INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND

ERGONOMICS
19OEME72
Module 1A
Productivity & Work Study
 Productivity & work study:

• Definition of productivity, individual enterprises,

task of management. Productivity of materials, land,
building, machine and power. Measurement of
productivity, Factors affecting the productivity,
Productivity improvement programmes (Simple
Problems).
• Basic work content. Definition, objective and scope
of work-study. Human factors in work study. Work
study and management, work study and
supervision, work study and worker
 Introduction
• Productivity has now become an everyday watchword.
• It is crucial to the welfare of the industrial firm as well as
for the economic progress of the country.
• High productivity refers to doing the work in a shortest
prossible time with least expenditure on inputs without
sacrificing quality and with minimum waste of resources.
• Originally, the productivity term was used only to rate
the workers according to their skills.
• The person who produced more either faster or harder
were said to have higher productivity.
• Later emphasis was laid to improve the hourly output by
analysing and improving upon the techniques aplied by
different workers.
• A system of measurement was then evolved to compare the
improvement made in relation to the rate of output and in
order to improve productivity further, machines were
introduced.
• Manufacturers of machines started to incorporate new
features with the help of latest technological developments.
• Today we have machines that are completely controlled by
computers.
• Computers have now become powerful tools towards
improving productivity.
• Productivity is the quantitative relation
between what we produce and what we use
as a resource to produce them, i.e. arithmetic
ratio of amount produced (output) to the
amount of resource (input). Productivity can
be expressed as:
• Productivity refers to the efficiency of the production
system.
• It is the concept that guides the management of
production system.
• It is an indicator of how well the factors of production
(Land, capital, labour and energy) are utilised.
• European Productivity Agency has defined productivity as:
• Productivity is an attitude of mind. It is the mentality of
progress, of the constant improvements of that which
exists. It is the certainity of being able to do better today
than yesterday and continuously. It is the constant
adaptation of economic and social life to changing
conditions. It is the continual effort to apply new
techniques and methods. It is the faith in human progress
Production and Productivity
• Production is defined as a process or procedure to transform a
set of input into output having the desired utility and quality.
Production is a value addition process. Production system is
an organised process of conversion of raw materials into
useful finished products.
• Productivity can be increased
1. When production is increased without
increase in inputs.
2. The same production with decrease in inputs.
3. The rate of increase in output is more
compared to rate of increase in input.
 Problem 1
• A company produces 160 kg of plastic
moulded parts of acceptable quantity by
consuming 200 kg of raw materials for a
particular period. For the next period, the
output is doubled (320kg) by consuming 420
kg of raw material and for the third period, the
output is increased to 400 kg by consuming
400 kg of raw material.
 EXPECTATIONS FROM PRODUCTIVITY

• Expectations differ amongst the various

stakeholders, some of the expectations are
quite contrast, i.e. the workers expect more
leisure time in contrast to managers
expectation of hard work.
 BENEFITS FROM PRODUCTIVITY
• Always there is a misunderstanding about productivity in the minds of
the workforce.
• To the workers, higher productivity means higher work load, higher
efforts, more profits to owners and unemployment and threat to job
security.
• These are not the correct observations.
• Productivity integrates the objectives of owners and workers.
• Productivity contributes towards increase in production through efficient
utilisation of resources and inputs rather than making workers to work
hard.
• Productivity strives to minimise human hazards and human efforts with a
view to utilise them to those areas where they can contribute maximum
to the output.
DYNAMICS OF PRODUCTIVITY CHANGE
• Productivity improvement results in lower cost per unit by
effective utilisation of all the resources and reducing wastage.
• Lower cost per unit contributes in increased profit levels so
that company can reinvest the surplus in new technology,
equipment's and machines.
• This will result in further productivity increase and also there is
a greater employment generation due to new investments.
• The productivity increase results in higher wages to employees
as profit potential of the company increases thereby increasing
purchasing power of workers.
• Thus productivity increase sets in a chain reaction as shown in
Fig. 2.2.
• Total Productivity Measure (TPM)
• It is based on all the inputs. This model can be
applied to any manufacturing organisation or
service company.
• Total Productivity = Total Tangible output/ Total
Tangible input
• Total tangible output = Value of finished goods
produced + value of partial units produced +
dividends from securities + interest + other income
• Total tangible output = Value of (human + material +
capital + energy + other inputs) used.
• The word tangible here refers to measurable.
• Features of Total Productivity Measures
1. Gives both firm level and detailed unit level
index.
2. Helps to find out the performance and
productivity of the operational unit.
3. Helps to plan, evaluate and control.
4. An important information to strategic planners
regarding expansion or phasing out decisions.
• Illustration 2: The following information regarding the output
produced and inputs consumed for a particular time period for a
particular company given below:
• Output = Rs. 10,000.
• Human input Rs. 3,000.
• Material input = Rs. 200.
• Capital input = Rs. 300.
• Energy input = Rs. 100.
• Other misc. input =Rs. 50.
• The values are in terms of base year rupee value. Compute
various productivity indices
 Productivity in individual enterprise
Resources at the disposal of an enterprise.
• The productivity of a certain set of resources (input) is
therefore the amount of goods or services (output)
which is produced from them. What are the resources
at the disposal of a manufacturing company?
• LAND AND BUILDINGS
• MATERIALS
• MACHINES
• MANPOWER
FACTORS INFLUENCING PRODUCTIVITY

• Factors influencing productivity can be

classified broadly into two categories:
(a) Controllable or internal factors
(b) Uncontrollable or external factors
PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES

• The basic productivity improvement

techniques are represented in the Fig.
Technology Based
1. Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), and
Computer Integrated Manufacturing System (CIMS): CAD refers to design of
products, processes or systems with the help of computers. The impact of CAD on
human productivity is significant for the advantages of CAD are:
• Speed of evaluation of alternative designs
• Minimisation of risk of functioning
• Error reduction
CAM is very much useful to design and control the manufacturing system. It helps
to achieve the effectiveness in production system by Line Balancing.
• Production planning and control
• Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP) Manufacturing Resource Planning
(MRP II) and Materials Requirement Planning (MRP)
• Automated inspection.
Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is characterised by automatic line
balancing, machine loading/scheduling and sequencing, automatic inventory
control and inspection.
2. Robotics
3. Laser technology
4. Modern maintenance techniques
5. Energy technology
6. Flexible manufacturing system (FMS)
• Employee Based
1. Financial and non financial incentives at
individual and group level
2. Employee promotion.
3. Job design, job enlargement, job enrichment
and job rotation.
4. Worker participation in decision –making
5. Quality circles(QC), small Group
Activities(SGA)
6. Personal Development