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Chapter 11

Process Analysis

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OBJECTIVES
 Process Analysis

 Process Flowcharting

 Types of Processes

 Process Performance Metrics

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What is a process?

A process is a series of independent tasks that

transforms an input into output material of
higher value for the organization

Examples:
1. Honda transforms steel, rubber, and plastic into cars
2. McDonald’s transforms meat, potatoes, and sauces
into packaged food
3. Dell transforms customer orders into PC’s
Process Analysis

Let’s look at the “black box” in more detail…

Why do we need to analyze the process?

- To identify inefficient tasks
- To spot possible effectiveness improvement tasks
- To understand where value can be added
- To remove the Non-value Added steps from the process.

How can we analyze a process? Map it!

What are the relevant performance measures?
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Process Flowcharting
Defined
 Process flowcharting is the use of a
diagram to present the major elements
of a process
 The basic elements can include tasks or
operations, flows of materials or
customers, decision points, and storage
areas or queues
 It is an ideal methodology by which to
begin analyzing a process

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Flowchart Symbols
Purpose and Examples
Tasks or operations Examples:
Examples: Giving
Givingan an
admission
admissionticket
ticket to
toaa
customer,
customer, installing
installingaa
engine
enginein
inaacar,
car, etc.
etc.

Decision Points Examples:

Examples: How
Howmuch
much
change
changeshould
shouldbebe
given
givento
toaacustomer,
customer,
which
whichwrench
wrenchshould
should
be
beused,
used, etc.
etc.

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Flowchart Symbols
Purpose and Examples
Storage areas or Examples:
Examples: Sheds,
Sheds,
queues lines
linesof
of people
peoplewaiting
waiting
for
foraaservice,
service, etc.
etc.

Flows of Examples:
Examples: Customers
Customers
materials or moving
movingto toaaseat,
seat,
customers mechanic
mechanicgetting
gettingaa
tool,
tool, etc.
etc.

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Example: Flowchart of Student

Going to School

Go to Yes
Drive to Walk to
school
school class
today?

No

Goof
off

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Process Analysis Terms

 Process: Is any part of an organization

that takes inputs and transforms them
into outputs
 Cycle Time: Is the average successive
time between completions of
successive units
 Utilization: Is the ratio of the time that a
resource is actually activated relative to
the time that it is available for use

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Process Analysis: the performance measures

Assume a process is in place. What do we need to

measure in order to understand how efficient it is?

Task 1 Task 2 Task 3

• What is its capacity? How many units per unit time go

through each task? The process as a whole?
• What is the bottleneck? Which production step limits the
process capacity?
• What is the throughput time? How long does it take to get
through the system?
How do we measure capacity?
Capacity of a task is the physical limitation in terms of
“how much can be processed at this task”

Cycle Time: Average time for completion of a unit at a

production step or process. Does not include waiting.
Measured as time/unit
Throughput Rate: Average number of units processed over a
time interval. Measured as units/time

1
Key
Throughput rate =
relationship Cycle Time

Capacity = throughput rate

How do we measure Throughput/Flow Time?

Throughput Time: Average time that a unit takes to go through

the entire process (including
waiting time). Measured as time
Work in Process(WIP): Average number of units in system
over a time
interval. Measured as
units
Key WIP
relationship Throughput time =
Throughput rate

(Little’s Law)
 Stable process
• The AVERAGE inflow= AVERAGE outflow

• Fluctuation occurs all the time, but we are only

concerned by OVERALL Averages.
Computing Cycle Times

Processing a fixed amount of work

Example: Producing 100 cars. On average, production takes

5 hours per car. It takes 50 hours to set up the production
line.

Set-up Time + (Batch size) x (Time per unit)

Cycle Time =
Batch size
Computing Cycle Times

Setup time: Production Time:

15 min 25min/unit

A B

Question: What is the cycle time between points A and B

of the process, if we work in batches of 10?
Capacity of a process

The capacity of the process is:

minimum throughput rate at any of the stages

What is the capacity of this process?

3 units/hr 5 units/hr 2 units/hr

How do we analyze a complex process…

1. Look at the process step by step

2. Determine throughput rate (i.e. capacity) of
each step
3. Identify the process bottleneck (smallest
processing rate, or largest cycle time).
4. The capacity of the process is equal to the
capacity of the bottleneck
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Types of Processes
Processes can be classified into three
approaches:
a. Number of Stages
1. Single-state
2. Multi-stage
b. Time specification
1. Paced
2. Non-Paced
c. Customer Order
1. Make-to-order
2. Make-to-stock

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Types of Processes

Single-stage Process

Stage 1

Multi-stage Process

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

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Types of Processes (Continued)

A buffer refers to a storage area between stages
where the output of a stage is placed prior to
being used in a downstream stage

Multi-stage Process with Buffer

Buffer
Stage 1 Stage 2

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Other Process Terminology

 Blocking
– Occurs when the activities in a stage must stop
because there is no place to deposit the item just
completed
– If there is no room for an employee to place a unit of
work down, the employee will hold on to it not able to
continue working on the next unit
 Starving
– Occurs when the activities in a stage must stop
because there is no work
– If an employee is waiting at a work station and no work
is coming to the employee to process, the employee will
remain idle until the next unit of work comes

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Other Process Terminology
Buffering: Keep some inventory between stages
1/2
0 1

Starving: Stoppage of activity because of lack of material

0/2
1 0

Blocking: Stoppage of flow because there is no storage place

2/2
1 1

1 1
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Other Process Terminology (Contd)
 Bottleneck
– Occurs when the limited capacity of a process
causes work to pile up or become unevenly
distributed in the flow of a process
– If an employee works too slow in a multi-stage
process, work will begin to pile up in front of that
employee. In this is case the employee
represents the limited capacity causing the
bottleneck.

3 units/hr 5 units/hr 2 units/hr

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Other Types of Processes

Based on specification of time

1. Paced
Refers to the fixed timing of the movement

of items through the process.

2. Non-paced
Refers to the non-specified timing of the

movement of items through the process.

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Other Types of Processes

Based on customer order
1. Make-to-order
– Only activated in response to an actual order
– Both work-in-process and finished goods
inventory kept to a minimum
2. Make-to-stock
– Process activated to meet expected or
forecast demand
– Customer orders are served from target
stocking level

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Process Performance Metrics

 Operation time = Setup time + Run time

 Velocity = Throughput time

Value-added time

 Efficiency = Actual output

Standard Output

 Utilization = Time Activated

Time Available

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Process Performance Metrics

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Metrics Example: At Zelle’s Dry Cleaning, it

takes an average of 3 ½ hours to dry clean &
press a shirt, with value-added time estimated
at 110 min. Workers are paid for a 7-hour
workday but work 5 ½ hr/day, accounting for
breaks and lunch. Zelle’s completes 25 shirts
per day, while the industry standard is 28 for a
comparable
Process facility.
Velocity = (Throughput Time)/(Value-added
time)
= (210 minutes/shirt)/(110 minutes/shirt) =
1.90
Labor Utilization = (Time in Use)/(Time Available)
= (5 ½ hr)/(7 hr) = .786 or 78.6%
Efficiency = (Actual Output)/(Standard Output)
= (25 shirts/day)/(28 shirts/day) = .89 or
89%
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 35

Cycle Time Example

Suppose
Suppose you you had
had to
to produce
produce 600
600 units
units inin 80
80 hours
hours to
to
meet
meet thethe demand
demand requirements
requirements ofof aa product.
product. What
What
is
is the
the cycle
cycle time
time to
to meet
meet this
this demand
demand requirement?
requirement?

Answer:
Answer: There
There are
are 4,800
4,800 minutes
minutes (60(60 minutes/hour
minutes/hour xx
80
80 hours)
hours) in
in 80
80 hours.
hours.
So
So the
the average
average time
time between
between completions
completions would
would
have
have toto be:
be:
Cycle
Cycle time
time == 4,800/600
4,800/600 units
units == 88 minutes.
minutes.

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Little’s Law Example

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Line balancing
 The process of assigning tasks to workstations in such a
way that the workstations have approximately equal time
requirements
Goal:
 Obtain task grouping that represent approximately equal
time requirements since this minimizes idle time along
the line and results in a high utilization of equipment and
labor
Why is line balancing important?
 1. It allows us to use labor and equipment more
efficiently.
 2. To avoid fairness issues that arise when one
workstation must work harder than another.

Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,

Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Cycle time
 The maximum time allowed at each workstation to
complete its set of tasks on a unit
 Cycle time also establishes the output rate of a line

Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,

Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
 The required number of workstations is a
function of
 Desired output rate
 Our ability to combine tasks into a workstation
 Theoretical minimum number of stations

Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,

Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Precedence diagram
 A diagram that shows elemental tasks and their
precedence requirements.
 It visually portrays the tasks that are to be performed
along with the sequential requirements, that is, the
order in which tasks must be performed.
 The diagram is read from left to right, so the initial
task(s) are on the left and the final task is on the right.

Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,

Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
 Now let’s see how a line is balanced. This involves
assigning tasks to workstations.
Generally, no techniques are available that guarantee
an optimal set of assignments.
Instead, managers employ heuristic (intuitive) rules,
which provide good and sometimes optimal sets of
assignments.
Common Heuristic (Intuitive) Rules:
 Assign tasks in order of most following tasks
Count the number of tasks that follow
 Assign tasks in order of greatest positional weight.
Positional weight is the sum of each task’s time and the
times of all following tasks.

Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,

Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Figure 6.9

0.1 min. 1.0 min.

a b

c d e
0.7 min. 0.5 min. 0.2 min.

 Arrange tasks shown in Figure 6.9 into three

workstations.
 Use a cycle time of 1.0 minute
 Assign tasks in order of the most number of
 Revised
Time Assign Time Station
Workstation Remaining Eligible Task Remaining Idle Time
1 1.0 a, c a 0.9
0.9 c c 0.2
0.2 none - 0.2
2 1.0 b b 0.0 0.0
3 1.0 d d 0.5
0.5 e e 0.3
0.3 - - 0.3
0.5
Two widely used measures of effectiveness are
Balance delay (percentage of idle time)

Efficiency
 Percentage of busy time of a line

Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,

Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Efficiency
 Percentage of busy time of a line

Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,

Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Line Balancing Procedure
1. Determine the tasks involved in completing 1
unit
2. Determine the order in which tasks must be
done
3. Draw a precedence diagram
4. Estimate task times
5. Calculate the cycle time
6. Calculate the minimum number of
workstations
7. Use a heuristic to assign tasks to workstations
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
0.2 0.2 0.3
a b e

0.8 0.6
c d f g h
1.0 0.4 0.3
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4

a b e
f g h
c d
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Management Studies, BSMRSTU
 60

Process Throughput Time

Reduction
 Perform activities in parallel
 Change the sequence of activities
 Reduce interruptions
– Add resource capacity at the bottleneck
– Additional equipment, labor or overtime
– Automation
– Process redesign
 Shifting activities from the bottleneck to other
resources
 Reducing activity time for bottleneck jobs

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Parallel Workstations
30/hr. 30/hr. 30/hr. 30/hr.
1 min. 1 min. 2 min. 1 min.

Bottleneck

30/hr. 1 min. 30/hr.

60/hr. 60/hr.
1 min. 1 min. 1 min.
30/hr.
1 min. 30/hr.

Parallel Workstations

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