Page 96 - DMGT501_OPERATIONS_MANAGEMENT

Operations Management

Notes Explain repetitive product or line layout and design
Discuss fixed position layout and cellular layout or group layout
Explain combination layout and closeness rating
Discuss other service layouts

Introduction

The design of manufacturing processes and service delivery systems cannot be made without
considering product design decisions. Many aspects of product design can adversely affect
operations performance. New products and services must be produced and delivered efficiently,
at low cost, on time, and within quality standards. Process technology decisions relate to
organizing the process flows, choosing an appropriate product-process mix, adapting the process
to meet strategic objectives, and evaluating processes. 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.
The process is called out in a designed layout called facility layout and firms design their layouts
in accordance to the process they choose to follow.

4.1 Types of Manufacturing Processes

Processes seldom stand alone. Generally, each process is a single activity or a group of activities
that are linked together in different patterns to produce the final product. Processes need to be
categorized to describe the patterns that are formed when they are linked together. This
categorization helps in understanding the similarities and differences between processes.

There are a number of ways to categorize a process. Categorization is based on whether it is a
single-stage or a multiple-stage process.

Single-stage Process

If the forging machine were viewed as a simple black box, it would be categorized as a single-
stage process. In this case, all activities that are involved in forging the component would be
analyzed using the different factors to determine the overall economics and to represent the
process parameters.

Multiple-stage Process

It has multiple groups of activities that are linked through flows. The connecting rod, seen as a
component for the engine, would have two stages for its manufacture; the 'forging' stage and the
'machining' stage. The term stage indicates multiple activities that are pulled together for analysis
purposes.

Example: ECIL manufactures the CYBER series of mainframes of Control Data
Corporation, USA, a supercomputer, under the name of MEDHA. Most of the processes used in
ECIL for the manufacture of this equipment are complex multi-stage processes.
A multiple-stage process normally requires to be buffered internally if the processes are not
continuous. Buffering refers to a storage area where the output of a stage is placed before being
used in a downstream stage. Buffering allows the stages to operate independently. If one stage
feeds a second stage with no intermediate buffer, then the assumption is that it is a continuous

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