Operations Analysis
Location
analysis
Subjective
Evaluation
Operations
Analysis
Pareto
Analysis
Process
Analysis
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Location Analysis
• Location of One Item

Example: Locating printer, scanner, & copier station in a department.
B
2
1
4
3
5
A
• Systematic Layout of Multiple Items

See pp. 114-117
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Pareto Analysis: ‘Fight the Giants’
• Concept – bulk of the problems (opportunities) are
concentrated in a few items

“Fight the Giants”
• Example: causes of long wait times at a health clinic
(data attached.)
Pareto Diagram
Cumulative % of Totall
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
Cause of Waiting
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Process Analysis
•
•
•
•
Overview of the process
Identify opportunities for improvement
Useful communication tool
Major types

Process chart
• single object / person (Ergo disk)
• assembly process
• multi-activity chart (Ergo disk)
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Flow diagram (Ergo disk, Visio)
Fish (Ishikawa) diagram (Visio)
Decision structure table
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Process chart
• Symbology
• Details



time, distance
SEARCH
notes
• Documentation
• Example – preparing a form letter for mailing
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see next page
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In Ergo …
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Flow Diagram
• Usually combined with process chart to visualize
physical space.
• Example: Preparation and gathering for a design
team meeting. (See next page.)
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3
4
1
4
1
1
5
4
5
6
6
2
2
1
1
3
1
3
1
6
Flow diagram of design team meeting (Visio)
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Other process charts
• Assembly process charts




show relationships among components, how several
processes interact
useful for methods analysis
identify delays, storage problems
example, pg. 121
• Multi-activity chart ‘gang chart’, ‘man-machine’ chart,
‘left-hand right hand’ chart

common, scaled time axis
• identify idle time, unbalanced operations
• opportunities for
– job sharing
– double tooling
– kitting
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examples, pg. 123
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Fish Diagrams
• aka, Ishikawa diagram, Cause & Effect diagram
• Useful for brainstorming, identify opportunities to
improve
• ‘Head’ of the fish is the problem or desired effect
• ‘Skeleton’ identifies potential causes

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4 M’s – manpower, machines, methods, materials
4 P’s – policies, procedures, people, plant
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Example
• Improve design team meeting productivity
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Subjective Evaluation
• Borg Vote – Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)

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multiply by 10 to estimate heart rate.
6
7
8
9
10
Very, very light
11
12
13
Fairly light
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Hard
Very light
Somewhat hard
Very hard
How you feel when
lying in bed or sitting in
a chair relaxed.
Little or no effort.
Target range: How you
should feel with
exercise or activity
How you felt with the
hardest work you have
ever done.
Very, very hard
Don't work this hard!
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Subjective Evaluation
• Body discomfort map

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Body portions
13
Body Discomfort Scales
• Borg
0
0.5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
•
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Nothing at all
Extremely weak
Very weak
Weak
Moderate
Strong
Very strong
Extremely strong
Maximal
• Discomfort scale
Comfort 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Discomfort 9
• Category partitioning
• See table 9.9, pg. 126
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Relative and Absolute Scales
• Semantic differential (absolute scale)


Rate aspects of the workspace, methods, etc. on a scale between 2
opposite adjectives,
e.g.
comfortable ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ uncomfortable
spacious ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ cramped
• Alternatively, choose one adjective (acceptable, comfortable,
etc.) and evaluate several aspects of the workplace,
methods, etc. on that one objective

e.g., acceptability, comfort, etc.
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Relative and Absolute Scales
• Paired votes (relative)


Compare two alternatives on a relative ranking scale,
e.g.
Visibility of two different computer monitors
Choose A or B
Indicate degree of preference
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absolutely
better
9
8
significantly
better
7
6
much
better
5
4
somewhat
better
3
2
equal
to
1
16
Related Concepts
• Evolutionary Operation of Processes (EVOP)



Designed series of experiments to evaluate the effects on
the output of the process of changing specific variables
Key idea is to make changes while the process is active (i.e.,
not as a separate experiment)
Substitute number of runs for strict control
• Project scheduling

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CPM
PERT
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