responsibility, and accountability to
the job. This can also lead to greater
worker autonomy, increased task
identity, and greater direct contact
with other workers.
EMPOWERMENT
• Empowerment is giving employees
responsibility and authority to make
decisions. For quality management
programs to work, it is generally
conceded that employees must be
empowered so that they are willing to
innovate and act on their own in an
atmosphere of trust and respect. Five
of W. E. Deming's 14 points for
quality improvement relate to
employee empowerment.
Empowerment requires employee
education and training, and
participation in goal setting. The
advantages of empowerment include
more attention to product quality and
the ability to fix quality problems
quickly, increased respect and trust
among employees, lower
absenteeism and higher productivity,
more satisfying work, less conflict
with management, and fewer middle
managers. However, empowerment
can also have some negative
aspects. Employees may abuse the
power given to them; empowerment
may provide too much responsibility
for some employees; it may create
conflicts with middle management; it
will require additional training for
employees and managers which can
be costly; group work, which often is
an integral part of empowerment, can
be time-consuming and some
employees may not make good
decisions.
TEAMS
• The use of teams optimizes employee
involvement. Teams can differ
according to their purpose, level of
responsibility, and longevity. Some
teams are established to work on a
specific problem and then disband;
others are more long-term, formed to
monitor a work area or process for
continual improvement. Most teams
are not totally democratic and have
some supervisory oversight,
although some have more authority
than others. Quality circles typically
have a supervisor in charge. In
general, for teams to be effective,
they must know what their purpose
and roles are relative to the
company's goals, as well as the
extent of their empowerment, have
the skills and training necessary to
 achieve their goals, and possess the
ability to work together as a team.
• Self-directed teams, though not
totally independent, are usually
empowered to make decisions and
changes relative to the processes in
their own work area. This degree of
responsibility is based on trust and
management's belief that the people
who are closest to a work process
know how to make it work best. Team
members tend to feel more
responsibility to make their solutions
work, and companies typically reward
teams for performance improvement.
FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULES
• Flexible work schedules or flextime is
becoming an increasingly important
workplace format. It refers to a
variety of arrangements in which
fixed times of arrival and departure
are replaced by a combination of
"core" or fixed time and flexible time.
Core time is the designated period
during which all employees are
present, say 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Flexible time is part of the daily work
schedule where employees can
choose their time of arrival and
departure. In some cases, an
employee may bank or credit hours-
that is, work more hours one day and
bank those hours in order to take a
shorter work day in the future. In
other cases, an employee may vary
work days during the week, for
example, work four 10-hour days
followed by a three-day weekend.
While flextime helps the company
attract and retain employees and
promotes job satisfaction, it can
make it difficult to compensate for
sudden changes in the workload or
problems that can arise that require
quick reactions.
ALTERNATIVE WORKPLACES AND
TELECOMMUTING
• An alternative workplace is a
combination of nontraditional work
locations, settings, and practices that
supplements or replaces the
traditional office. An alternative
workplace can be a home office, a
satellite office, a shared office, a
shared desk or an open workspace
where many employees work side-by-
side. Another form of alternative
workplace is telecommuting,
performing work electronically
wherever the worker chooses.
TEMPORARY AND PART-TIME EMPLOYEES
• A trend among service companies in
particular is the use of temporary, or
contingent, employees. Part-time
employees accounted for over 40% of
job growth in the retail industry
during the 1990s. Fast-food and
restaurant chains, retail companies,
package delivery services, and
financial firms tend to use a large
number of temporary employees.
Companies that have seasonal
demand make extensive use of
temporary employees. Some firms
lease people for jobs, especially for
computer services. As companies
downsize to cut costs, they turn to
temporary employees to fill
temporary needs without adding to
their long-term cost base. People
with computer skills able to work
from home have also increased the
pool of available temporary workers.
EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION
• Good human resource management
practices or motivation factors
cannot compensate for insufficient
monetary rewards. If the reward is
perceived as good, other things will
motivate employees to give their best
performance. Self-motivation can go
only so far it must be reinforced by
financial rewards. Merit must be
measured and rewarded regularly;
 otherwise performance levels will not
be sustained.
MANAGING DIVERSITY IN THE
WORKPLACE
• In order to be successful with a
diverse workforce, companies must
provide climate in which all
employees feel comfortable, can do
their job, feel like they are valued by
the organization, and perceive that
they are treated fairly. However,
inequalities too often exist for
employees because of race, gender,
religion, cultural origin, age, and
physical or mental limitations. The
elimination of racism, sexism,
cultural indifference, and religious
intolerance cannot be mandated by
higher management or managed by
financial incentives. Companies as a
whole, starting with top management,
must develop a strategic approach to
managing diversity in order to meet
the challenges posed by a diverse
workforce.
not a good fit for the employee, then
it will not be performed well.
Frederick Herzberg identified several
attributes of good job design, as
follows:
• An appropriate degree of
repetitiveness
• An appropriate degree of
attention and mental
absorption
• Some employee responsibility
for decisions and discretion
• Employee control over their
own job
• Goals and achievement
feedback
• A perceived contribution to a
useful product or service
• Opportunities for personal
relationships and friendships
• Some influence over the way
work is carried out in groups
• Use of skills

• Although there is no magic formula

for successfully managing diversity,
education, awareness,
communication, fairness, and
commitment are critical elements in
the process. Employees must be
educated about racial, gender,
religious, and ethnic differences; they
must be made aware of what it is like
to be someone who is different from
themselves. This also requires that
lines of communication be open
between different groups, and
between employees and
management. Most importantly,
successful diversity management
requires a commitment from top
TABLE 2. ELEMENTS OF JOB DESIGN
JOB DESIGN
• A key element in employee THE ELEMENTS OF JOB DESIGN
motivation and job performance is to
make sure the employee is well A. TASK ANALYSIS- determines how to
suited for a job and vice versa. If a do each task and how all the tasks fit
job is not designed properly and it is together to form a job. It includes
 defining the individual tasks and
determining their most efficient
sequence, their duration, their
relationship with other tasks, and
their frequency.
B. WORKER ANALYSIS- determines the
characteristics the worker must
possess to meet the job
requirements, the responsibilities the
worker will have in the job, and how
the worker will be rewarded.
C. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS- it
refers to the physical location of the
job in the production or service
facility and the environmental
conditions that must exist. These
conditions include things such as
proper temperature, lighting,
ventilation, and noise.
D. ERGONOMICS- as it is applied to
work is fitting the task to the person.
It deals with the interaction of work,
technology, and humans.
Ergonomics applies human sciences
like anatomy, physiology, and
psychology to the design of the work
environment and jobs, and objects
and equipment used in work. The
objective of ergonomics is to make
the best use of employees'
capabilities while maintaining the
employees' health and well-being.
E. TECHNOLOGY AND AUTOMATION-
the worker-machine interface is
possibly the most crucial aspect of
job design, both in manufacturing
industries and in service companies
where workers interface with
computers. New technologies have
increased the educational
requirements and need for employee
training. The development of
computer technology and systems
has heightened the need for workers
with better skills and more job
training.
JOB ANALYSIS
• Methods analysis is used to redesign
or improve existing jobs. An analyst
will study an existing job to
determine if the work is being done in
the most efficient manner possible; if
all the present tasks are necessary;
or if new tasks should be added. The
analyst might also want to see how
the job fits in with other jobs-that is,
how well a job is integrated into the
overall production process or a
sequence of jobs. The development
and installation of new machinery or
equipment, new products or product
changes, and changes in quality
standards can all require that a job be
analyzed for redesign.
• The primary tools of methods
analysis are a variety of charts that
illustrate in different ways how a job
or a work process is done. These
charts allow supervisors, managers,
and workers to see how a job is
accomplished and to get their input
and feedback on the design or
redesign process. Two of the more
popular charts are the process
flowchart and the worker-machine
chart.
PROCESS FLOWCHART
• A process flowchart is used to
analyze how the steps of a job or how
a set of jobs fit together into the
overall flow of the production
process. Examples might include the
flow of a product through a
manufacturing assembly process, the
making of a pizza, the activities of a
surgical team in an operating room,
or the processing of a catalogue mail
or telephone order.
• A process flowchart uses some basic
symbols shown in Figure 2 to
describe the tasks or steps in a job or
a series of jobs. The symbols are
connected by lines on the chart to
show the flow of the process.
 Figure 4. Worker-Machine Chart

It was to select the best worker among a

group of workers and use that worker's
methods as the standard by which other
workers were trained. Alternatively, Gilbreth
studied many workers and from among
them picked the best way to perform each
activity. Then he combined these elements
to form the "one best way" to perform a
task.

MOTION STUDY
Figure 3. Process Flowchart of Copying Job
WORKER-MACHINE CHART
• A worker-machine chart illustrates
the amount of time a worker and a
machine are working or idle in a job.
This type of chart is occasionally
used in conjunction with a process
flowchart when the job process
includes equipment or machinery.
The worker- machine chart shows if
the worker's time and the machine
time are being used efficiently that is,
if the worker or machine is idle an
excessive amount of time.
• The study of the individual human
motions used in a task. The purpose
of motion study is to make sure that a
job task does not include any
unnecessary motion by the worker
and to select the sequence of
motions that ensure that the task is
being performed in the most efficient
way.
• Motion study originated with Frank
Gilbreth, a colleague of F. W. Taylor's
at the beginning of the twentieth
century. F. W. Taylor's approach to
the study of work methods was to
select the best worker among a group
of workers and use that worker's
methods as the standard by which
other workers were trained.
Alternatively, Gilbreth studied many
workers and from among them
picked the best way to perform each
activity. Then he combined these
elements to form the "one best way"
to perform a task.