2000 Volume 51 Issue 4 Pages 321-329
In the area of industrial engineering, in order to improve the efficiency of a given work process, " the analyst (industrial engineer)" observes a given work process and breaks it down into predetermined categories of work elements such as Therbligs. Then, the analyst lists "alternative processes" by synthesizing the classified data applying value judgement based upon past experiences in such forms as principles and checklists. However, in spite of using principles and checklists, listing alternative processes still largely depends on individual ability, knowledge and experience, and therefore the quality of outcome varies widely. This is an obstacle in the improvement of the quality and efficiency of industrial engineering activities for developing better work processes. This paper presents the results of a study on the human brain processes in developing a variety of alternative work processes. Furthermore, this paper proposes an algorithm for listing such alternatives based upon the aforementioned analysis. The approach used in this study is characterized by the division of given task into two categories, namely, essential transformation (ET) and non-essential but necessary transformation (NENT). ET is a minimum set of indispensable transformations to build a product unit from a set of necessary parts. NENT is a set of transformations considered to be required in addition to achieve all of the ETs by utilizing the given resources. There are numerous ways to build a product unit utilizing a set of ETs depending upon the combination of the sequence of ETs and the kind, number and sequence of the NENTs. In order to establish a desired alternative combination one must : 1) Determine the desired sequence of ETs, and 2) Add the necessary NENTs required to achieve feasible work performance.
