Lecture 7: Process design and analysis

Objectives:

 Focus on 'designing' the operation.

 Design involves the shaping of processes, products and services to meet the objectives of the
organisation.
 Taking a systems perspective on operations, recognising the need to address the
interdependencies between process, people, technology and information if we are to design
and manage successful operations.
 Revisit the Four Vs model from lecture 1. This idea relates to the product-process matrix –
sometimes called the volume-variety matrix – an important tool for examining the impact of
volume and variety of demand on process layout, process technology and job design.
 Basic techniques for process mapping and how these can be used both for the analysis of
existing processes and design of new ones, including service processes. Mapping activities
within a process: needs to be complemented by an understanding of the capacity requirements
of the process as a whole and each stage within it, so we also introduce some important
capacity metrics, including Little's Law, and discuss the implications of bottlenecks for
process design.
 We conclude the session with a look at particular aspects of service process design
Brief:
Evaluate the implications of process positioning for:

 Process choice
 Process technology
 Process layout and job design
Conduct process design and analysis using tools such as:

 SIPOC
 Process mapping

1.PROCESS POSITIONING:
-Interrelationship between process design and product
design.
-Processes should meet performance objectives.
-Position of a process in terms of volume and variety
will influence: choice of process type, layout, job
design, technology.
-Low volume, high variety: Elizabeth line, all getting
the same product, different stops

Products:
Mass: cars
Continuous: electricity, water
Services: (Wagamama?)
Service shops: front and back office mix

Natural line of fit: gain

your best efficiency.
Companies moving
away from the line: -
start ups
-mass customisation

The Impact of Volume Over Time:

experience curve
-As the number of repetitions increases, task
times and costs decrease
-Performance can improve over time as a
result of learning and experience (workers
learning on the job)
Sources of the Experience Curve Effect:
-technological improvement
-supplier-customer development (relations for better flow through supply chain)
-employee learning by doing
-product standardisation

3. PROCESS LAYOUT AND JOB DESIGN: implications of volume-variety for process layout and
job design.
‘The objective of layout strategy is to develop an effective and efficient layout that will meet the
firm’s competitive requirements’ Heizer et al (2020: 402)
Supermarket: aisles for easy movement, freezers grouped together.
Layout and look: impact on staff
4. GENERIC PROCESS LAYOUT TYPES (Wagamama)
Fixed Position:
-open heart surgery
-patient stays put whilst medics move around
Functional Position:
-hospital have grouped together wards
Cell layout:
-dedicated service areas in restaurants
-focus on a group of related products
-high variety operations
-heightened employee involvement.
Line layout:
-Items flow along the production line
5. VOLUME-VARIETY AND PROCESS LAYOUT (TOGETHER)

6. PROCESS TECHNOLOGY: IMPLICATIONS OF VOLUME-VARIETY AND

DIGITALISATION FOR PROCESS TECHNOLOGY
‘The machines, equipment and devices that create and/or deliver products and services’
Slack and Brandon-Jones (2019: 247)
1. Information-processing technologies
– Collects, manipulates, stores or distributes information
2. Material-processing technologies
– Change, shape, transport or stores physical objects
 3. Customer-processing technologies
– Act on, monitor, or act with customers
4. Integrating technologies
– Integrate multiple technologies
7.PROCESS MAPPING/ FLOW CHARTING Process analysis: mapping process activities
graphical representation of the activities that make up the process and the flow of customers, materials
or information through the process.
Can Aid:
– Understanding a process
– Analysing and improving a process
– Explaining and communicating a process to others
Example: Takeaway restaurant
This diagram can be slightly
brief. So use SIPOC…
- Can form the basis for
any improvement
projects

SIPOC: For takeaway restaurant

How to process map:
1. Describe the process to
be mapped using a simple
one-line statement such as
‘processing a customer
order’ (or use a SIPOC
diagram) title basically
2. Identify the ‘trigger’ start event and the target (end) points of the process.
3. Identify each intermediate activity. Use the verb-noun format (e.g. “complete form”).
4. Identify the precedence (sequence) of each activity
5. Follow the process through to the target (end) point.
6. Draw up the process map, connecting the symbols.
7. Review and check for accuracy and consistency.

Fist it will be random boxes

Then add lines to connect.
Add decision points in that process (yes/no)
Process mapping symbols

Can add swim lanes to see who’s involved in the process and do they need to be involved?
(Wagamama)

Process Metrics (Wagamama, Equation)

• Throughput rate (TR)
– Average number of flow units(e.g. customers) that pass through the process
• (TR = 1/CT)
– Cycle time (CT)
• Time between two consecutive units leaving the process (CT = 1/TR)
• Throughput time (TT)
– Average (total) flow time through the process
• Work in process/work in progress (WIP)
– average inventory of flow units in the process
Littles Law: holds for stable systems
• In a stable process (where inflow= outflow) these are related through Little’s Law:
– Work in process = throughput time x throughput rate
– Throughput time = work in process/throughput rate
Work in progress
(Throughput time)---(throughput rate)
• Example:
– On average there are 6 customers waiting in the coffee bar queue
– Average throughput rate is 1.5 customers per minute
– What is the average time for customers to get their coffee?
6/1.5= 4 minutes
6 is customers, work in process
1.5 is customers per minute, throughput rate
Little’s law helps us understand the behaviour of our
system.
-Reducing work in process will decrease throughput
time for a given throughput rate
– Increasing throughput rate will decrease throughput
time for a given level of work in process

How often are our resources

being used, or are they just
sitting there?
How busy your resources are..
But cant push customers through quickly because youll loose quality

ANALYSING PROCESS: WHERE IS THE BOTTLENECK?

Bottleneck= activity with the lowest effective capacity in the process
Bottleneck activity will:
-constrain the output of the total process
-limit flow and cause build up
-lead to other activities being underloaded
Managing bottlenecks: Goldratt’s theory of constraints
1. Identify the system’s constraint (i.e. the bottleneck)
2. Decide how to exploit the constraint
3. Subordinate everything else to the constraint (constantly feed that constraint, if its underutilised we
need to feed it to work all of the time)
4. Elevate the system constraint (improve its effective capacity, increase units)
5. Don't let inertia become the system constraint. If the constraint is overcome in
step 4, go back to step 1
SERVICE PROCESS DESIGN: Service related (Wagamama) Moments of truth and the service
encounter
Moment of truth= moments a customer interacts directly with a service organisation.
The Service encounter:
• ‘Moments of truth’ occur when there is an encounter between a customer and a service provider
• The customer has opportunity to asses and reassess their relationship with the service provider
• The service provider has the opportunity to influence the customer’s perception of the quality of
service
• The service encounter consists of three core elements:
– Customer
– Contact personnel
– Service organisation
Based on Bordoloi et al (2019)
Service Blue printing: visual design tool showing the service process, points of customer contact, and
the evidence of service from the point of view of the customer
Differentiate what the customers can see (front office, above the line of visibility) from things they
cannot (back office and support processes)
• Key components:
– Physical evidence
– Customer actions
– Onstage (front office) actions
– Backstage (back office) actions
– Support processes
Line of visibility: Wagamama (can
essentially see the front office, cooking out-
front)
Do we want to reduce these moments of
truth?
Service Blueprint tells us how much the
customer sees.

Servicescape: layout and look of a service environment. It is important because it can impact
resources and the interaction between parts of the process, staff and customer experience.
Can come down to: describes an organization’s physical environment, including overall layout,
design, decoration, and aesthetics, even smell (Wagamama, kitchen out front open can smell)
The Servicescape framework: Mary Jo Bitner
Employee response:
positive attitude to being
affiliated with the
organisation, may want to
stay longer working for
them.
Induvial behaviours:
wanting to stay and
explore within that service
environment.
Employee and customer
social interaction: does the
servicescape encourage or
discourage.
Principles of Experience-centric Service Design: trying to foster a positive or pleasurable experience
from the service. Like a theme park.
1. Design from the perspective of the customer journey and its associated touchpoints
2. Conduct sensory (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) design when developing the physical
environment of the service (Wagamama linked to service scape)
3. Require front-line employees to engage with customers (Disney interact many times)
4. Pay attention to the dramatic structure of events (sequence, progression, and duration) to create
emotional effect (when the things happen and the order they happen, to create an emotional effect)
surprise and anticipation paper
5. Manage the presence of fellow customers
6. Closely couple backstage employees and frontstage experiences (Wagamama, kitchen)
Surprise, Anticipation, and Sequence Effects in the Design of Experiential Services: Article
In sum, service designers make many decisions that influence the emotional responses and
perceptions of customers (Chase and Dasu 2001, Cook et al. 2002, Dasu and Chase 2013, Dixon and
Verma 2013, Pullman and Gross 2004).