BMFI 2112 WORK SYSTEM DESIGN

PART 2: METHODS ENGINEERING

1.0: INTRODUCTION TO METHODS ENGINEERING AND
OPERATION ANALYSIS
References:
1. Mikell P. Groover (2014) Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work.1st
Edition, Pearson.
2. Benjamin W. Niebel (1993) Motion and Time Study. 9th Edition, Irwin
3. Stevenson, W.J., and Chong, S.C. (2014),Operation Management, 2nd Edition. Mc Graw Hill.
4. Jay Heizer, and Barry Render (2014), Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain
Management. Pearson

Nor Akramin Mohamad

Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka
 METHODS ENGINEERING
Chapters:
1. Introduction to Methods Engineering and Operations Analysis
Part II 2. Charting Techniques
3. Motion Study and Work Design

The techniques discussed in these part have the following basic

objectives:
a. To analyze existing work systems
b. To make improvement in existing work systems
c. To design new work systems
 INTRODUCTION TO METHODS ENGINEERING
AND OPERATIONS ANALYSIS

Sections:
Chapter 1
1. Evolution and Scope of Methods Engineering
2. How to Apply Methods Engineering
3. Basic Data Collection and Analysis Techniques
4. Methods Engineering And Automation
 1) EVOLUTION AND SCOPE OF METHODS ENGINEERING
The initial research in the area of methods engineering by Frank Gilbreth in 1885
dealt with the motions performed by workers in bricklaying.
Today, methods engineering is being applied in many others areas of work, including
indirect labor, logistics, service operations, office work, and plant layout design. As
these other areas have grown in importance in the economies of industrialized nations,
methods engineering has been applied to analyze, improve, and design the work
methods.

METHODS ENGINEERING
Analysis and design of work methods and systems, including the
tooling, equipment, technologies, workplace layout, plant layout, and
work environment
Other names for methods engineering:
 Work study
 Work simplification
 Methods study
 Process re-engineering
 Business process re-engineering
OBJECTIVES IN METHODS ENGINEERING
1. Increase productivity and efficiency
2. Reduce cycle time
3. Reduce product cost
4. Reduce labor content
5. Improve customer satisfaction
6. Improve product and/or service quality
7. Reduce lead times and improve work flow
8. Increase flexibility of work system
9. Improve worker safety
10. Apply more ergonomic work methods
11. Enhance the environment (both inside and outside the facility)
OPERATIONS ANALYSIS
Study of an operation or group of related operations for the purpose
of analyzing their efficiency and effectiveness so that improvements
can be developed
Objectives in operations analysis
 Increase productivity
 Reduce time and cost
 Improve safety and quality

Same basic objectives as methods engineering

 Can be divided into two areas:
METHODS ENGINEERING 1. Methods analysis
2. Methods design

METHODS ANALYSIS METHODS DESIGN

Concerned with the study of an Concerned with either of the

existing method or process following situations:

Objectives: 1. Design of a new method or

 Eliminate unnecessary and non-value-adding process
work elements  Required for new product or
service and there is no existing
 Combine elements and operations
precedent
 Rearrange elements into more logical
 Method must be designed from
sequence
scratch, using best existing
 Simplify remaining elements and operations practice for similar operations

2. Redesign of an existing
method or process based on
a preceding methods analysis
2) HOW TO APPLY METHODS ENGINEERING
SYSTEMATIC APPROACH IN METHODS ENGINEERING
1. Define the problem and objectives
The problem maybe low productivity, high cost, inefficient methods. Possible objectives are to increase
productivity, reduce labor content and cost, improve safety.

2. Analyze the problem

Consists of data collection and analyze activities, document the details, use charting techniques.

3. Formulate alternatives
Formulate all alternatives that are feasible

4. Evaluate alternatives and select the best solution

This step consists of a methodical assessment of the alternatives and the best solution among them.

5. Implement the best method

Introducing the changes proposed or instituting the new method or process

6. Audit the study

Follow up. How successful was the project? What were the implementation issues?
 TECHNIQUES OF METHODS ENGINEERING
1 Data gathering and statistical 4 Motion study and work design
tools
Concerned with basic motions of a human
Histograms, Pareto charts, Pie charts, Check worker while performing a given task,
sheets, Defect concentration diagrams, Examples of basic motion elements
Scatter diagrams, Cause and effect (Reach,Grasp,Move,Release)
diagrams

5 Work measurement techniques

2 Charting and diagramming techniques
Four basic work measurement techniques:
Network diagrams, charting techniques (Operation 1. Direct time study
charts, Process charts, Flow diagrams), Block
diagrams, Process maps 2. Predetermined motion time systems
(PMTS)
3. Standard data systems
3 Facility layout planning 4. Work sampling
 Size and shape of a facility
 Arrangement of the different departments and
equipment within the facility 6 New approaches
 Design of a new facility Lean production
 Installing new equipment, retiring old equipment  Based on the Toyota production system
 Expanding (or contracting) an existing facility
Six Sigma
SELECTING AMONG ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS
Need for a systematic procedure to decide among alternative proposals
To begin, list the technical features and functional specifications for the application
 Must features
 Desirable features

Criteria matrix to evaluate alternatives EVALUATION OF

 Drop candidates that do not satisfy “must features” ROBOTS FOR WELDING
 Develop scores for desirable features
Industrial Robot Candidates
Model A Model B Model C Model D
Must features:
Continuous path control OK OK OK OK
Six-axis robot arm OK OK Not OK OK
Walkthrough programming OK OK OK OK
Desirable features:
Ease of programming (0-9) 6 4 6
Capability to edit program (0- 4 2 5
5)
Multi-pass features (0-4) 2 2 2
Work volume (0-9) 5 8 6
Repeatability (0-5) 5 2 4
Lowest price (0-5) 4 5 3
Delivery (0-3) 1 1 3
Evaluation of vendor (0-9) 6 5 8
Totals: 33 29 37
3) BASIC DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS TOOLS
1. Histograms
2. Pareto charts
3. Pie charts
4. Check sheets
5. Defect concentration
diagrams
6. Scatter diagrams
7. Cause and effect diagrams
HISTOGRAM
A statistical graph consisting of bars representing different members of a population, in
which the length of each bar indicates the frequency or relative frequency of each
member
A useful tool because the analyst can quickly visualize the features of the data, such as:
 Shape of the distribution
 Any central tendency in the distribution
 Approximations of the mean and mode
 Amount of scatter in the data

HISTOGRAM FOR DATA DISPLAY

 PARETO CHART
Special form of histogram in which attribute data are arranged according to some
criterion such as cost or value
Based on Pareto’s Law: “the vital few and the trivial many”
Often identified as the 80%-20% rule
 80% of a nation’s wealth is owned by 20% of the population

PARETO DISTRIBUTION
PIE CHARTS
Example: Annual sales revenues and customer
distributions for two years
 CHECK SHEET
Data collection tool generally used in the preliminary stages of a study of a quality problem
Data often entered by worker as check marks in a given category
Examples:
 Process distribution check sheet - data on process variability
 Defective item check sheet – types and frequencies of defects on the product
 Defect location check sheet - where defects occur on the product
DEFECT CONCENTRATION DIAGRAM
A drawing of the product (all relevant views), onto which the locations and frequencies
of various defect types are added
Useful for analyzing the causes of product or part defects
By analyzing the defect types and corresponding locations, the underlying causes of
the defects can possibly be identified

DEFECT CONCENTRATION DIAGRAM

Four views of refrigerator showing locations of surface defects
SCATTER DIAGRAMS
An x-y plot of data collected on two variables, where a correlation between the
variables is suspected
The data are plotted as pairs; for each xi value, there is a corresponding yi value
The shape of the collection of data points often reveals a pattern or relationship
between the two variables

Effect of cobalt content on wear resistance for a cemented

carbide cutting tool
CAUSE AND EFFECT DIAGRAM
A graphical-tabular chart used to list and analyze the potential causes of a given
problem
Can be used to identify which causes are most consequential and how to take corrective
action against them
Also known as a “fishbone diagram”
4) METHODS ENGINEERING AND AUTOMATION
USA Principle
Ten Strategies for Automation
Automation Migration Strategy.
USA PRINCIPLE 1. Understand the existing process
2. Simplify the process
3. Automate the process
1 UNDERSTAND THE EXISTING PROCESS
What are the inputs?
What are the outputs?
Number and placement of inspections
Number of moves and delays experienced by the work unit
Time spent in storage

2 SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS

What is the purpose of this operation or this transport?
Can this step be eliminated?
Is the most appropriate technology being used?
How can this step be simplified?
Can steps be combined?
Can steps be performed simultaneously?
Can steps be integrated into a manually operated production line?

3 AUTOMATE THE PROCESS

If simplification is successful, automation may not be necessary
Ten strategies for automation
Automation migration strategy
TEN STRATEGIES FOR AUTOMATION
1. Specialization of operations
2. Combined operations
3. Simultaneous operations
4. Integration of operations
5. Increased flexibility
6. Improved material handling and storage
7. On-line inspection
8. Process control and optimization
9. Plant operations control
10. Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM)
AUTOMATION MIGRATION STRATEGY
Phase 1: Manual production using single station manned cells operating independently
Phase 2: Automated production using single station automated cells operating
independently.
Phase 3: Automated integrated production using a multi-station automated system with
serial operations and automated transfer of work units between stations.