1. The evolution of process optimization management thinking

 

The layout optimization of the production line and the production line balance of each production station are based on the idea of ​​lean production. In the historical process of human development, many new methods and technologies have been continuously discovered and developed in actual production activities, and the enlightenment and development of lean production thinking is a summary of continuous trial and error improvements in these production activities. Thought theory. Frederick Winslow Taylor, who was hailed as the "father of scientific management" by later generations, has long summarized and proposed methods to improve work efficiency in his personal book "Principles of Scientific Management". Since then, The concept of "scientific management" began to enter the world stage and was gradually learned by people. Some methodological and theoretical viewpoints put forward by Taylor himself also laid the main ideological cornerstone of the later concept of "industrial engineering". In order to seek breakthroughs, reduce corporate costs, and shorten production hours, Ford designed the first streamlined automobile production line in the United States; Japan’s Toyota Eiji and Ohno’s first "Toyota Production System" (Toyota Production System), Toyota's "Just in time, JIT" (JIT) all combines the three steps of raw material distribution, enterprise production, and customer sales into one system circle, and pulls in the company's production based on customer needs. , So that each link has been very closely linked, and the company's products and finished products inventory is greatly reduced, further reducing the company's production costs, so as to improve production efficiency.

After Hammer and Ciampi proposed process management in their book "Reengineering Company", many companies began to use process management to optimize and redesign the original process, eliminate invalid links, shorten the process time, and make the process more efficient. Scientific; At the same time, the organization of enterprises is flattened, management levels are reduced, and process management is more flexible, which can quickly respond to market changes and improve corporate competitiveness. In considering the corporate strategy, we must pay attention to avoid product homogeneity, to achieve clear customer goals and outstanding cost advantages. As far as most Chinese small and medium-sized manufacturing companies are concerned, it is difficult for product differentiation competitiveness and customer demand control to reach the international first-class level. If they want to survive, they can only use lean production as the company's main strategy. On the other hand, the emergence of the concept of process management has made many companies understand that if they want to survive in a cruelly competitive market, they must take process management as a major corporate initiative. Professor Daniel Jones of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States officially named Toyota's production method "Lean Production" in his book "The Machine That Changed the World" in 1992. It shows that the world is not facing a crisis of oversupply, but a crisis of severe lack of production capacity for competitive lean production methods. After the general adoption of lean production methods in various industries, it will change the choices of consumers, the meaning of work, the fate of the company, the world's economy and many other major changes. This production method has become the best way to minimize the number of products in the production process. The historical development is always driven by constant changes. The improvement of lean production thinking is mainly based on various changes, and "agile manufacturing" (AM), "management information system" (MIS), "materials Some improvement methods based on information technology, such as Demand Planning (MRP), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), have also emerged with these changes, accelerating the development of management science. In recent years, some experts and scholars have combined methods such as "genetic algorithm", "heuristic algorithm" and "particle swarm algorithm" into the optimization of enterprise production lines. These methods have made lean production a major step forward in quantitative analysis.

 

 

 

Second, the definition of process optimization

       Through process optimization, many companies accept new process management ideas, and continuously develop, improve and improve their business processes, thereby improving their management level and business performance, in order to obtain higher customer satisfaction and profit margins, thereby ensuring that the company Be in a leading position in the market and not be eliminated. Process optimization is centered on the process, not the functional department. A process needs to be completed by a series of related functional departments in cooperation with each other. Process optimization includes not only "doing the right thing" but also "how to do the right thing".

Third, the significance of process optimization

       Many companies previously focused on the personalized design of their products and their own R&D level, while ignoring their own corporate production efficiency. Now, more and more attention is paid to its own efficiency improvement and cost saving, and it has begun to learn lean production ideas and reform the enterprise itself to optimize its processes. With the continuous upgrading of products, it is found that cost control plays an important role in market occupation. Only by adding industrial engineering ideas and optimizing processes can the company continue to grow and develop. The purpose of optimization is mainly to reduce costs, and another idea of ​​reducing costs is to improve efficiency, especially the efficiency of production and assembly. As efficiency increases, indirect costs are reduced. Therefore, the research on the optimization of the production process of the enterprise is particularly meaningful. As far as most Chinese small and medium-sized manufacturing companies are concerned, it is difficult for product differentiation competitiveness and customer demand control to reach the international first-class level. If they want to survive, they can only use lean production as the company's main strategy. On the other hand, the emergence of the concept of process management has made many companies understand that if they want to survive in a cruelly competitive market, they must take process management as a major corporate initiative.

 

Fourth, the purpose of process optimization

       All optimization has a certain purpose, and the purpose of process optimization is to adapt to the core strategy of the enterprise and improve the efficiency of the enterprise. In the process of business activities, it adopts methods such as dismantling and reorganization to research and optimize its inefficient activities so as to facilitate the enterprise

       The industry can stand out in the process of market competition. The specific purpose is as follows:

       (1) Sorting out: sort out the chaotic process, make it simple and clear, and have a certain structure. In this way, complex process activities are simple to change, and their patency and practicability are increased.

       (2) Visibility: Standardize work, establish certain rules, systems and guidance tasks, facilitate search and understanding of work processes, and enable effective correlation of various elements in work activities, so that the company’s problems can be more clearly revealed, thereby Strengthen company management.

       (3) Optimization: improve the incomplete process; make the perfect process more perfect, and make the complex process simple; improve the unreasonable process, and make the reasonable process more efficient. Makes work continuously optimized, thereby improving work efficiency.

       (4) Monitoring: Corresponding things and tasks, corresponding personnel and departments, matching responsibilities and powers, clear tasks, and keeping track of the process execution process and the completion of tasks of related personnel. Find monitoring points, monitor process performance, and strengthen feedback.

5. Methods and tools for process optimization

       Process optimization itself is a very complex and huge system engineering. To carry out certain activities in a huge system requires certain tools and methods to ensure that there will be no problems in the execution of the activities. The following introduces some methods and tools. This article will also use the method ideas introduced below in the selection process of the key process.

       (1) Benchmarking method (benchmarking analysis method)

       Fundamental analysis, as the name suggests, is that companies that want to optimize their processes choose one of the most successful companies as a model benchmark, and use this as a benchmark to compare and reference, and carry out the reform of the activity process based on their own characteristics. It is mainly to find the gap with the first-class enterprises in the comparison, and then go to the rough and precise, and combine the company's own characteristics to optimize and improve the action plan. This method of benchmarking analysis is currently the most commonly used by many companies in self-assessment and optimization.

       (2) ECRS law

       ECRS method, namely "eliminate" (Eliminate); "combine" (Combine); "rearrangement" (Rearrange); "simplify" (Simplify). The ECRS analysis method is an activity method based on the original research process. From the problems in the process-oriented value process to analyze the direction and ideas that the process needs to be improved, through a series of measures such as adding, reducing, and merging the process links, changing its own process level or structure, so as to achieve one of the goals of process optimization. Kind of analysis method.

       (3) Model scheduling method

       The model timing method is a method of predicting the standard time required for operation based on the body's moving parts, the distance of the movement and the weight of the work. It is a kind of standard method of scheduled operation time. The basic principle of the model timing method is based on the relatively small time consumption being able to complete the same action as the basis for selecting the action part.

       (4) Node description table

       The node description table is one of the most commonly used tools, which can make the activity content and element combination of the process have a clearer presentation. This article also uses the node description table to express and present the contents of the research activities, so that the process we want to study is clearer. The node description table is a method of filling in information and confirming the type of the process.

       (5) Procedure analysis method

       Procedural analysis is a graphical and symbolic analysis method. It is mainly to use the existing process procedures as the basis of the manuscript for its research, and use special related symbols and diagrams with certain representative significance to conduct detailed observation and documentary on it. In the specific analysis process, SWIH technology and SS management principles will be adopted for research. In actual operation, a series of improvements are often made through program analysis, and a reasonable and effective process flow, workshop plane and material handling route are proposed for the production assembly line. The program analysis method includes process program analysis, process program analysis and circuit diagrams. In the process of program analysis, the priority effective process is often selected in the process to analyze and research and ask questions, and use this as a breakthrough to conduct standardized research on the overall research object.

       (6) U-shaped assembly line

       The U-shaped assembly line is a new concept and new model recently proposed based on lean thinking, which makes the vision of "one person and multiple machines" fully realized, greatly improving production efficiency and saving factory layout space. The ultimate goal of the U-shaped line is to realize the U-shape in the logistics process of the production process, not the U-shape in the simple facility layout. If the work in progress in the intermediate links increases, the final product quality will not be inspected and monitored in a timely manner, and the final product quality will not be reliably guaranteed. In this way, the flexibility of the entire production system will be reduced, and the previous goal will not be achieved. The design of the U-shaped line itself is an idea based on the existing process, but it actually deviates from the original design concept and production mode. If the logistics route is designed to be U-shaped, and one person controls the import and export, it can completely avoid the situation that the intermediate input person cannot see the quantity of the work in progress.

       In short, lean production provides a very effective management idea and management tool for the modern manufacturing industry to seek better development. This article simply sorts out the ideological origin and common methods of process management. Different industries can optimize the process according to the actual situation of the enterprise. Management combines the improvement of the production site with lean thinking and integrates theory with practice to improve production activities, reduce production costs of enterprises, eliminate wasteful behaviors in production, and maximize production profits. In this process, we should pay attention to the five major factors of the process: input, output, object and value, process, and interaction (ie structure) in the process. Through the process composed of these elements, we can better serve the goals of decision-making.