Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Operator Industrial Engineering - Kaizen - Work Simplification - Alan Mogensen


Alan Mogensen - Proactive Involvement of Operators in Methods Improvement and Process and Operations Improvement Projects - Work Simplification Workshops


F.W. Taylor emphasized development of science of each and every element of work of machines and men. While work of machines is complex, some elements of man's work are not that complex. Some of the manual elements are also very complex. Scientific enquiry into them was difficult and to interpret results, lot of insight was required. Gilbreth also followed Taylor's direction and developed science of human effort. Both emphasized the role of the operator in giving feedback on the new method designed and its continuous improvement based on use of the method. Gilbreth specifically mentioned in his paper on process charts that operators are to be shown the process chart and encouraged to give improvement suggestions.

Alan Mogensen made an organizational arrangement for it in the form of work simplification workshops. In the workshop, operators are  given inputs in process chart improvement approaches and are involved in improvement of the processes. He termed it as common sense method study. 

Work simplification proposed by Alan Mogensen consists of three elements: the philosophy, the pattern and the plan of action.

The philosophy is that people know a lot about the jobs they are doing and therefore should be involved in job improvement attempted by industrial engineers. They should be trusted by management, and workers themselves should want to be involved in job improvement. They should be trained. To ensure success in work simplification, it is essential to build trust in the organisation and to demonstrate management commitment to the philosophy.

The pattern of work simplification is an organised approach of conducting the work simplification workshop with training inputs and encouraging all to participate.

The pattern uses the following six steps which are the basic steps described in method study.

· Select a job to improve.
· Get all the facts.
· Make a process chart.
· Challenge every detail, asking all possible questions; list possibilities and improve necessary details.
· Develop the preferred method.
· Introduce it and check results.

Work simplification tools include flow process charts, flow diagrams, and principles of motion economy.

Work simplification workshops now became Kaizen blitz events. The process advocated by Alan Mogensen became part of TWI. TWI was promoted in USA and the term Kaizen became popular in industrial activities of Japan. Japanese companies implemented operator industrial engineering that is improvement in engineering activities proposed and implemented by operators themselves in more focused way and increased industrial engineering significantly in their organizations. That additional industrial engineering became a big advantage over a decade and Japanese companies raced ahead of many US companies in many industrial sectors.

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7 Dec 2009
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ELEVEN BASIC PRINCIPLES OF WORK SIMPLIFICATION

Alan Mogensen - From the article by Clem Zinck

1. Work simplification is a generator of methods improvement ideas.

2. Resistance to change and criticism are arch enemy of methods improvement and they can  be adequately managed in work simplification projects where all are involved and asked to provide improvement suggestions.

3. To create a sense of "belonging," and of "participating." and of "accomplishing"  in each and every employee is a vital responsibility of management. Work simplification stresses this human factor. Here, of course, the foreman plays a vital part.

4. Involvement of Supervisors in Work Simplification

Interesting point. An industrial engineer has to contribute $50,000 in cost savings per year (1984 is the copy right year of the book).

5. Work simplification rests of the principle that any work that does not add value to the product, does not give or receive essential information, does not plan or calculate is essentially WASTE.

7. The major specific wastes in a process are TRANSPORTION, DELAY or STORAGE, and INSPECTION. The major waste in a man-machine combination is IDLE TIME by both the operator and the machine.   The major  wastes in the activity of a worker in  a process, a man-machine combination or in hand operation  are TRANSPORTION, DELAY , and FAILURE TO REDUCE THE ELAPSED TIME of activity by the use of KNOWN FASTER DEVICES.

11. Ingenuity has great possibilities. Often the results of a new twist are startling. Work-simplification techniques give full scope to ingenuity and see to its proper application.


From
The Foreman/Supervisor's Handbook Carl Heyel, Page 534 article by Clem Zinck
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=ycOSBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA536#v=onepage&q&f=false



With “Work Simplification” Allan Mogensen became a forerunner of organizational development by building a bridge from Taylorism to organizational development, including work teams, for over 50 years. He found what topics can better be covered by worker and work teams than bosses, and what managerial rather than technological innovation is their precondition, i.e., the managers’ trust of subordinates’ capability to be creative, professional, serious, and reliable. His influence over my work in Slovenia (and other areas of Yugoslavia, then) regarding work teams and innovation helped produce very substantial savings.
Allan Mogensen (1901–1989): A Pioneer with Work Teams and His Impact on Yugoslavian Teams.
Matjaž Mulej.
Mulej M. (2000) Allan Mogensen (1901–1989). In: Beyerlein M.M. (eds) Work Teams: Past, Present and Future. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 6. Springer




WORK SIMPLIFICATION FOR PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT
A case study: Kaliti Metal Products Factory
Daniel Kitaw
Mechanical Engineering Department, Addis Ababa University
and
Tibebe Belachew, TBA Engineering PLC Addis Ababa


Related Article

Methods improvement - The Current Role of the Foreman - Supervisor


Enable and empower employees for success 
https://iise.org/uploadedFiles/IIE/News/Industrial_Management/2016_content/November_December/IMNovDechammer.pdf

Mogensen 2 page article
https://archive.aviationweek.com/issue/19420701

A film by Barnes on Work Simplification
https://archive.org/details/0996_Work_Simplification_Program_York_Knitting_Mills_Ltd_Zimmerknit_01_00_46_25

Work Simplification - MS Thesis on Navy - 1955
https://archive.org/stream/worksimplificati00coxj/worksimplificati00coxj_djvu.txt


https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Work_Measurement_and_Work_Simplification.html?id=LLfnAAAAMAAJ



Methods improvement and the foreman,
by J. W. Roberts and Clem Zinck. Roberts, John William, 1901- Language(s): English Published: New London, Conn., National Foremen's Institute [1951] Subjects: Supervisors, Industrial. Physical Description: 174 p. illus. 21 cm. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4220039&view=1up&seq=113&skin=2021


Work simplification program.

United States.
Language(s): English
Published: [Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1945?]
Physical Description: 5 pts. in 1 v. illus., diagrs.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.35128000206092&view=1up&seq=7&skin=2021

Some Examples of work simplification in Aerospace Industry







Updated on 5.7.2022,  31 Oct 2021, 27 August 2021, 5 July 2021,  8 May 2021, 14 June 2020, 1 December 2016







1 comment:

  1. Awesome educational content! Makes me proud to be an IE.

    ReplyDelete