Page 210 - DMGT501_OPERATIONS_MANAGEMENT

Operations Management

Notes 7.1 Analyzing a Process

A process is any part of an organization that takes inputs and transforms them into outputs.
The value the process generates is the difference between what the final product is worth to the

customer and its initial value. The objective of the process is to provide the maximum overall
value to the customer in the product.

Example: The Component Group of ECIL has product lines for electronic fuses, microwave
components, Printed Circuit Boards that are used internally, ceramic components and nickel
cadmium batteries. Through the use of labor, manufacturing technologies, assembly, energy,
etc., raw materials and components are transformed to the end products of the company.
In the example above, though ECIL produces electronic fuses, microwave components, ceramic
components and nickel cadmium batteries as end products for its customers, it also manufactures
Printed Circuit Boards which form a part of other transformation processes within the

organization. This exemplifies processes, which can be focused to meet customer requirements
or can be a nested process for their own requirements.
A process can produce goods as in the case of ECIL, and it can also produce services. For instance,
a telephone company provides a service when it connects you to communicate with another
telephone user (who may or may not be a customer for the same telephone company) on your
request. Providing equipment and technology that allows voices to be converted into a signal,
then reconverting it at the other end, are also transformation processes. Similarly, banks provide
services, and have processes that transform customer requests into products that provide value
to the customer.
Let us start by looking at a process to understand how a process is analyzed. The example that
follows is of a ‘forging’ process that many manufacturing companies use as a process to form
components.
If you have ever seen a blacksmith beating on a piece of red-hot iron with a hammer, you have
seen the simplest type of forging. Striking a piece of hot metal with a hammer is forging, and
blacksmiths have been doing this for centuries. Forging’s superior functional advantages of
strength, fatigue resistance, reliability, and high quality combine into economic benefits for the

company.
Forging is always an intermediate process. The components that are produced require finishing.

The uniform dimensional relationships in forgings compared to other processes like metal
casting etc., result in consistent machinability and predictable response to heat treatment. This,
combined with obvious strength-to-weight ratios, make forgings a desirable process in many
engineering industries. This process is generally used to form car wheels, gears, bushings, and
other such parts.
Manufacturers use many different techniques to forge metal. The most common is Drop forging—
hammering hot metal into dies. Drop forging is a metal shaping process in which a heated work piece is
formed by rapid closing of a die, forcing the work piece to conform to the shape of the die cavity. A die
is a receptacle, made of high strength die steel that has the impression of the object that has to be forged.
A hammer or ram, delivering intermittent blows to the section to be forged, applies pressure. The
hammer is dropped from its maximum height, usually raised by steam or air pressure. Forging
hammers apply force by the impact of a weight falling under the force of gravity.
Another process that is used is the Forging Press. Instead of forcing hot metal into a die with a
hammer blow, it is pressed into the die with hydraulic pressure. A forging press consists of a
hydraulic press, which exerts a force capable of pressing steel or a metal alloy into the shape of
the forging die. Press Forging gives closer tolerances than hammer forging. It transmits a greater
proportion of the work done to the work piece, compared to a drop hammer.

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