Productivity Improvement

J.K.Yates focuses on investigation and analysis techniques that can be used by engineering and construction firms to support the implementation of productivity improvement programs.

Using language that is easy to understand, Cross-Functional Productivity Improvement describes how improvement efforts can be undermined by errors and incompleteness. It illustrates the various types of errors that can hurt productivity and outlines proven solutions to prevent or correct them. Explaining how departments not directly related to manufacturing can hinder productivity, it provides time-tested advice on how to reduce waste and enhance efficiency. The book starts with an overview of traditional productivity improvement methods. Subsequent chapters explain how different departments can affect productivity and describe what must be done to improve productivity. Supplying time-tested procedures for implementing cross-functional productivity actions that are applicable across a wide range of industries, the text describes the problems caused by incorrect Lean manufacturing, material flow, efficiency, ergonomics, quality policies, issues of malpractice, and counterproductive procedures. Includes many figures, illustrations, and tables that provide the technical information needed to implement sustainable productivity improvements Addresses the problems often caused by incorrect Lean manufacturing and issues of malpractice Includes an extensive glossary and a list of suggested readings to help readers further explore productivity improvement Readers will gain a clear understanding of exactly what to do and what not to do in all aspects of company operations to maximize productivity through a cross-functional approach. Furthermore, the book will enable companies to take better advantage of all that the ISO 9001 and similar systems have to offer by making best use of the interactions between the various elements of company operations.

This book addresses the rising productivity gap between the global frontier and other firms, and identifies a number of structural impediments constraining business start-ups, knowledge diffusion and resource allocation (such as barriers to up-scaling and relatively high rates of skill mismatch).

This new book explains the Productivity Measurement and Enhancement system (ProMES) and how it meets the criteria for an optimal measurement and feedback system. It summarizes all the research that has been done on productivity, mentioning other measurement systems, and gives detailed information on how to implement this one in organizations. This book will be of interest to behavioral science researchers and professionals who wish to learn more about the practical methods of measuring and improving organizational productivity.

Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you're looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf. Read it and you'll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don't need outside investors, and why you're better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don't need to be a workaholic. You don't need to staff up. You don't need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don't even need an office. Those are all just excuses. What you really need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way. You'll learn how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons more counterintuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you. With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of "downsizing," and artists who don’t want to starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages.

This book focuses on the application of workstudy in productivity of manufacturing SMEs locally and abroad and also explores various industrial problems which face manufacturing SMEs in developing and underdeveloped countries in the rest of the world. Low productivity is currently a serious challenge facing manufacturing SMEs, where these SMEs are operating below expected production output levels which makes it difficult for them to compete in the global market. SMEs are the engine drivers of economic growth, one of which is manufacturing. The challenge is that government from various countries in developing and underdeveloped countries, mandated agencies in their respective areas, to ensure that there is economic progress for these SMEs, but productivity remains low in the manufacturing SMEs. When SMEs do not perform well, productivity of manufacturing SMEs declines and unemployment increases. Thus, an increase in unemployment results in a drop of GDP in the country and can become a global and economic crisis. This book describes a process which enables the reader to use effective knowledge that addresses problems facing the productivity of manufacturing SMEs such as work study tools and case studies and provides solutions and applications to improve the running of the manufacturing SMEs in growing their productivity.