Causes of Lost Time: 10, Layout of Work Area Requires unnecessary walking or physical work to get the work done. Layout of Work Facilities ‘Too many people need to use the same area at the same time. Not Enough Equipment High use equipment needs to be used by too many people at the same time. ‘Equipment Use Not Scheduled Time for use of regular equipment is not planned. Improper Equipment or Tools ‘Using the wrong tools for the job because the right ones are not available at the job site, Poor Work Atmosphere Lighting, temperature, unnecessary clutter or lack of cleanliness do not contribute to a good working atmosphere. Mismatched Capacities One operation, person, or group of people feeds work to another operation, person, or group of people at a lesser or greater rate than the rate at which the ‘work can be Pacing People or groups pace their work to the exact amount that is assigned to them resulting in less than desirable work output, but an appearance of constant activity. This kind of Lost Time sometimes takes experience and observation of ‘manload techniques to detect. In many operations, the last hour or two of work is paced to “fil out” the day. Lack of Specific Assignment The wrong work is done at the wrong time. This often results in lost time because the work sequence is not as productive as is desirable. Assignment of Work Not Equitable of Demanding Enough ‘The Manager allows each person to set his own pace. Often in these situations, the worker has no understanding of what a reasonable work pace is because it has not been defined to him by his Manager. This results in inequities in the work pace among various people in the same group and dissatisfaction on the part of the more energetic and ambitious people causing them to slow down. The cost in payroll dollars can be very large.1. 12 13. 14, 15. Lack of a "Backup" Assignment ‘This occurs in situations where the input of higher priority work fluctuates and the ‘worker paces to do only the high priority work. Here a supervisor can “even out” the work flow and eliminate productivity variances by making "backup" assignments to be accomplished during the slack period. The backup assignments are normally made in order of priority from the backlog of work in the section or department. ‘This often results in a steady reduction or a constant control of the backlog. Lack of Discipline Constant breach of company policy with regard to the time an employee should start work, break times, lunch periods, and quitting times. This can be very costly where discipline is relatively loose. Sloppy work habits, causing faulty work which must be corrected and re-done by others, are also a major cause of Lost Time in an undisciplined operation. Also included are excessive time in personal conversations or on personal phone calls which are not of a legitimate emergency nature. Assumption That Management is Desirable The Manager a fails to train his people to the point where he gains maximum flexibility. The result is small groups of specialists who cannot be used for other jobs when their own workload is lower than desirable. Failure to Make Use of Intersection or Interdepartmental Flexibility This is generally caused by failure to set up the communication channels and mechanics for shifting people from one major area to another when this is desirable. Often a Manager will "Make Work" in his own department rather than temporarily shift a person to another area where he is needed. This is @ natural tendency often based on the feeling that the actual workload could increase at any time and the transferred person or group may not be available to retum. Lack of good mechanics to effect transfers is often quite costly. Uncontrolled Use of Overtime This occurs where a Manager does not plan overtime based on accomplishing, overtime work with a minimum of people at a desirable work pace. Sometimes, the need for overtime is assumed, rather than real. This occurs, for instance, when someone eligible for overtime pay, works "just a few more minutes" (or hours) to finish a job, simply to finish it, not because. it has to be finished. Another typical problem here is that the work pace is less than desirable because of fatigue on the part of employee or because the Manager has gone home and is not available to assign work or solve problems. Failure of the Manager to Get into the Detail of his Operation In this situation, the employees begin to make their own rules and develop techniques and work habits that waste time, Often, if a Manager fails to make himself accessible (this requires quite a bit of humility on the part of most Managers to admit) employees do not ask questions that could result in time savings and will often make assumptions that are not in the best interest of1. 20, a. company management. A good Manager wants to be "bothered!" by his employees questions. Inadequate Communications ‘When requirements are not clearly communicated from one department to the next or within a department, lost time occurs when the right work is not done at the right time, Lost Time also occurs when too many or too few people to perform the work are made available by a manager based on poor communications or failure to communicate changes in requirements from one area to another far enough in advance. Failure to Recognise Lost Time Recognition of Lost Time requires training, thought, and most important of all, honesty and humility on the part of the manager. This is especially true of technically, scientifically or mechanically oriented Managers who were made managers because their job knowledge was considered of equal or more importance than management skills . This type of Managers often realises his shortcomings, but becomes defensive on the subject of Lost Time in his area. He feels he should be an expert at managing. He feels that because he has supervised an area for some time (often many years) he must justify its mode of operations, because to admit to any failing would be self-incrimination. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, because-any company management always welcomes improvement regardless of its relationship to the Manager's time in service. In this case, the ego of the Manager is a major deterrent to the detection and recovery of lost time. Poor Definition of the Management Role ‘Most companies are guilty to a certain extend of failing to place the proper emphasis on the role of the Manager as a time conscious businessman. In addition, many companies do not provide Managers with the systems, mechanics, or training to minimise Lost Time in their areas of responsibility. Poor Follow-up by Higher Management This occurs in cases where a manager is motivated or even quite determined to remove lost time from his area by taking a specific course of action which requires the approval or participation of higher management, but where higher management either does not approve or does not participate due to plain procrastination or unwillingness to make a decision . In cases such as this, the reasons for avoiding decisions or "passing the buck" can be made to sound plausible while costing the company significant payroll dollars. Breakdown in the Execution of Existing Systems or Procedures Where existing systems and procedures are designed to highlight lost time problems but are not followed in spirit or to the letter, Lost Time goes undetected. In this case, additional Lost Time is created in the preparation of incomplete, ineffective or useless reports and controls.