Operations Management - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Process Design
WHAT IS PROCESS DESIGN?

At the start of the process design activity it is important to understand the design
objectives, especially at first, when the overall shape and nature of the process is
being decided. The most common way of doing this is by positioning it according to
its volume and variety characteristics. Eventually the details of the process must be
analyzed to ensure that it fulfils its objectives effectively.
Process design and service/product design are interrelated

Often we will treat the design of services and product, on the one hand, and the
design of the processes which make them, on the other, as though they were
separate activities. Yet they are clearly interrelated. It would be foolish to commit to
the detailed design of any product or service without some consideration of how it is
to be produced. Small changes in the design can have profound implications for the
way the operation eventually has to produce them. Similarly, the design of a process
can constrain the freedom of product and service designers to operate as they wish.
This overlap is greatest in in operations which provide services. (see figure 4.2, page
98)
WHAT OBJECTIVES SHOULD PROCESS DESIGN HAVE?

The whole point of process design is to make sure that the performance of the
process is appropriate for whatever it is trying to achieve.
Operations performance objectives translate directly to process design objectives
(see table 4.1, page 99). But, because processes are managed at a very operational
level, process design also needs to consider a more micro and detailed set of
objectives. These are largely concerned with flow through the process. Because of
time spend in inventories and waiting to be transformed by the next activity the
time a unit spends in the process (throughput time) will be longer than the sum of
all the transforming activities that it passes through. Also the resources that perform
the processs activities may not be sued all the time because not all items will
necessarily require the same activities and the capacity of each resource may not
match the demand placed upon it.
Throughput rate = the rate at which items emerge from the process, the number of
items passing through the process per unit of time
Cycle time = the time between times emerging from the process
Throughput time = the average elapsed time taken for inputs to move through the
process and become outputs
Utilization of process resources = the proportion of available time that the resources
within the process are performing useful work.
Standardization of processes
One of the most important process design objectives concerns the extent to which
process designs should be standardized. By standardization in this context is meant
adopting a common sequence of activities, methods and use of equipment. It is a
significant issue in large organisations because very often different ways of carrying
out similar or identical tasks emerge over time in the various parts of the
organization. The problem is that allowing the numerous ways of doing things
causes confusion, misunderstandings, and eventually, inefficiency. The practical
dilemma is how to draw the line between processes that are required to be
standardized, and those that are allowed to be different.
Environmental sensitive process design

With the issues of environmental protection becoming more important, process
designers have to take into account green issues. In many developed countries,
legislation has already provided some basic standards. Interest has focused on some
fundamental issues:
The sources of input to a product or service
Quantities and sources of energy consumed in the process
The amount and type of waste material that are created in the manufacturing
processes
The life of the product itself
The end-of-life of the product
Designers are faced with complex trade-offs between these factors, although it is
not always easy to obtain all the information that is needed to make the best
choices.
Life-cycle analysis = analyses all the production inputs, the life-cycle use of the
products and its final disposal, in terms of total energy used and all emitted wastes.
The inputs and wastes are evaluated at every stage.
PROCESS TYPES THE VOLUME-VARIETY EFFET ON PROCESS DESIGN

Processes range from those producing at high volume to low volume. Also processes
range from producing very low variety of products and services to a very high
variety. Usually the two dimensions of volume and variety go together but in a
reversed way. So low-volume processes often produce a high variety of products and
services.
Process Types
The position of a process on the volume-variety continuum shapes its overall design
and the general approach to managing its activities. These general approaches to
designing and managing processes are called process types (see figure 4.3, page
102).
Project processes
Project processes deal with discrete, usually highly customized products; often with
a relatively long timescale between the completion of each item, where each job has
a well-defined start and finish. Project processes have a low volume and high variety.
Activities involved in the process can be ill-defined and uncertain. Transforming
resources may have to be organized especially for each item. The process may be
complex, partly because the activities in such processes often involve significant
discretion to act according to professional judgment.
Jobbing processes
Jobbing processes also deal with high variety and low volumes. However, while in
project processes each item has resources devoted more or less exclusively to it, in
jobbing processes each product has to share the operations resources with many
others. Resources will process a series of items but, although each one will require
similar attention, they may differ in their exact needs. Many jobs will probably be
one-offs that are never repeated. Jobbing processes could be relatively complex;
however they usually produce physically smaller products and, although sometimes
requiring considerable skills, such processes often involve fewer unpredictable
circumstances.
Batch processes
Batch processes may look like jobbing processes but do not have the same degree
of variety. Each time batch processes produce more than one item at a time. So
each part of the process has periods when its repeating itself, at least while the
batch is being processed. If the size of the batch is just two or three items, it is
little different to jobbing. If the batch processes are large, and especially if the
products are familiar to the operation, batch processes can be fairly repetitive.
Because of this, the batch type of process can be found over a wide range of volume
and variety levels.
Mass processes
Mass processes are those which produce items in high volume and relatively narrow
variety. The activities of mass processes are usually repetitive and largely
predictable.
Continuous processes
Continuous processes have even higher volume and usually lower variety than mass
processes. They also usually operate for longer periods of time. Sometimes they are
literally continuous in that their products are inseparable, being produced in an
endless flow. They often have relatively inflexible, capital-intensive technologies with
highly predictable flow and, although products may be stored during the process,
their predominant characteristics is of smooth flow from one part of the process to
another.
Professional services
Professional services are high-contact processes where customers spend a
considerable time in the service process. They can provide high levels of
customization. Professional services tend to be people-based rather than equipment
based, and usually staff are given considerable discretion in servicing customers.
Service shops
Service shops have levels of volume and variety between the extremes of
professional and mass services. Service is provided via mixes of front- and back-
office activities.
Mass services
Mass services have many customers transactions, involving limited contact time and
little customization. Staff are likely to have a relatively defined division of labor and
have to follow set procedures.
The product-process matrix

The most common method of illustrating the relationship between a processs
volume-variety position and its design characteristics is shown in figure 4.4, page
107. Often called the process matrix, it can be used for any type of process whether
producing products or services. The underlying idea of the product-process matrix is
that many of the more important elements of process design are strongly related to
the volume-variety position of the process. Processes should lie close to the diagonal
of the matrix that represents the fit between the process and its volume-variety
position. This is called the natural diagonal.
Moving off the natural diagonal
A process lying on the natural diagonal of the matrix will normally have lower
operating costs than one with the same volume-variety position that lies of the
diagonal. This is because the diagonal represents the most appropriate process
design for any volume-variety position. Processes that are on the right of the
diagonal would normally be associated with lower volumes and higher variety. This
means they are likely to be more flexible than seems to be warranted by their actual
volume-variety position. They should be more standardized, which means their costs
are likely to be higher than they would be with a process that was closer to the
diagonal. Conversely, processes on the left of the diagonal have standardized to
much which can also lead to high costs.
DETAILED PROCESS DESIGN

After the overall design of a process has been determined, its individual activities
must be configured. At its simplest, this detailed design of a process involves
identifying all the individual activities that are needed to meet the objectives of the
process, and deciding on the sequence in which these activities are to be performed
and who is going to do them. There will be some constraints to this.
Process mapping
Process mapping simply involves describing processes in terms of how the activities
within the process relate to each other. There are many techniques which can be
used for process mapping. However, all the techniques identify the different types of
activity that take place during the process and show the flows of materials or people
or information through the process.
Process mapping symbols

Process mapping symbols are used to classify different types of activity. And
although there is no universal set of symbols used all over the world for any type of
process, there are some that are commonly used (see figure 4.6, page 110).
These symbols can be arranged in order, and in series or in parallel, to describe any
process.
Different levels of process mapping

For a large process, drawing process maps at this level of detail can be complex.
This is why processes are often mapped at a more aggregated level, called high-
level process mapping, before more detailed maps are drawn.
At the highest level the process can be drawn simply as an input-transformation-
output process. No details of how inputs are transformed into outputs are included.
At a slightly lower level or more detailed level, a line process map identifies the
sequence of activities but only in a general way.
A micro-detailed process map could specify every single motion involved in each
activity.
Process visibility
It is sometimes useful to map such processes in a way that makes the degree of
visibility of each part of the process obvious. This allows those parts of the process
with high visibility to be designed so that they enhance the customers perception of
the process. There are several levels of visibility, the boundary between the two
categories medium visibility and low visibility is called the line of visibility. The line
between very high visibility and high visibility is called the line of interaction.

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Chapter 4 Process Design

WHAT IS PROCESS DESIGN?

Process design and service/product design are interrelated

WHAT OBJECTIVES SHOULD PROCESS DESIGN HAVE?

Environmental sensitive process design

PROCESS TYPES THE VOLUME-VARIETY EFFET ON PROCESS DESIGN

The product-process matrix

DETAILED PROCESS DESIGN

Process mapping symbols

Different levels of process mapping

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