NFSC 350 Productivity and Work Simplification

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NFSC 350Productivity and Work Simplification

• Nancy Brenowitz, MS, RD

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Productivity

• A measure or level of output of goods produced or
  services rendered in relation to input in terms
  of time, money spent or other resources used
• Goal is increased production with less human
  effort
• Improved through simplification of tasks and
  techniques designed to decrease worker fatigue
• Compensate for increased costs in other areas
  such as food, equipment, etc
• Meals per worked hour, meals per paid hour, meal
  equivalents per paid hour, transactions per
  worked hour, transactions per paid hour

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Quality of Work Life (QWL)

• Term used to describe values that relate to the
  quality of human experiences in the workplace
• Content of job
• Safety, health
• Design of equipment
• Work environment
• Work hours
• Work methods

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Quality of Work Life (QWL)

• Often low in foodservice
• People who are happy with their work tend to be
  more productive
• Make work environment more pleasant
• Reduce fatigue
• Number of hours worked per day
• Length of time spent walking, wasting motion
• Time on feet
• Breaks

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The QWL Approach

• Improving quality of work life factors to improve
  productivity
• Time off, worker involvement in decision making,

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Work Design

• To increase productivity and employee
  satisfaction
• Improve content of the job
• Provide a safe and healthy work environment
• Design a staff of fit people in an optimum work
  environment
• Design effective and efficient work methods

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Safety and Health

• Accidents and job-related illness are costly in
  terms of productivity
• OSHA

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Ergonomics

• Adapting tasks, equipment and working environment
  to the sensory, perceptual, mental and physical
  attributes of the human worker

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Equipment Design

• Equipments use should require a minimum of effort
• Only essential information provided
• Controls should be easily identified
• Provide maximum productivity while utilizing the
  workers physical and mental attributes most
  effectively

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Work Environment

• Eliminate worker fatigue
• Hours of work
• Number, length and location of rest periods
• The work itself
• Lighting, heating, ventilation, noise

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Layout and Design of Facility

• Placement of equipment
• Organized in relation to the flow of goods
  through the facility

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Work Methods

• To design effective and efficient work methods
  must first study existing work methods
• Standards of time, quantity, quality and cost
  must be set
• Behavioral objectives

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Work Simplification

• The development of techniques for increasing
  production per unit time, consequently reducing
  the unit cost
• The analysis of a specific job, restructuring
  that job to eliminate unnecessary movements
• Foodservice worker productivity can be increased
  by as much as 20-50

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Motion Economy

• Motion Economy
• Both hands should do useful work at the same
  time, starting and stopping together
• Hands should be freed of any work that could be
  done by another part of the body
• Arm motions should be simultaneous and in
  opposite and symmetrical directions
• Use the fewest, shortest, simplest motion
• Eliminate body motion that is unproductive

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Motion Economy

• Motion Economy
• Eliminate unnecessary walking, reaching,
  stretching and bending
• Use the available equipment that is best for the
  job
• Food, utensils and equipment should be located
  close to the point of use
• Arrange work, tools and materials in sequence of
  use
• Combine operations and eliminate all unnecessary
  parts of the job
• Standardize procedures

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Foodservice Tasks that Can Be Streamlined

• Storage of floor mixer attachments near mixer
  proper efficient storage of all equipment
• Install water outlets above range and SJK so
  utensils can be filled at point of use
• To serve food on plate at counter pick up plate
  with left hand, bring to center position, while
  right hand grasps serving utensils, dips food,
  and carries it to the plate, both operations
  ending simultaneously

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Work Simplification Check List

• Can this element be eliminated?
• Can this element be combined with another
  element?
• Can the sequence of elements be changed to
  advantage?
• Can this element be simplified?
• Can the distance be reduced?
• Are tools and materials found at essentially the
  same location every time?

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Work Simplification Check List

• Are materials located in containers from which it
  is easy to isolate or grasp a part?
• Can sliding be used instead of carrying?
• Can two or more tools be combined?
• Are handles, hand wheels, knobs and levers
  properly designed for maximum speed and ease of
  operation?
• Can the basic operation be improved by
• change of sequence, combining, simplifying or
  eliminating

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Performance Improvement Program

• Select the job to be improved
• Breakdown the job in detail
• Challenge every detail
• What is done?, Why?, Who is doing it?, When is it
  being done?, Where is it being done?
• Develop a better method
• Put the new method into effect

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Performance Improvement Studies

• Work Sampling
• Pathway Chart or Flow Diagram
• Operation Charts
• Process Charts

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Work Sampling

• Based on the laws of probability that random
  samples reflect the same pattern of distribution
  as a large group
• Less costly and time consuming
• To measure the activities and delays of people or
  machines and determine the percentage of time
  they are working or idle

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Work Sampling

• Shorter and intermittent observations are less
  tiring to both worker and observer
• Several workers can be observed simultaneiously
• Interruptions do not affect the results
• Tabulations can be made quickly

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Pathway Chart or Flow Diagram

• Scale drawing of an area on which the path of a
  worker or movement of material during a given
  process can be indicated and measured
• No breakdown of time or details of the operation
• Multiply total length of lines drawn from one
  point to another and multiply by scale of the
  drawing

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Operation Chart

• To record, in sequence, the elemental movements
  of the hands of a worker at a given station
• Analysis of chart gives a basis for reducing
  transportation to the lowest degree possible

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Process Chart

• To record and analyze the breakdown of a job
• Graphically presents the separate steps or events
  by the use of symbols for a given process so that
  the entire picture of the job can be condensed
• Can present product analysis or person analysis

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Process Chart
Operation or main steps in the process
Transportation or movement
D
Delay
Storage or hold
Inspection such as examination for quality or
quantity
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Applications of Performance Improvement

• Eliminate unnecessary operations, delays and
  moves
• Combine operations
• Change sequence of operations
• Reorganize equipment
• Improvements in design of equipment
• Reduction in movement of materials and equipment
• Use of different products

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Total Quality Management

• A management strategy designed to improve the
  organizations quality of products and services
  continuously over time
• Promotes positive changes in the structure and
  culture of the organization to allow for employee
  participation in decision-making and task shaping
• Means for assessment of the level quality
  improvement and whether quality standards are
  being met