Job Management System - LogicJMS

An operation is composed of processes designed to add value by transforming inputs into useful outputs. Inputs may be materials, labor, energy, and capital equipment. Outputs may be a physical product (possibly used as an input to another process) or a service. Processes can have a significant impact on the performance of a business, and process improvement can improve a firm's competitiveness.

The first step to improving a process is to analyze it in order to understand the activities, their relationships, and the values of relevant metrics. Process analysis generally involves the following tasks:

• Define the process boundaries that mark the entry points of the process inputs and the exit points of the process outputs.

• Construct a process flow diagram that illustrates the various process activities and their interrelationships.

• Determine the capacity of each step in the process. Calculate other measures of interest.

• Identify the bottleneck, that is, the step having the lowest capacity.

• Evaluate further limitations in order to quantify the impact of the bottleneck.

• Use the analysis to make operating decisions and to improve the process.