Job Design, Production and Operations Standards, and Work Measurement

- For 6th SemesterJob Design, Production and Operations Standards, and Work MeasurementJob DesignActivities that specify the content of each job and determines how work is distributed within the organization.

Job design follows the planning and designing of product, process and equipment. Traditional Engineering Dimensions of Job DesignWork Method Analysis Aids Specialization of LaborOperations ChartsActivity ChartsFlow Process ChartsWorker PhysiologyWorking Environment

Behavioral DimensionsJob Rotation : Moving employees into a job for a short period of time and then out again.Job Enlargement : Redesigning the jobs to provide greater variety, autonomy, task identity, and feedback for the employee. Job Enrichment : Redesigning jobs to give more meaning and enjoyment to the job by involving employees in planning, organizing, and controlling their work.

PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS STANDARDSTo produce effectively and efficiently, management must establish goals for evaluating employee performance. These goals are translated into standards.A production and operations standard is a quantified criterion for measuring or judging output. The standard can be set for quantity, quality, cost or any other attribute of output.STANDARDS AT VARIOUS LEVELS IN THE ORGANIZATIONIndividual Standards: A quantitative criterion reflecting the output expected from an average worker under average conditions for a given time period.Departmental Standards: Several workers may perform as a unit, thus forming a team-assembly operation. These teams may have one standard for the teams output. By adding all the individual and team standards together, managers can set department standards for quality, quantity, costs and delivery dates.Plant Standards: At the plant or comparable service unit, a specified volume of goods or services must be produced; labor, materials, and overhead standards must be maintained and at the same their costs must be controlled. Uses of StandardsStandard Cost = Standard Usage X Standard labor rateStandard Usage: An established industrial engineering labor time standard.Standard Labor rate: Accepted wage rate for the labor force that will be performing the work. Standard costs are compared with actual costs, giving a labor efficiency variance. Actual Costs = Actual usage X Standard Labor RateLabor efficiency variance = Standard costs Actual costs. Problem:A manufacturing firm introducing a new plant set a preliminary labor standard at 10 units/hour. The standard labor rate was $8/hour. During the third month of production, 800 units were produced using 90 labor hours. Calculate the labor efficiency variance.SOLUTION: Standard cost = (.10 hours/unit) (800 units) ($8/hour)= $ 640Actual Cost = (90 hrs) ($8/hour)= $ 720Labor Efficiency = $ 640 - $ 720 = - $80 Variance(Result: Error in setting the standards indicating actual costs are higher than standard costs.)WORK MEASUREMENTA labor standard tells what is expected of an average worker performing under average conditions. Work measurement techniques are used to establish labor time standards.Work measurement is the actual quantifying of performance dimensions. The determination of the degree and quantity of labor in performing tasks. To determine the labor standards, average worker and performance dimensions must be specified.WORK MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUESThere are six basic ways of establishing a time(work) standard:Ignoring formal work measurementUsing the historical data approachUsing the direct time study approachUsing the predetermined time study approachUsing the work sampling approachDIRECT TIME STUDYA work measurement technique that involves observing the job, determining the job cycle, stopwatch-timing the job cycle, and calculating a performance standard. Six steps to calculate work measurement using direct time study:Select the job to be timed. Select a job cycle. Time the job for all the cycles and rate the worker. Compute the normal time based on the average cycle time and the worker rating.Determine the fraction of time available, making allowances for personal needs, delays and fatigue.Set the performance standard (standard time) based on the normal time and the allowances.

Some TermsJob Cycle: The elements and tasks involved in a job that constitutes a cycle.Normal Time: The average cycle time for a job, adjusted by a worker rating to account for variations in normal performance.Allowance fraction: The fraction of time lost on a job because of workers personal needs, fatigue, and other unavoidable delays; the remaining fraction of time is the available fraction.Standard time: The ratio of normal time to the available fraction of time. Contd.Average cycle time = Sum of cycle times recorded No. of cycles observedNormal time = Average cycle time X Worker RatingAllowance Fraction = Fraction of time for personal needs, fatigue and unavoidable delaysAvailable fraction of time = 1 Allowance FractionStandard Time = Normal Time Available Fraction of timeProblem:The time study of a machinery operation recorded cycle times of 8.0, 7.0, 8.0, and 9.0 minutes. The analyst rated the observed worker as 90 percent. The firm uses a .15 allowance fraction. Compute the standard time.SOLUTION: Average cycle time = (8.0+7.0+8.0+9.0)/4 = 8.0 minutesNormal Time = (8.0)(.90) = 7.2 minutesStandard time = 7.2 /(1 0.15) = 7.2/.85 = 8.47 minutesWORK SAMPLINGA work measurement technique that involves defining the state of working, observing the job over time, and computing the portion of time the worker is working. It proceeds along the following steps: decide what activities are defined as working , not working. observe the worker at selected intervals, recording whether a person is working or not. calculate the portion P of time a worker is working as:

P = No. of observations during which working occurred Total no. of observations

This calculation can then be used as a performance standard.ProblemA library administrator was concerned about the amount of time a circulation desk clerk spent idly at the desk.Working for the circulation desk clerk meant only assisting a patron at the circulation desk. Working at a nearby desk, the information clerk was asked to record once every half-hour for a week whether or not the circulation clerk was working. Results were as follows: DAYNo. of observationsNo. of obs during which work occurredMonday 168Tuesday158Wednesday2012Thursday1610Friday1610Total = 83Total = 48SOLUTION: The portion of the time spent working, as defined by the administrator, was:P = 48/83 = .578Results: The administrator concluded that the portion was low enough to warrant adding other clerical activities to this job.Contd.Work sampling can also be used to set standards; the procedure is similar to one based in direct time studies. We can determine the normal time by the following formula and then calculate the standard time based on direct time study.

Normal time = Total Observation time * Percent of worker observed rating * worker ratingNo. of units produced