|
|
Workload, not too low or too high but just right
Practical ideas,
for business or medical
facility or government entity or office or shop or lab or warehouse.
When your organization balances workloads as activity varies, it will be better able to maintain daily
and seasonal staff levels, validate what is
asked of individuals and groups; provide correct amounts of equipment; occupy the right floor space.
Otherwise you will spend more than you should, or not have the resources to meet
sales opportunity, or both; accompanied by complaints all the way.
Workload is a term that we use a lot, usually because workload is too high or too low. It doesn't have to be
that way you know.
Read on for more insight,
but when your organization needs a professional to help with
your workload situation,
to inquire. JPR’s experience and objectivity can resolve your unique issues quickly and
cost-effectively.
Or, we'll be glad to discuss your circumstances as well at 626-375-2468.
Either way, there is no cost or obligation.
Tricks of the Trade
Workload management is useful in any business, because it applies to executives and assemblers, clerks
and truck drivers, salespeople and nurses, teachers and pupils, individuals and crews, production lines
and artisans. The same concept with a different terminology applies to capacity and utilization of
equipment and facilities, roads and airports. (Computers too but that's out of my scope, sorry.)
Theoretically and practically, workloads should be high enough that the business gets its
money's worth, yet low enough that bodies and minds are not stressed, low enough that equipment and facilities
can be maintained.
Workloads should be even enough that people and unions don't complain of
overload or imbalance, at least not with cause. A high workload for a constraining operation restricts
output with all sorts of negative results.
And rare is the business with level demand and no variation.
You'll have to know what workloads really are as activity varies, in order to maintain daily and seasonal
staff levels, balance what you ask of individuals and groups; provide correct amounts of equipment;
occupy the right floor space.
So jump in and measure workload, right? Wrong. Get the waste out first. Workload is not busy-ness,
which implies activity that may or may not be useful. Pull out the waste motion before calculating
workload. Remember that successful companies address waste all the way through the company and
not just in production labor; in materials, supplies, facilities, the organization chart, pay practices,
overhead.
Waste
What is waste? A recent “Business Week" article presents this test, in
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca2009036_859937.htm:
• Will a customer pay for this activity?
• Will my service fail without this activity?
• Will I go to jail if I eliminate this activity?
Answer "no" to all three, and the activity can essentially be defined as waste. Sounds good to me.
If you don't plan to get the waste out first, don't bother to read on, because the next thing you waste will be your time.
Measure and quantify, then potential corrections will be more obvious.
To quantify workload, someone will have to pull out a watch, and objectively observe the
people, processes, equipment. Then relate the activity to your units of output, consider schedule and cycle times,
resolve constraints, balance the loads between people and crews, suggest improvements in staffing, activity
assignment, timing, working hours, sequence, changeover or setup, cross training.
Jackson Productivity is good at both getting the waste out and quantifying. I can assure you that, as with most improvement, experience helps especially in complex circumstances.
Corrections are possible in most situations
Corrections which will reduce and balance workload are possible in most situations, even in the
management of constraints.
Ask why operations are done in the first place, to remove waste. Then for necessary activity,
ask who does an activity, where, when, how. From these quantified answers, usually several promising
improvements will appear.
Move around the elements of activity, from the most heavily loaded persons or machines to the least loaded. Add work hours, bring in some of the crew earlier and work some later. Relieve the constraint operations during break and lunch.
My experience tells me that people perform pretty well when there is work to do, so be sure that there is always high quality material to work on with proper documentation, tools are maintained and function without breakdown, the need for changeovers / setups is minimized and when absolutely necessary, change or setup is quick. Of course, doing this last paragraph is a life’s work.
Manage constraints actively. Capacity will be controlled by one or more constraints. During an operation, capacity will usually be limited by equipment or process or people. At the department or plant level, capacity may be limited by the lowest of the constraints that make up the total operation. These constraints will have a significant impact on the balance of work, and you will find that as you resolve constraints, often workload balance will change as well.
A basic and effective way to raise capacity is to identify constraints and quantify the values. Then reduce the cycle time for the lowest constraint until it no longer is the lowest; micromanage all of the limiting factors carefully; reduce the cycle time for the next lowest constraint, and so on.
A special case of clean up / set up is to assure that work performed by a few people whose pay may be at the low end of the scale does not interfere with output of many who are better paid. A major limitation to a hospital’s cash flow for instance is the time required to clean up operating rooms.
Train and cross train, so that absence or vacation of an old hand does not slow down operations or create imbalance.
Balance workload across the day. In a recent assignment I observed a crew member who had been given work to do that, across the shift, was not excessive but it was so front-loaded that after six hours the skilled operator had not left the workplace, nor had I. Balance is better.
Work measurement is the place to start, for any organization where people or machines
contribute to output, customer service, or cost.
Objectively define the time required for work elements, to serve as a basis for many
management tools, and to state and reduce costs directly:
• quantify expectations from people and processes, and communicate them
• determine staffing levels as output levels rise or fall
• assign and schedule work to people and equipment based on expectations
• identify and manage constraints; in equipment, process, facility
• balance individual workloads in lines or work groups for optimum performance
• perhaps you will want to offer pay related to output; labor incentives
Work measurement is just as effective in the office, the lab, the maintenance shop, the field, the customer service unit, and the warehouse as it is on a production floor. It can favorably affect costs and service in health care and in government operations.
Two non-intuitive examples of output and workload
1. Some people should have a zero workload.
WHAT! you exclaim. Consider the fireman, and policeman, and emergency room physician. Agreed that we want them to be inactive? The same thing can occur in your organization, as you will want the repair mechanics, and IT troubleshooters and those trained in hazard response to spend their time preventing mishap and not reacting.
To operate without emergency, invest in preventive maintenance and in training.
2. Is crew size set for minimum headcount or for maximum output?
What do you want loaded, the operator or the constraint? Almost always it’s the constraint. This is a very important question, so be sure to answer it thoughtfully in your situation especially for equipment which is a constraint or bottleneck. As an example, consider an automatic parts machine. It indexes, forms parts, and ejects them without operator control except for stock feeding and to clear jams. A common practice is to have one operator for perhaps 3 or 4 machines, to keep the operator workload up. Such an assignment also seems to allow the lowest unit cost.
However, if more than one of the machines jams up at once, the operator is busy with one and can’t un-jam the others so they sit idle. I have seen a situation where an entire product line was slowed because, incorrectly, one man was assigned to four machines. The tender was busy but all the others were waiting on his output.
Theoretically, the machines were not the constraint but actually, with a normal percentage of jams,
they starved the entire product line, kept output down and product on backorder. Of course, the real
answer may be to reduce the number of jams but sometimes that doesn’t happen.
Expectations
You, and I, and the people in your company want to know what is expected of them (and their work group and the company) and how well they do against expectations. Measure productivity, and the results. In this economy, people are more apprehensive than usual, so expectations and measurement and communication are even more important.
A successful business will set expectations for its employees as a technique to balance workload, manage constraints, calculate staffing levels and crew size, schedule.
The keys to workload balance
Get the waste out, measure and quantify, improve. You will find the results are worth the effort, both in a slow economy and as the economy strengthens. Whether a matter of survival or keeping up with demand, workloads are pretty important. Good luck, and call if you need help.
Jack Greene at 626-375-2468 or
to inquire. JPR can help you apply workload principles within your situation, objectives, timetable and
budget. Our services include on-site consulting, virtual consulting on line, or training for your own people.
|