Question

Analyze the current best practices in utilizing process management techniques.

·

Answer 1

Before knowing about what are the best project management techniques first we have to know about what is process management . In process management we have to select tge inputs,operations,work flow and methods that transform inputs into outputs. The starting point of input selection is the make - or - buy decision ( example:: we have to decide which parts and components are to be produced in - house and which are to be purchased from outside suppliers. )

Process decisions are concerned with the proper mix of human skills and equipments needed to produce the parts in house and which part of the processes are to be performed by each equipment and worker.

Process management is a ongoing process which never stop and companies frequently analyzes the current state and identifies areas of improvement to create a more efficient and effective organization.

Process decisions is made when

• a new or modified product or service is being offered .
• Quality must be improved
• Competitive priorities have changed
• Demand for a product or service is changing
• Cost or availability of materials has changed
• Competitors are doing better by using a new technology ot a new process.

Basically there are some major process decisions considered by operations managers which are

1. Process choice : so what is process choice means it means the product manager have to determine whether resources are organized around products or processes in order to implement the flow strategy .It depends on the volume and degree of customisation to be provided . There are mainly five type of process choice form which production manager has to choose which are job shop, batch , repetitive or assembly line , continuous and project .
2. Vertical integration: is the degree to which a firm own production system handles the entire supply chain starting form procurement of raw materials to distribution of finished goods.
3. Resource flexibility is the ease with the equipments and workers can handle a wide variety of products , levels of output , duties and functions.
4. Customer involvement is the extent to which customers interact with the process . A firm which competes on customisation allows customers to come up with their own product specification or even become involved in the designing process for the product .
5. Capital intensity is the mix of equipment and human skills in a production process . Capital intensity will be high if the relative cost of equipment is high when compared to the cost of human labour.

So now we can talk about how we can utilize the process of management techniques.The various techniques of process managemnt are as follows::

1. Work Measurement :: Work measurement is concerned with the determination of the amount of time required to perform a unit of work. Work measurement is very important for promoting productivity of an organization. It enables management to compare alternate methods and also to do initial staffing. Work measurement provides basis for proper planning.Since it is concerned with the measurement of time it is also called ‘Time Study’. The exact examination of time is very essential for correct pricing. To find the correct manufacturing time for a product, time study is performed. To give competitive quotations, estimation of accurate labour cost is very essential. It becomes a basis for wage and salary administration and devising incentive schemes.

Main objectives of work Measurement are as follows:

1. To compare the times of performance by alternative methods.

2. To enable realistic schedule of work to be prepared.

3. To arrive at a realistic and fair incentive scheme.

4. To analyse the activities for doing a job with the view to reduce or eliminate unnecessary jobs.

5. To minimise the human effort.

6. To assist in the organisation of labour by daily comparing the actual time with that of target time.

This technique is very much important for process management

2. Method study :Method study is the process of subjecting work to systematic, critical scrutiny to make it more effective and more efficient. It is one of the keys to achieving productivity improvement. In method study tells us about how well our methods utilize the limited available resources such as manpower, machines, materials and money. It's also check how our methods physically affect production output of the unit. And also find out the quality of output obtained by application of our methods.

3 Manufacturing system design:

It is the arrangement and operation of machines, tools, material, people and information to produce a value-added physical, informational or service product whose success and cost is characterized by measurable parameters.It is therefore of outmost importance to base the design on factors originating from the
interested party and then translate them into performance shaping factors of a manufacturing system.
Performance shaping factors are sometimes hard to predict and there is a large number of factors to
consider. The manufacturing system is a product in itself where the functions and performance is
affected by machinery, information systems, the people that work in the system etc. This means that the performance of a production system will partly be decided by the feelings, mental and physical state of people, which often is hard to predict. Sometimes the complexity of the factors affecting the System takes over in the design process, making the designers, system builders and even the buyers
forget about the initial requirements – customer demands.
To make things even more complicated, the manufacturing system will need to evolve over time and in extreme cases even change completely very quickly. The need to evolve often comes from different sources e.g. customer, authorities, the society and the work force itself. A large amount of companies are having trouble to perform well when it comes to design of manufacturing systems. Especially small and medium sized enterprises (SME) generally do not have the same amount of resources to develop manufacturing systems as larger companies have. It is therefore a need for a method that is simple enough to use, though provides accurate enough results to be used in this task.

4 production / operating system design

An operating system is a construct that allows the user application programs to interact with the system hardware. Operating system by itself does not provide any function but it provides an atmosphere in which different applications and programs can do useful work.

There are many problems that can occur while designing and implementing an operating system. These are covered in operating system design and implementation.

It is quite complicated to define all the goals and specifications of the operating system while designing it.The design changes depending on the type of the operating system i.e if it is batch system, time shared system, single user system, multi user system, distributed system etc.

There are basically two types of goals while designing an operating system. These are:

User Goals

The operating system should be convenient, easy to use, reliable, safe and fast according to the users. However, these specifications are not very useful as there is no set method to achieve these goals.

System Goals

The operating system should be easy to design, implement and maintain. These are specifications required by those who create, maintain and operate the operating system. But there is not specific method to achieve these goals as well