What is a process?

At this point, I hope you have already seen the video about how Softdrinks are
produced. As you can see, the process is so complicated from the bottle molding
process up to the final packaging of the Softdrinks. Perhaps it costs billions of
Pesos to setup that state-of-the-art system consisting of several sub-processes,
machineries, and equipment. And once it is decided and implemented, it is not easy
to just change the process overnight. This example proves that process selection as
well as facility layout have strategic significance and has long-term impact to the
entire organization.

Now let us define what a process is.

In Lesson #1 we have defined process as a sequence of activities that is intended

to create a certain result, whether it is goods, services, or information. In other
words, processes are the means by which goods and services are produced and
delivered.

Therefore, process consists of all the operations that is combined to make a

product and/or service. In short, process is defined as a systematic way of doing
things.

Process selection refers to deciding on the way production of goods or

services will be organized

It has major implications for capacity planning, layout of facilities,

equipment, and design of work systems

Process selection occurs as a matter of course when new products or

services are being planned. However, it also occurs periodically due
to technological changes in products or equipment, as well as competitive
pressures

Process Strategy
How an organization approaches process selection is determined by the
organization’s process strategy. Process strategy is the organization’s
approach to transforming resources into goods or services

Key aspects in process stategy include:

Capital intensity: the mix of equipment and labor that will be used by the
organization.

Process flexibility: the degree to which the system can be adjusted to

changes in processing requirements due to such factors as changes in
product or service design, changes in volume processed, and changes in
technology.
Vital Questions in Process Selection
Process choice is demand driven. Three primary questions bear on process
selection:

1. How much variety in products or services will the system need to

handle?
2. What degree of equipment flexibility will be needed?
3. What is the expected volume of output?

Answers to these questions will serve as a guide in selecting appropriate

process strategy.

Process Types
There are five basic process types:

1. job shop
2. batch
3. repetitive
4. continuous
5. project

Job Shop
 A job shop usually operates on a relatively small scale
 Used for low-volume, high variety of goods or services
 Processing is intermittent
 Work includes small jobs with different processing requirements
 High flexibility using general purpose equipment
 Skilled workers are employed
 Process focused

Examples of Operations use Job Shop

Office, Dental clinic, Tool and die shop, Repair shop, Barber shop, Salons,
Clinics, Hospitals

Tool and Die Shop

A TOOL AND DIE SHOP

The tool and die industry is an industry that uses general and specialized
metal cutting technology to fabricate dies, molds and toolings
employed to convert raw material into a required shape. The common
products of this sector include dies (simple, compound and progressive),
molds (for forging, plastics injection or blow molding, die casting, glass
blow molding) and tools, e.g. jigs and fixtures used for cutting and shaping
different materials. Molds are shaping implements for glass, metal, rubber
and plastics components through processes such as die casting, blow
molding or sheet stamping. Both molds and dies are used to give a material
a final or intermediate shape thus these products are found at the forefront
of the shaping and fabrication industries. Tool and dies normally are ready
to use products either as standalone (molds) or as an attachment to a
machine (die).

The products of the tool and die industry are typically made by mold and die
makers using general, conventional and specialized metal cutting
technology, like computer numerically controlled (CNC) cutting machines,
employing special tool steel materials which are either pre-hardened or
which undergoes heat treatment after the desired tool has been cut to
shape. The skill levels of mold and die makers are of the craftsmen level
which requires talent and experience, although the use of CNCs improves
the productivity of some.
Trivia: Do you know that there is a Tool and Die Engineering Technology
course offered by TUP.

Batch Processing
 Batch processing is used when a moderate volume of goods or
services is desired, and it can handle a moderate variety in products
or services.
 The equipment need not be as flexible as in a job shop, but processing
is still intermittent.
 The skill level of workers doesn’t need to be as high as in a job shop
because there is less variety in the jobs being processed.

Examples of batch systems include bakeries, which make bread, cakes, or

cookies in batches; movie theaters, which show movies to groups (batches)
of people; and airlines, which carry planeloads (batches) of people from
airport to airport. Other examples of products that lend themselves to batch
production are paint, ice cream, soft drinks, beer, magazines, and books.
Other examples of services include plays, concerts, music videos, radio and
television programs, and public address announcements.

Repetitive Processing
 When higher volumes of more standardized goods or services are
needed, repetitive processing is used.
 The standardized output means only slight flexibility of equipment is
needed.
 Skill of workers is generally low.

Examples of this type of system include production lines and assembly lines.
In fact, this type of process is sometimes referred to as an assembly. In an
assembly line, it usually uses modules or components previously prepared
and assemble them in the final assembly area.

More about repetitive processing

Familiar products made by these systems include manufacturing of
automobiles, television sets, pencils, and computers. As you can see in this
image here, by the way, this is the assembly line for TESLA vehicles, cars
are manufactured in the final assembly and unfinished cars lined up in the
manufacturing plant forming a line until it reaches the finishing touches,
thus, it’s called an assembly line.

An example of a service system is an automatic carwash. Other examples of

service include cafeteria lines and ticket collectors at sports events and
concerts. Also, mass customization is an option.

Continuous Processing
 When a very high volume of non-discrete, highly standardized output
is desired, a continuous system is used.
 Non-discrete goods or products, are those that can be bought in any
quantities other than positive integers – examples are sugar, salt, oil.
 These systems have almost no variety in output and, hence, no need
for equipment flexibility.
 Workers’ skill requirements can range from low to high, depending on
the complexity of the system and the expertise workers need.
 Generally, if equipment is highly specialized, worker skills can be
lower. Thus, continuous production is product focused or organized
around the product.
 Examples of nondiscrete products made in continuous systems include
petroleum products, steel, sugar, flour, and salt. On the other hand,
examples of continuous services include air monitoring, supplying
electricity to homes and businesses, and the Internet.

 Process Types: A Summary

 

These process types are found in a wide range of manufacturing and

service settings. The ideal is to have process capabilities match
product or service requirements. Failure to do so can result in
inefficiencies and higher costs than are necessary, perhaps creating a
competitive disadvantage.

 This table provides a brief description of each process type along with
advantages and disadvantages of each.

Project
 A project is used for work that is nonroutine, with a unique set of
objectives to be accomplished in a limited time frame.
 Examples range from simple to complicated, including such things as
putting on a play, consulting, making a motion picture, launching a
new product or service, publishing a book, building a dam, and
building a bridge.
 Equipment flexibility and worker skills can range from low to high.

Process Analysis & Design

When analyzing and designing processes, we ask the following questions:

 Is the process designed to achieve competitive advantage

 Does the process eliminate steps that do not add value
 Does the process maximize customer value as perceived by them
  Will the process win orders

Process analysis and design is an important aspect in selecting the best

process strategy

A number of tools help us understand the complexities of process design

and redesign. They are simply ways of making sense of what happens or
must happen in a process. Let’s look at five of them.

1. Flowchart
2. Time-Function Mapping
3. Value-Stream Mapping
4. Process Charts
5. Service Blueprinting

Flow Chart
 Flowchart – a schematic or drawing of the movement of material,
products or people
 Graphical or symbolic representation of a process
 Each step in the process is represented by a different symbol and
contains a short description of the process step
 Each step is link together with arrows showing the process direction
 Flowcharts provide a view of the big picture

Example of a flow diagram or a flow chart

Time Function Mapping

  Similar to the flowchart but it shows flows and time frame
 This is sometimes called process mapping
 Adds rigor and a time element

In time-function mapping, nodes indicate the activities, and the arrows

indicate the flow direction, with time on the horizontal axis. This type of
analysis allows users to identify and eliminate waste such as extra steps,
duplication of delay

Value Stream Mapping

 A variation of the time-function mapping is the value-stream mapping.
VSM takes an expanded look at where value is added and not added in
the entire production process, including the supply chain.
 As with the time-function mapping, the idea is to start with the
customer and understand the production process, but value-stream
mapping extends the analysis back to suppliers.
In this image we note that large inventories exist in incoming raw materials
and between processing steps, and that value-added time is low as a
proportion of the entire process.

One way to reduce materials inventory is to have deliveries twice per week
rather than once per week.

Process Charts
Process charts use symbols, time, and distance to provide and objective and
structured way to analyze and record the activities that make up a process.
They allow us to focus on value-added activities.
These are the sysmbols used in process chart:

Let us look at an example of the application of the process chat:

In this process chart for hamburger assembly process at a fastfood
restaurant, it includes a value-added line to help distinguish between value-
added activities and waste. Identifying all value-added operations, allows us
to determine the percent of value-added to total activities. We can see from
the computation at the bottom of the process chart that the value added int
this case is only 85.7%.

Keypoints
Service blueprinting is a process analysis technique that focuses on the
customer and the provider’s interaction with the customer.

Example of a service blueprint

In this example, the activities at level one of Figure 7.7 are under the
control of the customer. In the second level are activities of the service
provider interacting with the customer. The third level includes those
activities that are performed away from, and not immediately visible to, the
customer.