Operations Management - Process Analysis

What is a process?

How to improve process efficiently

Repetitive operations that turn input -> output

Understand

Worker-paced

Machine-paced

Each step has its own pace

Steps need to be syncronized

Measure

Improve

Increase capacity of the process

Capacity

Throughput rate (flow rate, output rate)

Utilization

Process cycle time (throughput time, flow time)

Process time

Max # of units a process can output in a period of time

A rate

Single step

Multi step

Time to process a unit at an activity

= 1 / Process time

= Min {Input rate, Capacity}

% of time station is busy

= Output rate / capacity

time for a unit to go through the entire system

Shortest time between two outputs

Multi-step production line

Bottleneck

Station with lowest capacity or longest process time

Process time

It is the process time of bottle neck

Time btwn 2 consecutive outputs if process is at full speed

Process cycle time

Add all process times

Input rate

= 1 / time btwm 2 consecutive arrivals

Output rate

= 1 / time btwn 2 consecutive outputs

Add more resources to station

Parallel resources

click to edit

Process time is cut by half (If process time of an activity is 8 for each the time is 4)

Capacity is doubled

over/under capacity

Too much capacity -> wasted capacity

Too little capacity -> loss of demand