The current project addresses the productivity improvement of a manual assembly line by making use of operations analysis in the framework of Lean production. A methodology is proposed that helps to improve the productivity of any production process. The methodology consists of selecting a product or product family to be studied followed by current process study. Once the existing process is documented, all the assembly tasks involved must be timed using time study techniques. Operations analysis enables the reduction of non-productive tasks and results in a set of standardized work elements along with the set of standard procedures for performing the operations. Assembly line balancing along with the associated operations analysis assists in constructing or re-configuring an assembly system, which is the key step in improving the overall performance of an assembly line. Following this approach, two manual assembly line configurations (single stage parallel line and five-stage serial line) are constructed for a case study. The results show that by changing over to the single stage assembly line configuration the operator productivity is doubled when compared to the existing assembly method.

The motivation for this study was to increase the knowledge of foodservice personnel in mass food production in the foodservice area in which they work and by doing so, increasing their productivity. Training is often used to improve productivity and is seen as the answer to many productivity problems. Training and productivity improvement go hand in hand. Little research has been done on training and productivity in mass food production. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of training on the productivity of workers in mass food production by means of questionnaires. Firstly, the training needs of the workers were investigated. Secondly, training was given as needed and thirdly, follow-up questionnaires were completed to determine the impact of training. The training needs of the target group were firstly determined by means of questionnaires. The training material was then compiled from information obtained in the questionnaires. Training was given in the form of a lecture. Follow-up questionnaires were completed two and four months after training. The practical significance of the training was determined by comparing the answers of the sets of questionnaires with each other. Results: The workers' knowledge increased by 55% (supervisors), 33% (cleaners), 20% (foodservice aids) and 6.25% (cooks) after having received training. These results show that training will only be of practical significance to the supervisors when it is presented in the same circumstances as in the study. Conclusions: Training, with productivity improvement in mind, must be presented in an effective and meaningful manner to have a significant impact on the knowledge of foodservice workers. The environment, type of worker, management's involvement as well as the type of training, motivation of the worker, correct training material and whether the training will make a difference, must be taken into consideration when planning training for foodservice workers. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The motivation for this study was to increase the knowledge of foodservice personnel in mass food production in the foodservice area in which they work and by doing so, increasing their productivity. Training is often used to improve productivity and is seen as the answer to many productivity problems. Training and productivity improvement go hand in hand. Little research has been done on training and productivity in mass food production. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of training on the productivity of workers in mass food production by means of questionnaires. Firstly, the training needs of the workers were investigated. Secondly, training was given as needed and thirdly, follow-up questionnaires were completed to determine the impact of training. The training needs of the target group were firstly determined by means of questionnaires. The training material was then compiled from information obtained in the questionnaires. Training was given in the form of a lecture. Follow-up questionnaires were completed two and four months after training. The practical significance of the training was determined by comparing the answers of the sets of questionnaires with each other. Results: The workers' knowledge increased by 55% (supervisors), 33% (cleaners), 20% (foodservice aids) and 6.25% (cooks) after having received training. These results show that training will only be of practical significance to the supervisors when it is presented in the same circumstances as in the study. Conclusions: Training, with productivity improvement in mind, must be presented in an effective and meaningful manner to have a significant impact on the knowledge of foodservice workers. The environment, type of worker, management's involvement as well as the type of training, motivation of the worker, correct training material and whether the training will make a difference, must be taken into consideration when planning training for foodservice workers. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:52:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo3204_1.pdf: 2932974 bytes, checksum: ed70cb5e6dddd387ea04292de409a2f3 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / A fim de melhorar a sua competitividade no mercado global, as organizações de software têm se preocupado cada vez mais com a questão de produtividade na execução de projetos. No entanto, para melhorar a produtividade, as organizações de software devem definir uma forma de medí-la. O problema é que a medição da produtividade apesar de parecer ser simples, sua aplicação concreta se mostra muito complexa. Muitos são os trabalhos de pesquisa sobre o tema, no entanto não há convergência sobre a métrica mais adequada de produtividade para as organizações de software. Baseado nos conceitos fundamentais relacionados à processos de produção, áreas de conhecimento social, evidências coletadas em organizações de software reais e análise do estado da arte em medição de produtividade em software, concluimos que a métrica mais adequada para medir a produtividade é específica para cada contexto organizacional, pois envolve estratégia, cultura organizacional, modus operandi, além de interesse e conhecimento daqueles diretamente envolvidos na medição e avaliação da produtividade. Isto explica porque não existe e nem há a possibilidade de existência de uma métrica de produtividade para projetos de software universalmente aceita. Baseado nestas descobertas, sugerimos a adoção de uma abordagem de medir produtividade baseada em valor. A hipótese central que orienta nossa trabalho de pesquisa é que uma abordagem baseada em valor pra medir a produtividade para medir a produtividade de projetos de software é mais adequada que as medições tradicionais. Uma das consequências da validade desta hipótese é que cada organização deve definir seu próprio modelo para a medição da produtividade. Com o objetivo de ajudar as organizações a definir e implementar um modelo próprio de medição de produtividade, um processo sistemático, com uma seqüência bem definida de etapas, entradas, saídas e diretrizes foi proposto. Ele envolve as atividades relacionadas com a definição, implementação e aperfeiçoamento do modelo de medição de produtividade. Além disso, foi baseado em uma extensa revisão dos principais desenvolvimentos relacionados com a medição da produtividade, além de ser influenciado por modelos de referência em engenharia de software, como IDEAL, CMMI, PSM e ISO/IEC 15939. O resultado da aplicação deste processo em uma organização de software produz um modelo de avaliação da produtividade, que considera a idéia de valor com base na visão dos principais stakeholders da organização. Finalmente, o conceito de medição de produtividade baseado em valor é adotado e avaliado em um estudo de caso, envolvendo em uma organização real de desenvolvimento de projetos de software. Em particular, o processo proposto para definição de modelos de medição de produtividade foi adotado e os benefícios, problemas e desafios foram avaliados com o objetivo de avaliar a eficácia do processo em atendar a o seu propósito. As análises do estudo de caso confirmaram que este tipo de abordagem foi de fato mais adequada para a organização estudada e que potencialmente pode ser aplicado a outras organizações de software

The Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES) is a human resource intervention that provides feedback to members of an organizational unit via a measurement system constructed by the unit personnel. The unit constructs the system by defining their objectives, identifying productivity indicators for each objective, and developing utility curves or contingencies for each indicator, specifying the overall and relative value to the organization of different performance levels on each indicator. Over the years, it has produced very positive results upon implementation. However, there has been great variability in the effectiveness of ProMES. This study attempted to identify the factors that contributed to this variability. Three major factors were proposed to influence the success of the intervention: feedback quality, the degree to which units prioritized their actions on the feedback, and the organizational social context. Additionally, the individual effects of the components of the organizational social context factor were analyzed; these components included the degree of employee participation in the intervention, unit attitudes towards productivity improvement, organizational support for the intervention, and organizational stability. Three productivity indices were used as dependent variables: the unit d-score (the difference between feedback productivity and baseline productivity divided by the pooled standard deviation), the rate of productivity change over the first third of the feedback stage, and the degree to which units were able to sustain prior productivity improvements over the last two thirds of the feedback stage. The degree of match with the original ProMES methodology was proposed as a moderator in the relationship between the three major factors and the criteria, and the degree of feedback interpretation training given to the unit was proposed as a moderator between the units? action on feedback and the criteria. Drawing on a database of 74 units from different industries and countries, scales were constructed to operationalize the factors. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that favorable attitudes towards productivity improvement were associated with faster productivity improvements. Additionally, feedback quality and the action taken on feedback significantly predicted greater and faster productivity improvements. The implications for human resource professionals and researchers in industrial/organizational psychology are discussed.

Nowadays business atmosphere is to constantly come up with new improvements, in order to become more competitive, or simply stay competitive.Lean manufacturing rose up few decades ago and is now famous for its radical improvements but also for its difficulty to implement. The aim of this study is to get a better understanding of how can Lean bring such important changes, but also what must be done in order to implement it.In order to solve the problem of this report, it was decided to conduct a quantitative research relying on a case study. The company chosen wants to implement Lean but does not really know how to achieve it, so it is a very good opportunity for this project to collaborate with it and see what can be done to implement Lean manufacturing.The results of this thesis demonstrate the need of implementing a philosophy, a way of thinking, rather than different production tools. People must also be prepared for long implementation, which can take between 5 to 10 years. One of the key factors for this implementation is the involvement and empowerment of workers, who will massively contribute to the change process by removing different kind of waste which slow down the processes.

The Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES) is a human resource intervention that provides feedback to members of an organizational unit via a measurement system constructed by the unit personnel. The unit constructs the system by defining their objectives, identifying productivity indicators for each objective, and developing utility curves or contingencies for each indicator, specifying the overall and relative value to the organization of different performance levels on each indicator. Over the years, it has produced very positive results upon implementation. However, there has been great variability in the effectiveness of ProMES. This study attempted to identify the factors that contributed to this variability. Three major factors were proposed to influence the success of the intervention: feedback quality, the degree to which units prioritized their actions on the feedback, and the organizational social context. Additionally, the individual effects of the components of the organizational social context factor were analyzed; these components included the degree of employee participation in the intervention, unit attitudes towards productivity improvement, organizational support for the intervention, and organizational stability. Three productivity indices were used as dependent variables: the unit d-score (the difference between feedback productivity and baseline productivity divided by the pooled standard deviation), the rate of productivity change over the first third of the feedback stage, and the degree to which units were able to sustain prior productivity improvements over the last two thirds of the feedback stage. The degree of match with the original ProMES methodology was proposed as a moderator in the relationship between the three major factors and the criteria, and the degree of feedback interpretation training given to the unit was proposed as a moderator between the units? action on feedback and the criteria. Drawing on a database of 74 units from different industries and countries, scales were constructed to operationalize the factors. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that favorable attitudes towards productivity improvement were associated with faster productivity improvements. Additionally, feedback quality and the action taken on feedback significantly predicted greater and faster productivity improvements. The implications for human resource professionals and researchers in industrial/organizational psychology are discussed.

The world, especially the business world, has changed from consisting of different countries and markets to one global market. This can be attributed to better transportation, communication and information systems. This new development has changed the rules of the business game. No more do companies compete with local players only but increasingly with foreign based entities. Many experts argue that top companies in the world today are those that have embraced new technologies to improve their entire operations. New information technology allows them to integrate their operations upstream with their suppliers, downstream with their clients as well as in-house to improve their efficiencies. This includes mining companies who have to introduce new information, communication and transportation systems to compete with their global counterparts. This study investigates the operation of South African underground mines operation. This is done with a focus on the integration of tracking technology into the horizontal transportation system. The objective is to improve productivity due to better process control. In order to achieve this objective the entire operational process had to be divided into key elements that had to be investigated. The following key elements were identified and investigated: Information and communication strategy, Organisation structure, Departmental integration, Organisational processes, Management information, Information management, Management information system, Solution selection criteria, Causes of low productivity, Problems with logistics system, Technology implementation methods, Outsourcing, Reasons for technology failure and Future challenges facing industry. The investigation was done in four phases. The first phase provided a framework for a literature study. The second phase comprised a literature study that would set the foundation for the empirical study. The third phase consisted of the empirical study, research methodology and data gathering. The fourth and final phase consisted of data grouping and analysis, conclusions and recommendations. Among the conclusions drawn, the following stand out: There is a general problem in the industry that can be attributed to logistics. There is also a problem of information quality and information flow among the different departments that lead to poor integration. Another problem that was highlighted is the non-involvement of end-users in technology selection and implementation. In terms of future challenges facing the industry, poor education levels, productivity and commodity prices were identified. In terms of solutions for the future, integrating technology, with the involvement of end users, were mentioned. All these findings were uniform across the different mining houses, which show the similarity of the industry culture. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The world, especially the business world, has changed from consisting of different countries and markets to one global market. This can be attributed to better transportation, communication and information systems. This new development has changed the rules of the business game. No more do companies compete with local players only but increasingly with foreign based entities. Many experts argue that top companies in the world today are those that have embraced new technologies to improve their entire operations. New information technology allows them to integrate their operations upstream with their suppliers, downstream with their clients as well as in-house to improve their efficiencies. This includes mining companies who have to introduce new information, communication and transportation systems to compete with their global counterparts. This study investigates the operation of South African underground mines operation. This is done with a focus on the integration of tracking technology into the horizontal transportation system. The objective is to improve productivity due to better process control. In order to achieve this objective the entire operational process had to be divided into key elements that had to be investigated. The following key elements were identified and investigated: Information and communication strategy, Organisation structure, Departmental integration, Organisational processes, Management information, Information management, Management information system, Solution selection criteria, Causes of low productivity, Problems with logistics system, Technology implementation methods, Outsourcing, Reasons for technology failure and Future challenges facing industry. The investigation was done in four phases. The first phase provided a framework for a literature study. The second phase comprised a literature study that would set the foundation for the empirical study. The third phase consisted of the empirical study, research methodology and data gathering. The fourth and final phase consisted of data grouping and analysis, conclusions and recommendations. Among the conclusions drawn, the following stand out: There is a general problem in the industry that can be attributed to logistics. There is also a problem of information quality and information flow among the different departments that lead to poor integration. Another problem that was highlighted is the non-involvement of end-users in technology selection and implementation. In terms of future challenges facing the industry, poor education levels, productivity and commodity prices were identified. In terms of solutions for the future, integrating technology, with the involvement of end users, were mentioned. All these findings were uniform across the different mining houses, which show the similarity of the industry culture. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Increasingly Manufacturing Enterprises (MEs) need to perform competitively to survive in today s global markets. This thesis investigates the notion that competitive product realisation is not simply dependent on deploying state of the art operational and infrastructural support processes but also depends upon the adoption of management processes that ensure efficient and effective use of human and non human resources. Having an experience of more than two decades working in a public sector ME located in Pakistan the author has observed that improvements in timelines, quality and profit begins from measurement; followed by goal, problem & solution understanding, then planning and control of needed change. Therefore, a desire to enhance best practice qualitative and quantitative measurement of management processes triggered and focussed this research. Consequently the aim of this research has been to contribute to knowledge by using state of the art modelling techniques to structure and enable quantitative measurement of management processes within MEs. Subsequent research of the author has conceived, implemented and case tested a modelling methodology that is designed to measure the Level of Application of Management Process (LAMP) in pursuit of ME productivity improvement. In order to achieve the aim of this research, a semi generic model of management processes deployed in MEs was defined and explicitly modelled by using an ISO Enterprise Modelling technique. The definition of this semi-generic model was realised consequent upon (1) a literature review and (2) conducting semi-structured interviews with experts (n=42) in three public sector MEs located in Pakistan. Use of the Enterprise Modelling technique enabled decomposition and classification of management processes into so called Domain Processes, which subsequently were explicitly defined as Business Processes at a more detailed level of modelling abstraction. Then during subsequent research the author conceived and developed the use of a methodology to apply a LAMP scorecard the use of which was tested whilst conducting structured interviews with project managers (n=25) in three public sector MEs located in Pakistan that operate on project oriented management structures. The case study results partially validated the fitness for purpose of the model driven measurement methodology, identified opportunities for future methodological research and illustrated how LAMP identified and enabled measurements can help to define, quantify and direct potential opportunities for ME enhancement.