Sunday, January 22, 2017

Design for Harmonious Productivity



Workers have to produce quality goods (effectiveness) and they have to use minimum resources (efficiency or productivity). Some authors say productivity is effectiveness and efficiency combined.

When workers or operators and productive and also happy with their work and organization (harmony), we call it harmonious productive work system.

Charles B. Spaulding in the book "An Introduction to Industrial Sociology"  published in 1961 (Chandler Publishing Company) wrote a major section with the title "General Design for Harmonious Productivity." (The section starts with page 233).

I am reading the book presently and writing  a summary here.

The first statement is that a general design for harmonious productivity involves an attempt to integrate the essential elements of the formal organizational approach with the findings and prescriptions of human relations scientists and professionals. There has to be dynamic equilibrium between factors related to formal organization (roles) and human relations (individuals).

The first elements or factors are related to basic working conditions (common to all).

Second group relates to interpersonal and organizational circumstances of each and every job.

Research behind the Design for Harmonious Productivity

The importance of money
Refer Viteles, Motivation and Moral in Industry, 1953, Norton and Co., New York

The importance of working conditions

Money is one of many goals

The principle of prepotency

Money and Security versus Regimentation on the Assembly Line

The functionality of structural clarity and stability

Adequate capacities and training






Updated  22 January 2017

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Industrial Engineering - Productivity Science, Engineering and Management in Engineering Organizations




Industrial engineer is Productivity Scientist, Productivity Engineer and Productivity Manager combined into one.


Productivity Science


Exemplar - Science of handling heavy loads - F.W. Taylor


Productivity Engineering


Exemplar -  The art of metal cutting to increase output from machine tools with economical cost.

Human Effort Engineering for Productivity - Time study to understand best practice for various elements of task and synthesizing the most productivity method.

SMED

Poka Yoke


Productivity Management


Incentive system to motivate the operator to put in first class effort based on first class skill.

Suggestion schemes and sharing of saving.

Work simplification.

Instruction card - A directing mechanism to ensure productivity.

Kanban - Another directing mechanism to initiate component manufacture.