Optimizing the Palletizing Department Service Level
SCA Hygiene Products Hoogezand
Jendrik van Dijk
S1754998
08
Herfst
The
The Total Productive
Maintenance Strategy
The Total Productive Maintenance Strategy
Optimizing the Palletizing Department Service LevelJendrik van Dijk S1754998
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Faculty of Economics and Business
Msc. Technology management February 2011
tel: 0647984474
PREFACE
This master thesis is the result of half a year research at the Palletizing Department at SCA Hygiene Products Hoogezand. I’m grateful that this opportunity was granted me and that I was welcomed there with open arms.
Doing research on technical processes with a ‘cultural’ lining interested for a long time. When describing human behaviour however, you’re also confronted with your own. If that happens, it is good to have people that help and support you. That is why my first word of thanks goes to Rogier Mensert, my supervisor at SCA. You helped me structure my thoughts, triggered my enthusiasm, and helped me ‘doing my thing’. Just as important for finishing this research where the managers (Tees en Roeland), and all the Operators and Support Staff at the Palletizing Department and Outbound Logistics. Their openness about their work was essential for my research and to me. Also thanks to the other colleagues that I used as sparring partners.
Secondly I want to thank Gwenny Ruël, my supervisor from the University for guiding my work while keeping the academic level in mind.
Third, thanks to all my fellow students and friends that I bothered with my research and, sometimes unconsciously, helped me. I’m also grateful that my parents for supporting me, and give me the opportunity to study in the first place.
Last, but most definitely not least is Marieke, my girlfriend who always supported me when I needed it the most. Thank you my love, I’m looking forward to our future together!
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
At the Palletizing Department (PD) at SCA Hygiene Product Hoogezand, products are semi-automatically palletized to the client’s wishes. A Work Sampling Study showed that not all the Operator activities are adding value to the product. Therefore, management wants to introduce aspects of Lean Manufacturing within the PD. An important constraint in this research is the Team Based Working System.
This research showed the Service Level of the PD as the order-wining objective for increasing the performance. Because of the high level of automation, the Maintenance Strategy and accompanying Work Design are determinants of the Service Level. The Goal of this research is to present recommendations that lead to an optimization of the Maintenance Strategy in order to boost the Service Level. The first step is finding the right strategy. Keeping in mind the external and internal contingent factors, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) was presented as an ideal strategy. Total Productive Maintenance is a structured improvement
process centred on the equipment that aims to increase the total production effectiveness by eliminating losses throughout the entire system life cycle by team based participation across the hierarchical levels. The involvement of employees in this concept is the key to success.
In the next phase, the current situation was measured with respect to TPM. The maturity of the current situation was measured using an assessment based on the 7 pillars of TPM. The employee involvement as facilitating factor was measured using an online survey. This captured the feelings and opinions of the Operators at the PD.
Results showed that there is a high team sprit in the shift and that Operators have a strong drive to contribute to the overall success of SCA. Communication between teams is rated low and Operators are not involved in improving their job. Communication is here strongly related to vertical information supply. The TPM assessment indicated 4 insufficient pillars; Elimination of Waste, 5S, Education and Training, and Cultural awareness.
Improving these pillars and the communication can be done using a tailored TPM implementation plan. This requires assignment of TPM roles: sponsor, facilitator, and content expert. Secondly, the following leading Performance Indicators should be implemented: Mean Time Between Failures, Percentage reactive maintenance, Mean Time To Repair, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Number of Improvements, and Employee Involvement. Communication of these Indicators should be done using a TPM Activity Board.
machine. Here, the experiences gained from the 5S pilot can be beneficial. Improving the OEE should be delegated to SGA teams (Small Group Activity). This facilitates shared ownership of problems. These SGAs can also be used to perform small improvement workshops to address small incremental improvements.
When implementing a new strategy, the positive momentum is essential. Communicating positive TPM outcomes can attain this. In this light it is important to use the soft-dollar savings from using TPM to enrich tasks: spend time on further improving Indicators. The hard-dollar savings of a TPM strategy with a 0,01% improvement in Service Level is estimated at € 77500,- per year.
CONTENT
PREFACE ... 2
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY ... 3
CONTENT ... 5
GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS ... 6
1. INTRODUCTION ... 7
1.1 THIS RESEARCH ... 7
1.2 COMPANY DESCRIPTION ... 7
1.3 SCA HYGIENE PRODUCTS HOOGEZAND ... 9
1.4 STRATEGY ... 11
1.5 RESEARCH ... 12
2. THE PALLETIZING DEPARTMENT ... 13
2.1 OPERATIONS; DESCRIPTION ... 13 2.2 OPERATIONS STRATEGY ... 19 2.3 IMPORTANT FINDINGS ... 22 3. PROBLEM FORMULATION ... 24 3.1 INVESTIGATION BACKGROUND ... 24 3.2 RESEARCH MODEL ... 27
3.3 RESEARCH GOAL AND QUESTIONS ... 31
3.4 RESEARCH METHOD ... 33
4. IDEAL SITUATION ... 35
4.1 SELECTING THE RIGHT STRATEGY AND WORK DESIGN ... 35
4.2 TPM IN THEORY ... 37
4.3 THE PRINCIPLES OF TPM ... 38
4.4 IDEAL SITUATION AND THE CONTEXT FACTORS ... 44
4.5 LEADING INDICATORS OF TPM PERFORMANCE ... 46
4.6 POSSIBLE RESULTS OF TOTAL PRODUCTIVE MAINTENANCE ... 48
5. CURRENT SITUATION IN RELATION TO TPM ... 49
5.1 EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT ... 49
5.2 TPM ASSESSMENT ... 53
5.3 FURTHER INVESTIGATION ... 55
5.4 COMMUNICATION, INFORMATION, AND WORK DESIGN ... 56
5.5 ELIMINATION OF WASTE ... 57
5.6 5S ... 60
5.7 EDUCATION AND TRAINING ... 61
6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 63
6.1 CHANGE TOWARDS AN IDEAL TPM ORGANIZATION ... 63
6.2 TAILORED TPM IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ... 64
6.3 COMMUNICATIONS AND LEADERSHIP ... 66
6.4 RESULTS OF TPM IMPLEMENTATION ... 67
6.5 REFLECTION AND FURTHER INVESTIGATION ... 67
REFERENCES ... 69
APPENDICES ... 74
APPENDIX 1: EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT SURVEY ... 74
APPENDIX 2: EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT SURVEY RESULTS ... 75
APPENDIX 3, TPM ASSESSMENT IN DUTCH ... 76
APPENDIX 4: RADAR GRAPHS OF THE TPM ASSESSMENT ... 80
APPENDIX 5: ONE POINT LESSON TEMPLATE ... 81
APPENDIX 6: WORKSHOP FOCUSSED ON COMMUNICATION IMPROVEMENT ... 82
APPENDIX 7: TACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TEMPLATE ... 83
APPENDIX 7: TPM ACTIVITY BOARD EXAMPLE ... 84
GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS
AM Autonomous MaintenanceBIS Bestuur Informatie Systeem (Control Information System) DOM Daily Operational Meeting
DMAIC Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control FLS Fabricom Logistics Service
FTE Full-time Equivalent GUI Graphical User Interface HMI Human Machine Interface
JIPM Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance KPI Key Performance Indicator
LM Lean Manufacturing ES Mechanical Supervisor
MC Machine Coach
MOP Machine Operator
MTBF Mean Time Between Failures MTTR Mean Time To Repair
MS Mechanical Supervisor OE Operational Excellence OPL One Point Lesson
OEE Overall Equipment Effectiveness PD Palletizing Department
PDCA Plan-Do-Check-Act PM Preventive Maintenance PcE Process Engineer PU Production Unit
QRESH Quality Risk Environmental Safety and Health RMW Raw Materials Warehouse
RCM Reliability-Centered Maintenance RST Resources Support Team
SHE Safety Health and Environment SSCC Serial Shipping Container Code
SL Service Level
SLII Situational Leadership 2 SGA Small Group Activity STS Socio Technical Systems SOP Standard Operating Procedure SSP Strategy-Structure-Performance SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget TBWS Team Based Working Systems TPM Total Productive Maintenance TQM Total Quality Management TRP Transport Packages
UcM Unicharm
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 This researchThis research has been executed at the Palletising Department at SCA Hygiene Products Hoogezand b.v. Palletising is the act of stacking Boxes (transport packages, hereafter: TRPs) on pallets. The structure of this research will be as follows: it begins with a description of the company. In the Second chapter a more extensive description of the Palletising Department will be given. The characteristics of this department are important during the research. In the third chapter the problem description will be elaborated on; what is the problem and how does it relate to the theory on the subject. The forth chapter will describe an optimum situation. The analysis of the deviation between this optimum and the current situation is the basis of the fifth chapter. In the sixth chapter the recommendation on how to overcome these differences will be described. This chapter will start with the general description of the SCA holding company.
1.2 Company description
Svenska Cellulosa Aktibolaget is found as a holding company for forest industry groups in 1929. Since then the company has grown into a consumer goods and paper company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, employing about 49,500 people. SCA is producing and selling personal care products, tissue, packaging solutions and solid-wood products. The main markets are Europe and North America, but it also operates in Latin America, Australia, The Middle East, Africa and Asia. The Netherlands are among the eight largest markets. The products are sold under both retailer brands and own brands. Well know SCA brands in The Netherlands are Tena, Libresse, Edet, Tork, Tempo, Libero, among others (Datamonitor, 2010).
as the leading provider of value for customers, shareholders, and employees in its field (SCA, 2008).
1.2.1 SWOT analysis
Strengths - SCA has a dominant market position across all its segments (Datamonitor, 2010). The global, regional and local brands give SCA a competitive edge, customer loyalty and a higher bargaining power. Especially in the personal care category it is one of the world largest players. SCA is market leader in incontinence products. In the Nordic regions, SCA is also market leader in baby diapers and feminine care. This leading position is also developing in the rapidly expanding markets in Latin America. There is a clear focus on R&D in SCA’s long-term strategy. Recently, the company launched a complete new range of baby-care products in the Nordic market. Responding to the severe economic impairment, SCA started a strategy with a focus on costs, cash flow, innovation, and capital efficiency. To reduce the costs the company implemented restructurings and saving measures throughout all segments. The increase of capital efficiency remains an important objective within SCA.
Weaknesses – The majority of SCA operations are concentrated in Europe. When sales in Europe do not meet the expectations, this could dampen the total company’s revenues. This is especially relevant regarding the economic downturn and recent debt crisis in Greece, and its contagion effects in Spain and Portugal.
SCA’s capital management has declined recently, affecting the Return on Average Capital Employed and Return on Equity. These indicators assess the efficiency and ability to earn returns on investments. This can be caused through poor asset utilization.
Opportunities – SCA focuses on expanding the hygiene operations. These products have a steady demand. And not less important, the hygiene products are less sensitive to economic movements (Datamonitor, 2010). This strategy became evident because over the past decade, most strategic investments and acquisitions were made in the personal care segments. The personal care markets are furthermore expected to show a steady growth in the upcoming years (Datamonitor, 2010).
1.3 SCA Hygiene Products Hoogezand
The SCA location at Hoogezand (hereafter: SCA) falls under the Personal Care business group with the headquarters in Munich, Germany. The products that are made in this group are baby diapers (Libero), incontinence products (Tena Lady), and female care products (Libresse). The production of the Libero Up & Go diapers is done in a Joint Venture with the Japanese company Unicharm (UcM). There are 3 units that produce products: UcM Inco, UcM Baby and Tena Lady containing a total of 23 machines. UcM Inco makes the heavy incontinence products, the pants for grown-ups. The 7 machines in this unit are called the ‘Panty’s’ and ‘Lips’. The UcM Baby unit makes pants for babies with the 6 ‘UcM’ and ‘Pegasus’ machines. The Unit Tena Lady makes the Tena Lady incontinence products with the ‘Astra’ and ‘Heracles’ machines. These machines are highly automated and are capable of producing various types of products. The Logistics Unit is responsible for the raw materials supply, the planning, controlling, and palletising of products. The internal flow is steered by the stock replenishment principle. The international products are kept at the local IDC (International Distribution Centre) to keep flexibility; SCA regards this as pull logic. For unique products, the products are directly sent to the selling market warehouse in agreement with all the parties to reach an optimal solution. This is regarded push logic.
1.3.1 Production Process
Raw materials are sent to the Raw Materials Warehouse (RMW). The machine crews can order the raw materials. These materials are then brought to the machines, partly by forklift and AGV (automatic guided vehicle). The basic raw materials needed to make diapers and diaper pants, and pack them, are: SAP (superabsorbent polymers), pulp, nonwoven fabric, glue, rubber band, bags, boxes (Transport Packs, hereafter: TRP) and code-tape. The products are automatic packed in (marked) bags and coded TRPs with code-tape on top indicating the product type later on in the process. All the products are then transported to the central palletising department by flat-belt conveyor.
1.3.2 Palletising
level) are capable of handling different products at the same time, using buffers. On 16 tables, the TRPs are buffered and sent to the palletisers by pallet quantity. The pallets are supplied automatically from a buffer. An additional 2 Fabricom palletisers are also directly coupled to a production machine. These palletisers however can only hold 1 type of pallet.
The TRPs on the pallets are stacked in different patterns, sometimes with sheets between layers or straps around the stack. These pallet characteristics are set in the ULV (unit load variant; pallet type and height). The pallets are then wrapped with foil and are labelled with a Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC). Some orders are directly transported from the loading platform at the PD. The majority of pallets are transported with a shuttle trailer to Reining Warehousing Kolham, functioning as the local IDC.
1.3.3 Hierarchical structure
The Plant Manager is the highest position at the Hoogezand site. The 3 production units, logistic unit, and Plant Support unit each have a Unit Manager. Both the production machines and the palletising machines are operated by teams. These teams work in shifts; sometimes 3 and some machines need 5-shift teams. Within these teams there is a Machine Operator (MOP) A or B that is the leader of the team. He cooperates with the other (first) operators in the team. A Machine Coach (MC) is the head of all the shift teams. For the Logistics Unit, there is an extra layer added. The inbound manager is responsible for the input side of the plant, where the outbound manager is responsible for the output of the plant. This output is starting at the end of the production machines. Each functional layer of the hierarchy has its own support section. The unit and plant managers have a support manager, with or without extra engineers reporting to them. The units themselves also have a supporting branch in the form of the plant support unit. This support unit is responsible for the facility management, Technical supply, innovation, and safety. The different production teams have a Resources Support Team (RST) consisting out of a Process Engineer (PcE), Mechanical Supervisor (MS), and Electrical Supervisor (ES). The RST works in day shifts and assist the production teams. The Technical Shift Support on the other hand, supports the RST.
1.3.4 Responsibilities and freedom
machine, but also the planning, process improvement, work method improvement, machine improvement, machine repair, replacement of ill team members, quality control and safety. In reality, the MOP, sometimes in consultation with the 1st operator, performs a lot of the ‘administrative’ tasks. The MOP acts as the team leader. These leaders also participate in the Daily Operational Meeting (DOM) every morning. The other participants are the RST members and the concerning machine coach. The DOM also takes place in other teams; like Supply Service (Unit Logistics).
The extended team responsibility also comes with extra decision latitude. Karasek (1979) describes this latitude as a measure of freedom to use skills and make decisions. In his Job Strain Model can be seen that a high Job Decision Latitude, combined with high job demands will create challenging tasks. That is the goal of TBWS at SCA Hoogezand.
1.4 Strategy
Most of today’s companies have some sort of strategy of strategic planning. It steers the organization of resources and actions in relation to an external environment (McGee, Thomas, & Wilson, 2005). The SCA Group strategy is based on the following corner stones. Reduce cost and improve cash flow, improve capital efficiency and return on capital employed, strengthening of the innovation engine, and outperforming the market growth – aspiring to be the best in class through continuous improvements in performance, leadership, sustainability and reputation.
The Hygiene division has the strategy to be the leading Personal Care provider in the eyes of the customers and consumers. The focus should lie both on the customer and consumer, and the culture and achievement. This Cultural Journey is one of the top priorities.
The SCA strategy, both at group and division level, points strongly towards the Operational Excellence discipline. However, the aspect of Product Leadership is an important value for the customer, based on the medical knowledge in the incontinence market in particular.
1.5 Research
2. THE PALLETIZING DEPARTMENT
This second chapter will give an in depth description of the Palletizing Department. The Operations and Operation Strategy will be disclosed. Throughout the entire research, there is a distinction between Operations and Strategy. The information in paragraph 1 and 2 is especially interesting for the readers that are not familiar with the department operations and its strategy. The chapter will conclude in paragraph 3 with the most important findings that will prove to be relevant during the remainder of the research. These findings are an analysis of the given information.
2.1 Operations; Description
There are different ways to describe a production system and its environment. However, not every paradigm has a clear framework. Within the Palletising Department (PD) there is a high interaction between human and machine. Describing the technical aspects of a system alone is not enough, concerning the social system is also important. Humans and machines within a production setting are closely entwined. Introducing a new technology will affect the way people work. Simultaneously, these people will also influence the way the technology is operated (Trist & Bamforth in Reddy et al., 2009; Slomp & Ruël, 2000). They operate and maintain the machines, and determine how they are used. On the other hand, the machines act as a constraint for the operation. Emery (1959) singled out the technological dimensions that determine the relation between human and machine.
2.1.1 Nature of the Material
Material therefore creates an external dependability. Nonetheless, the Operators at the PD are responsible for the quality of the finished goods.
2.1.2 Level of automation
The level of automation (or mechanization) has been considered the most important dimension (Emery, 1959). Changes in the level of automation can lead to logic changes occurring in other dimensions. A high-speed machine can for example need more uniform input. The degree of automation determines the ratio of contribution to the production process between human and machine. The concept of automation has different meanings and can be used in various ways. However, all users of the word seem to have in mind an ideal picture of a fully automatic factory or office (Bright in Emery, 1959). The technological change needs to be treated as an independent variable in order to trace the social and psychological effects on the production system. Emery (1959) restricts the term automation to: “the use of devices –
mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical and electronic – for making automatic decisions and efforts”. At a certain ration of automation the attention re-centres form the operator to the
machine. The maintenance and provision of conditions that enhance the machine operation becomes the goal of the system. When the efficiency and utilization of the machine replaces the factor man-hours, it is useful to refer to an ideal point of full automation. Automation makes things possible that are not within the human potentiality, but also require more controlling skills.
lifters (NL: tilhulp) can be used for putting the foil in the wrappers. Because of a time aspect, this is normally done manually. The pallets that are directly shipped are automatically sent to the by-pass conveyor and after that positioned on the loading floor. Pallets that are not complete are also being sent to this conveyor. These pallets are completed manually, just like the TRPs that end up in the overflow. TRPs end up in the overflow when the capacity is not sufficient to handle all the TRPs, or when the system does not recognize the code tape or TRP code. Pallets and TRPs that are rejected from the system can be considered as rework.
The high automation of the PD is the most outstanding characteristic. The complete process takes place with hardly any human interaction. The only interaction necessary is when there are problems; no raw material, stoppages, new products, or maintenance. This makes the task of the Operators to keep the machines running in the proper manner. This also corresponds with the next dimension.
2.1.3 Unit operations
The Unit operations are operations required to complete changes in production. They are the basic phases of the process. These patterns of phases are changed due to changes in the machines or the conditions. A change from electrical to pneumatic conveyors could lead to a change in operations. The last decade the unit operation of palletising TRPs changed from a manual process to a highly automated process. The employees at the PD are most of their time busy operating the machinery. Around 7% of the time is used to physically palletise (rework). In comparison, the machine operations take up to 30% of the total time according to the Work Sampling Study (NL: Multi Moment Opname). The operators sustain the right conditions for the machine to perform the unit operations. The most common tasks are: machine set-up and operations, monitoring, refilling, prepare shipments, repair pallet loads, trouble shooting, clean, perform maintenance, management and consultation, administration, and personal time. This list is not exhaustive as there are more small specified and non-specified activities like waiting for work. However, the mentioned activities account for roughly 80% of the activities (including lunchbreaks).
2.1.4 Degree of centrality
(including operators), it makes great difference whether the supervising and operating roles reflect the key processes’ centrality. Wether the operators’ tasks are truly value adding therefore depends on their role in, and the centrality of the process. There are only a few customers that want their products without pallets. For all the others, the placing of the TRPs on pallets is necessary for the protection and distribution of the product. The Operators and RST have the task to direct their attention, efforts and skills on the process of palletising. However, generally an activity is only considered value-adding when it transforms the product. But one can also take as value added tasks those that increase the Work In Process (WIP) value. In that case the palletising of products is certainly value adding and central to the final product process.
Another distinction can be made between necessary but irregular and infrequent operation (non-value adding but needed) and optional operations (non-value adding and not needed). These operations are not strictly necessary for the productive system, but sometimes still serve some real or presumed function. In total, 32% of the performed activities are considered value adding. The fact is however that non-value adding activities can sometimes not be eliminated; they need to be performed so that production does not slow down and run efficiently. However the same can be said for the value adding activities. So this distinction is hard to prove and can seem arbitrary.
It can be concluded that although the PD is no ‘production department’, value is added to the product. The role of Operators and RST is purely supportive; they are not directly adding value to the product. But there effort guarantees that the machines (palletisers) can perform the value adding activities.
2.1.5 Required maintenance operations
these errors do occur, the loss of machine time should be kept to a minimum. The mechanical supervisor is responsible for the preventive maintenance. He has a schedule when to maintain different parts of machines, partly based on the maintenance history. As Emery (1959) describes, the roles have often been divided into separate responsibility for running maintenance and doing initial diagnosis of breakdowns. The operators are responsible for on-the-spot repair, repair without replacement, and small repair with replacement. Operators always enter small repairs with replacement in the SAP PM system in order to get materials from the technical warehouse. This is called corrective maintenance. On the spot repair of small breakdowns, for example due to jammed products, is normally not recorded in any way. When the operators find these disturbances from enough severity, they are mentioned during the DOM. When the operators can fix the breakdown by themselves, they can apply a maintenance request. The maintenance costs are 25% of the total PD costs (excluding RST wages). It can be said that the maintenance is one of the main activities at the PD in order to achieve reliable machines.
2.1.6 Supply Operations
2.1.7 Spatiotemporal Dimension
The Spatiotemporal Dimension of the production process influences the coordination, mutual support and interpersonal contact. It is both the spatial lay-out and the throughput time of the product. Operations can be carried out sequentially or at the same time, on one or several shifts. This dimension influences how interdependent actions are maintained, supplied and coordinated. It puts people together or sets them apart. Lombard (in Emery, 1959) says that the effect of interdependence in spatial locations comes from a tendency of humans to interact more with the ones close to them. They value a stable territory. The machines, and thus responsibilities, of the PD are spread over the entire plant. From the moment on that the TRPs are placed on the conveyor, the PD is responsible for the correct handling of the products. This means hundreds of meters of conveyors that need to be operated and maintained. The throughput time is also influenced by this fact. When a TRP is placed on the conveyor by the production machine, it can take up to 15 minutes before it reaches the palletiser. The total throughput time can fluctuate from 10 minutes up till 2 hours or more in case of slow production.
While analysing the spatial and temporal dimensions, it is important to consider the way in which they influence the communication involved with the operations. According to Emery (1959), an increased automation does not always lead to closer contact, because of thinning out of labour, physical size growth and multiple shift work. Where communication between operators and RST is important in maintaining the machines, the spatiotemporal dimensions make this difficult.
2.1.8 Physical Work Setting
2.1.9 Nature of Interdependence
The Nature of Interdependence among tasks has effect on the need for cooperation between workers. Some features of interdependency may also decrease the determinacy of the work relationship structure; the relation between tasks. The spatial separation of tasks makes it difficult to group tasks that ought to be together. Independent tasks do not require cooperation and communication unless they are dependent on supporting activities or with respect to their outcome or ‘end-condition’. Roles can be defined so that workers are not responsible for the end-condition. On the other hand, the responsibility can also be laid on the worker, which strengthens the supervisor’s role. At the PD, there is a variation in task interdependencies. Some are independent, like the refilling of pallet buffers; others are dependent, like maintenance. In this situation, making a group responsible for the results can yield positive effects on performance (Emery, 1959). This group responsibility is also eminent at the different shifts. Every shift/team is responsible for the PD based on certain criteria. The shifts however do not share this responsibility. There are weak links between the shifts.
It is in this situation also interesting to look at the interdependency amongst the teams over the entire plant. There are different forms of dependency amongst tasks (Van der Vegt & Van de Vliert, 2002). The task and outcome interdependence are independent constructs. On a group level the task interdependencies are, ordered from low to high, labelled pooled, sequential, and reciprocal workflows (Thompson in Van der Vegt & Van de Vliert, 2002). Under pooled interdependence, team members work without needing interaction between the members. Under sequential interdependence, each member acts before another member like common in an assembly line. Under reciprocal interdependence, one members’ output serves as input for another and visa versa. The interdependence of teams over the plant can be considered sequential. This means that there is a tight link across the departments.
The Nature of Interdependence amongst tasks strongly relates to the notion of communication and responsibility. When task are sequential (plant-wide), there is a shared responsibility.
2.2 Operations strategy
organization where the market requirements and the organizations’ capabilities have to be reconciled.
A lot of companies base the way things are done and organized on a different operations strategy. Some of these organizations become more or less famous, like Ford. The Fordism refers to the technical aspects of mass production and standardization, but also to social theories about the relation between wages and productivity. Another company famous for its production system is Toyota (Dankbaar, 1997). The way Toyota organizes the production, control, planning and learning is originally based on American Fordism and aspects of scientific management; analysis and synthesis of workflows. The main objective of Frederick Taylors Scientific management was the improvement of economic efficiency through labour productivity. The Human Relations Movement, known from the Hawthorne studies, changed the observation of workers to a view in terms of their psychology.
SCA pursues the operations strategy of Operational Excellence (hereafter OE). It can be seen as a container concept. According to the former Vice President Product Supply, Nordin, it contains all the knowledge and best practices gained over many years. This is formed into 26 concepts including for example; process control, standardisation, trust, leadership, people development, and change management. These concepts are based on the operating principles of Teamwork; Team Based Working Systems (hereafter: TBWS), Leadership; Situational Leadership (hereafter: SLII), and Problem Solving; 6 Sigma. These concepts will be explained next.
2.2.1 Teamwork
Handbook, the ‘what’ decisions are made by the first line manager, the MC. The goal of using TBWS is to efficiently respond to the customer and consumer needs and to create a competitive environment. This is achieved by letting the employees deal with variances at the source. The methods of working should be minimally specified. To that stretch, the concept of Progressive Empowerment aims to create a ‘flat’ hierarchical structure where the MC has a pure coaching role, with no interference with decision making at the team level.
According to the theory, STS depends on self-management and tight links across shifts and loose links with other departments. Systems constrainers are a high level of interdependence between teams, and limited resources for technical redesign (Lee et al., 1994). Within the PD there is however a high interdependence with other departments and there are also limited resources for technical redesign. This contradiction can be seen as an important constraint for this research.
2.2.2 Leadership
Situational leadership is a concept of managing and developing people based on the situation at hand. The role of the leader varies based on the competence and commitment of the directee. The leader can be directing, coaching, supporting or delegating. The goal is to increase the frequency and quality of conversations about performance and development. Within the SCA plant Hoogezand, this leadership model is especially relevant for the machine coaches. Their way of leading should be based on this model. A very recent SCA wide web-based survey, pointed out that the aspects of support & direction (‘I get appropriate support and direction from my manger’) and feedback (‘My manager gives clear and regular feedback on my performance’) were valued relatively low at 60%. This could indicate that the leadership model is still in developmental phase.
2.2.3 Problem Solving
Within the organisation, the 6 Sigma skills of employees are defined by the analogy of karate: Champions, (Master) Black Belts, Green Belts, and Yellow Belts.
Within the PD, solving problems related to the production is the responsibility of the Process Engineer (PcE). The improvement of all the processes is the core task of the PcE. He needs to have a Green Belt certification and should be familiar with the 6-sigma methods. The Machine Coach prioritizes the work and the Unit Support Manager determines the method and resources. Although the methods are prescribed by the Handbook, the actual 6 sigma methods are not always applied to the letter. For example, the operators also use PDCA as a request for change, often accompanied with a Capital Expenditure request. PDCA is a tool to implement small incremental change with an important role for Planning (and analysis). When these concepts are mislabelled, this leads to deception; a deviation between formal and factual system.
2.2.4 Other concepts and remarks
Not all the 26 concepts from the OE Handbook can be related to the aspects of Teamwork, Leadership, or Problem Solving. One can say that these 3 aspects have a more general focus on the organization and its operations. It considers for example the organisational structure, the way of communication, standardisation and customer alignment. However, the other aspects all relate to OE. The OE Handbook gives a holistic and integral way of improving the processes. It should be noted that the variety of concepts does not guarantee a clear integration. Some of the concepts, depending on their maturity, overlap or even conflict with each other. While the TBWS, and Roles & Responsibilities goals strive to create a standardisation of skills (multifunctionality), the Standardisation concept aims to standardise the work and operating procedures. Striving for Operational Excellence can be potentially very rewarding. Based on this short theoretical analysis, it can be concluded that there is some overlap between the various OE concepts. Some of the concepts are even theoretically conflicting. When investigating the PD and its operating strategy and goals, this is important to consider.
2.3 Important findings
the Operators and RST. This can also be seen in the PD cost-structure. Important is that when Operators and RST are supporting the automated palletizing equipment, they are adding value to the end product.
Plant-wide, there is a sequential interdependence amongst tasks. This creates a shared responsibility for the end product. The Spatiotemporal Dimension however, inhibits the mutual support and interpersonal contact between department teams. The same applies to the intradepartmental dependencies. The responsibility of palletising TRPs is shared amongst teams but the spatial size and temporal dimensions inhibit cooperation between shifts.
3. PROBLEM FORMULATION
The previously made distinction between operations and strategy is a returning topic. The problem formulation focuses on the relation between strategy, operations, and the resulting performance (Excellence).
3.1 Investigation background
This research focuses on the Palletising Department at SCA Hoogezand. In a recent investigation, done by Accent Organisatie Advies (hereafter: Accent) in September 2009, not al the operators’ activities were classified as value adding. This was measured with a Work Sampling Study (NL: Multi Moment Opname). Such a study samples the activities of personnel at a certain time interval. All the possible activities are determined in advance. The objective of this study was to determine the time spend on value adding tasks. The operation of machines and physical loading of trailers was classified as being value adding. Together with some indirect value adding, these activities comprised only 32% of the total amount of time. This meant that the other 68% is non-value adding, or waste. But why is 68% non-value adding? This purely depends on the definition of value. Therefore the first question should be; what is value and is palletising delivering value to the customer and consumer?
3.1.1 Value creation
The term ‘value’ in the form of customer-value-creation became popularised due to the book ‘The Machine that Changed the World’ by Womack, Jones and Roos (1990). They describe a Lean way of organizing applied in the Toyota factories in Japan. From a customer perspective the value is what they ‘get’ relative to what they ‘give up’ (Zeithaml, 1988). The creation of value, while minimizing waste is the primary goal of the production system and the purpose of organizations (Womack et al., 1990; Zeithaml, 1988). Lean Manufacturing (hereafter: LM) is the Japanese way of production where the value adding for the customer is maximized by minimizing the waste associated with production and supply. Still remains the second question, is palletising value creation? Understanding the drivers of value in a buyer-supplier relationship is a priority. It is a key component in organization survival (Howden & Pressey, 2008).
sometimes a necessary element of production (Baudin, 2004). Palletising is normally seen as materials handling or physical distribution. Conversely it can also be construed as transforming products. A simple TRP is carefully stacked in a suitable pattern to the clients’ wishes. Also the wrapping of pallets can be considered value adding, because it protects the customer good during the transportation. This means that the PD at SCA Hoogezand is also creating value for the customer.
3.1.2 Measuring Value
It is important to make this value measurable. What is the value that the customer wants? The answer to this question will clearly depend on the chosen definition of the customer. Sometimes, the word customer is used as synonym for the end-consumer. However, in this case the activities that are performed are not always directly related to the end-consumers’ wishes. This consumer will of course want the product it needs at the right time at the right place at the right quantity. Whether these conditions are met, is dependent on a large number of factors, like sales, forecast, planning, production, logistics (transportation, warehousing), and supply. Looking at the logistics part and in particular the PD activities, it is important that the products are not damaged during the transportation from production facility to, for example, the shop-shelf. In order to achieve this, the PD needs to deliver quality to their supply-chain customers, like the warehouses and transporters. This is related to the concept of internal versus external clients (Dahlgaard & Dahlgaard-Park, 2006).
3.1.3 Dependability
Why is Dependability important? According to the Oxford Dictionary the word Dependability means “trustworthy and reliable”. The PD has a key position in the end of the production process. All the production lines are physically hard-coupled to the palletisers. In order to guaranty the right throughput, the PD needs to be trustworthy and reliable. In an ideal world, the PD Service Level (hereafter: SL), should be 100%. Meaning that every TRP that arrives from the Production Units (hereafter: PUs), can be palletised in the proper manner. A delay or stoppage in a palletiser or conveyor will lead to problems at the PUs. When products cannot be placed on the conveyor, the production machine will come to a halt. This involves high idle time and thus costs.
Because of the very high automation ratio of this palletising process, this means that the equipment and machinery needs to be reliable. All the operator and personnel activities need to be reliability-centred in order to achieve high equipment availability. According to Leflar (2001, p15), in today’s production environment the automation ratio has been pushed to its limits: “The fact is machines do virtually 100 percent of the product manufacturing work. The
only thing we people do, whether we’re operators, technicians, engineers or managers, is to tend to the needs of the machines in one way or another. The better our machines run, the more productive our shop floor, and the more successful our business.”
At this point, a shift of attention takes place from operator and man-hours to machine and machine-hours. Creating the right conditions for the machines becomes the goal of the system (Davis & Taylor, 1972). The operators have a high influence on the productivity and efficiency of the equipment, and are therefore still important determinants of the eventual performance. The machines are depending on them.
This research focuses on how to increase the order qualifying and winning aspects of the PD performance.
3.1.4 Link to Logistics ‘Core Values’
3.2 Research model
In order to research the performance of the PD, some relations need to be explained. When they are visualized in a model, it will give a view of how the current system is functioning. These relations are both based on theory and assumptions. The goal of the model is not to capture the complete truth in a picture, but to get a grip of reality and create a general representation of the relevant system. This model can then be elaborated into a more defined model of the researched subject.
In this research, the performance is the measured output of the PD. There is not just one element that influences this performance. There are many elements and even more relations. However, when we look at the PD from a high aggregation level, all these processes can be seen as a black box. In that case, the performance is the output of this box. Lund (2006) calls the ‘box’ in this situation the Organisational Paradigm. The word paradigm is sometimes used in the context of weltanschauung or world view. This is a cognitive orientation, it refers to a framework in which one interprets, and interacts with, the environment. Lund (2006) however looks at the paradigm as a way the organization interacts and reacts on its environment. The elements he describes as influencing the performance are based on the Strategy-Structure-Performance research of business historian Chandler (as cited in Defee & Stank, 2005). He, amongst other researchers, found that a certain strategy and structure combination can be better than others. Furthermore, recent studies on this topic revealed that contingency factors also influence the effect of strategy and structure on performance. The structure in this definition can also be described as the operational side of the strategy-performance relation. The operations need to fit with the strategy in that case.
In figure 1 the conceptual relation between the strategy, structure and performance (hereafter: SSP) is displayed. It is however recognized that certain factors lie beyond the influence of the strategy and structure. These factors are can be related to the external environment or the infrastructure and are contingent. As can be seen in the figure, both of the contingent factors consist out of several elements. Environmental factors include the customers, competition, industry, economy and government. The infrastructure consists out of technology, competencies, capabilities, and socio-structure. The combined definition of the structure and infrastructure has a clear resemblance with the term Production System.
the Organization Hierarchy (Slomp & Ruël, 2000) of the organization, determinants of respectively complexity and responsibility.
The combination of the above mentioned variables with their relation to the performance is displayed in figure 2. In this figure, the SSP paradigm is visible in the triangular relation between the external influences, strategy and production system. In this model, these variables determine the performance. The strategy gives a direction based on the external influences and the capabilities of the production system. On the other hand, the production system needs to function in line of the strategy, but is also influenced by the environment.
Figure 1: Strategy – Structure (operational) - Performance model with contingent factors The theoretical assumptions made in this model will be used during this research in order to increase the PD performance. The SSP model is normally used at a company level. It can be made more specific when the elements are further elaborated. Before this elaboration however, it is useful to describe the research restrictions.
3.2 1 Restrictions, assumptions and boundaries
Some aspects of the production system are ‘fixed’. The company strategy is determined. This means that the aspects of TBWS, SLII, and 6 Sigma should be considered during this research. The external influences of the SSP model are also considered as fixed. Mainly because the aspects of this external environment; Customers, Competition, Industry, Economy, and Government are outside the influence and scope of this research. Some of the Infrastructure aspects can also not be influenced; especially the Technology and Socio-Structure. The buildings and equipment, as part of the used Technology, are fixed with specific locational and functional relations. Concerning the Socio-Structure, the aspect of company culture and working attitude is important (Atkinson, 2010), but hard to influence (Shook, 2010). An important assumption in this research is that there is an ideal SSP model that also fits with the External Environment and the current Infrastructure. In other words, the production system that determines how things are organized can be ideal.
Another important aspect of research is the setting of boundaries. This research has not the objective to improve every problem at SCA; it is only considering the PD. Within the PD, the operator teams, direct managers and coach, and equipment are the subject of investigation. The PD interacts with the environment in different ways; there are physical and communication streams with other departments. Important issues that are encountered during the research but not directly related to the PD will be added to the recommendations for further investigation.
3.2.2 Enhanced conceptual model
definition that will be used in this research is the Operational Equipment Availability (hereafter: OA). OA is the ration between the equipment uptime and the operating cycle, which is the overall time period of operation. This availability can time-wise be decomposed into three elements: Actual uptime, Idle Time, and Downtime. Downtime can further be divided into scheduled downtime and un-scheduled downtime. Maloperation falls under the last category.
Figure 2: Conceptual model of the PD performance.
The Costs are divided into Maintenance Costs, Personnel Costs, Raw Materials Costs, and Costs due to lack of performance. In the case of stoppages, repack, and quality problems, the resulting costs can sometimes be attributed to the palletizing process. The cost of raw material is a contingent factor from the external environment that cannot be altered.
At the basis of the conceptual model are the 2 factors that are part of the production process. The first is the Work Design. The Work Design specifies the tasks, responsibilities and
Performance Service Level Costs Quality Flexibility Equipment capacity Operational Equipment Availability Personnel Maintenance Raw materials Cost due to lack of
hierarchical relations at the PD. Indirectly; the Work Design also influences the workers’ competences, skills, and capabilities. These aspects of Work Design are in this conceptual model linked to unscheduled Downtime. Work Design is generally described according to the Job Characteristics Model by Hackman & Oldham (as cited in W. Niepce & Molleman, 1998). This model relates motivation, performance, and satisfaction to the characteristics of work through critical psychological states. The Employee’s Growth Need Strength is a moderator of this relation.
The second aspect is the Maintenance Strategy. This strategy and the execution of the strategy determine the state of the equipment. The right maintenance can limit both the scheduled and un-scheduled downtime. Both the Maintenance Strategy and the Work Design have an influence on the maintenance and personnel costs.
3.3 Research Goal and Questions
This section of the thesis starts with describing the goal. The main goal of this research is to increase the PD performance through increasing the Service Level and lowering Costs. This can be achieved in more than one way, but the main focus of this research is on the effects of the Maintenance Strategy and Work Design on the PD performance. Like mentioned in chapter two, the Maintenance and Human-Machine interaction are very important determinants in the PD process. Focussing on Maintenance and Work Design is therefore most logic. The assumption is made that there is an ideal production process that concerns the contingent factors of the environment and the infrastructure, and that leads to a high performance. The deviation of the current situation compared to this ideal situation is the basis for this research’s recommendation. These recommendations should lead to an increase of the PD performance. The goal is therefore:
3.3.1 Central question
The central question is derived from the research goal. This is the question that will be examined in this research. It is formulated as follows:
Main Research Question: Which aspects of the Maintenance Strategy and Work Design should be altered to increase the performance of the Palletizing Department, considering the contingent factors of the production process?
3.3.2 Sub-questions
The research question is actually composed out of several aspects. This makes the question difficult to answer directly. It is possible to first derive a number of sub-questions to ‘build’ up the answer. The first aspect, which is actually not directly named in the research question, is the ideal situation. Assuming that there is an ideal situation, helps setting the benchmark. This perfect world solution can be described according to the theory, with respect to the restrictions that are set. The order-winning and qualifying objectives steer the direction of the ideal situation. Striving for a high performance is strongly related to Operational Excellence, as described in the SCA strategy. But when are operations considered excellent? Hayes and Wheelwright ((as cited in Ciptono, 2005) related OE to the World-Class Company. According to them, there are certain practices that lead to OE and world-class performance. This also in line with the assumption that there is an ideal situation where one becomes a World-Class Company. Considering the order objectives, the Service Level and Costs, and the search for an ideal situation, the first sub-question is:
1. What is an ideal Maintenance Strategy and Work Design to reach world-class
performance based on the order winning and qualifying objectives, with the research restrictions kept in mind?
2. What are the differences between the ideal and current situation?
The differences between both the situations will be related to specific points for improvement. Not all the deviations can be solved and improved. Fortunately this is not always necessary. Some issues will have a greater impact on performance than others. A choice must be made which elements to address. This will be the answer to the third sub-question:
3. Which aspects of the current situation need to be changed in order to reach the
ideal situation, and how should the redesign look like?
The implementation of change can be a delicate affair. It is a generally accepted given that most people resist change. Therefore in this research, there will be specific attention to the implementation aspect. Dependent on the ideal situation there is often an order in which certain elements need to be implemented. This is the topic of the last sub-question:
4. How should the improvements be implemented?
3.4 Research method
There are different methods of doing research. An essential part of this research is the gathering of information. This information is then analysed. The analysis is the basis for recommendations.
3.4.1 Information gathering
There are essentially two sub-questions that require data gathering. The first sub-question aims to find an ideal Maintenance Strategy and Work Design, with regard to the determined contingent factors. Those contingent factors will need some elaboration. The necessary information can be found during interviews and document analysis. Finding and ideal system that fits the requirements is done with the use of literature on the topic of Work Design and Maintenance.
acquired from different sources. When that information aligns, it gives a higher probability that it is actually true. Here, the triangulation arises trough combining the vision of operators and management, the researcher, and analysed documentation and observation. The assessment focuses on the bigger picture; not the height of the PD performance, but the how well the current situation is functioning regarding the ideal situation. Important to mention is the fact that most information is subjective. This subjectivity cannot be eliminated, but when the researched subject is investigated from different angles, the result becomes more credible.
3.4.2 Level of analysis
The system can also be defined on different aggregation levels. Maintenance Strategy and Work Design are a combination of people and technology. These two aspects are often interrelated. At such a point, it is hard to distinguish them. Therefore, Trist (in Fox, 1995) suggests defining the level on which the system is analysed in order to clarify the differences. The choice to include both the workers and management influences the level of analysis. Trist (in Fox, 1995) draws further on the theory of systems to combine this with socio-technical systems. He identified three levels of analysis. Fist the Primary Work System. This system is related to the set of activities that make a functioning whole in a bounded subsystem in an organization. It can have a number of groups along with support, specialist, middle management and the corresponding equipment and resources. The best and most efficient Primary Work System consists of the smallest possible number of people that can perform a whole task. At the same time the needs of the system members need to be fulfilled. The Whole Organization System consists of a plant or equivalent workplace. Lastly, the Macro social System comprises multiple organization systems.
4. IDEAL SITUATION
The choice of a situation where Strategy-Structure-Performance is optimal started with the definition of Service Level as the order-winning objective (performance). The next step is the finding a corresponding Strategy (maintenance) and Structure (Work Design).
What can be considered as an ideal Maintenance Strategy and Work Design at the PD to maximize the performance? That is the question answered in this paragraph. The answer will be based on the combination of theory on the subject of maintenance and Work Design, and the set criteria. The most important criteria are related to the PD performance; both the order winning and order-qualifying objective determine the PD performance. Therefore, the Maintenance Strategy and Work Design need to support these objectives. Other important criteria are the contingent factors of the External Environment and the current Infrastructure. The ideal situation is an SSP model, where strategy (maintenance), structure (Work Design) and performance are related. This relation is moderated by the contingent factors. The search starts with describing the aspects of a Maintenance Strategy and the relation to Work Design and performance.
4.1 Selecting the right strategy and Work Design
A Maintenance Strategy has generally three dimensions (Swanson, 2001): Maintenance technique, Maintenance organization and maintenance reach. The decision which strategy to use will therefore also have influence on the organization, which is part of the Work Design. According to Nasurdin et al (2005), maintenance practices have an influence on the characteristics of Work Design. Hence, the selection of a strategy and Work Design is best started with the right strategy. The first element of a Maintenance Strategy is the used technique.
4.1.1 Maintenance Technique
information. These are all-including strategies to reach better performance. The concepts are called Total Productive Maintenance (hereafter: TPM) and Effectiveness Centred Maintenance (hereafter: ECM).
4.1.2 Order-winning objectives and strategy
4.2 TPM in theory
Total Productive Maintenance as concept of improving productivity has been developed by the Japanese firm Nippondenso Co. Ltd. based on the Preventive Maintenance concept originating in the United States (Chen, 1997). It was rewarded as TPM by the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JPIM) in the beginning of the 1970s. The goal of TPM is somewhat similar to Lean Manufacturing (LM) in the sense that it strives to eliminate loss to increase the performance. The total employee participation in this process is an important aspect of TPM. When implemented in its true form, TPM makes it possible to achieve Zero breakdowns, Zero defects, and Zero accidents. There are two perspectives on TPM (Baber et al in Nasurdin et al., 2005); the Western and Japanese. The original Japanese perspective is based on 5 (sometimes a 6th, related to administrative and office tasks) principles described by Nakajima (as cited in De Ron & Rooda, 2006), founder of the JIPM:
1 TPM aims to get the most efficient use of equipment (equipment effectiveness).
2 TPM establishes a total maintenance system encompassing preventive and improvement related maintenance for the equipment’s entire life span.
3 TPM requires the participation of designers, operators, and maintenance workers. 4 TPM is about involvement of every employee.
5 TPM is based on aggressive Maintenance Strategy focussed on improvements through motivation of management and small group activities and autonomous maintenance.
TPM refers to the relationship between organizational functions. Especially the link between maintenance and production is important in order to continuously improve quality, efficiency, capacity, and safety (Nakajima in De Ron & Rooda, 2006). The western approach to TPM also stretches the importance of the maintenance-production relation, but especially the process improvement trough team activities in order to maximize the output. The Japanese approach is more focussed on people and process, while the Western approach is from the equipment improvement point of view. Here, “the emphasis moves away form maintenance
and teamwork towards equipment maintenance and utilization with operator participation”(Bamber, Sharp et al. 1999). Considering that a TPM implementation will
always be tailored to the situation, the small differences between the two models does not require further discussion. Concluding; Total Productive Maintenance is a structured
effectiveness by eliminating losses throughout the entire system life cycle by team based participation across the hierarchical levels.
4.2.1 TPM and Lean Manufacturing
There are some similarities between TPM and LM. Both originated in the USA and were adapted to the Japanese culture by respectively Seiichi Nakajima and Taiichi Ohno (Dankbaar, 1997; Nasurdin et al., 2005; W. Niepce & Molleman, 1998; Van Dijk, 2009). Since two decades both systems are applied in the western culture. With this adaption, there is often a varying view on what the concepts exactly mean. Although the principles of TPM are not always called the same, the different names are often describing similar concepts.
4.3 The Principles of TPM
The JIPM defines 8 pillars of TPM. The idea is that these pillars are directly based on the 5 key principles as described by Nakajima. There are however some adjustments to be made in order to make the pillars and principles coherent. This is necessary because the original theory, the more commercialized JIPM version of TPM, and other (Western) TPM approaches are not entirely the same. These adjustments and reasoning behind them will first be described. The definitive description of the pillars will be done in the next sub paragraphs. One of the JIPM pillars refers to Administrative and Office tasks. The JIPM advises to use this pillar in order to get even more benefits. It is however not directly influencing the work-floor implementation. Therefore, this pillar is not considered in this research. The last pillar is called Safety, Health & Environment (SHE). The objective is protecting the personnel, which is done by a separate safety committee. For the operators and maintenance personnel, the SHE aspect is limited to actively report dangerous places and jobs. Therefore also this pillar is not directly considered during this part of the research. An important requisite for the principle of Autonomous Maintenance is a clean and organized workplace. This is achieved according to the Japanese LM concept of 5S. The principle of employee involvement is not mentioned in the JIPM pillars, but is important in TPM implementation (Dahlgaard & Dahlgaard-Park, 2006), therefore it is marked is one of the pillars during this research.
4.3.1 Employee involvement
often to make the workplace engaging and motivating. This makes employees wanting to stay and contribute their knowledge, expertise and experience. But what is motivation exactly? It has been identified as being the key decisive factor of general behaviour (Deci & Ryan, 1987), Information Technology (IT) acceptance behaviour (Teo, Lim, & Lai, 1999) work behaviour (Lu, 1999) and knowledge sharing (Osterloh & Frey, 2000). According to Jones & George (2009), it is the psychological forces that determine the direction and persistence of a person’s behaviour. The behaviour direction relates to all the possible actions one can engage in. Persistence refers to the way in which the person deals with resistance.
Everyone is motivated differently, but the responsibility for motivation always lies at three places: the senior manager, the direct manager and the employee self (Lockwood, 2010). Difference in motivation can be seen in its two forms; intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Deci, 1975). Extrinsic (or external) motivation has a focus on goals and the accompanying rewards or benefits. On the contrary, intrinsic (or internal) motivation comes from the pleasure and satisfaction derived from activities (Hsiu-Fen Lin, 2007). Extrinsic motivation to perform a job is based on the employee’s perception of the value associated with job. The employee will, according to the expectancy theory, put in effort only when he beliefs that the value (reward) gained by this effort is higher than the cost. Intrinsic motivation however is about engaging out of interest or for satisfaction or pleasure. These are the positive feelings that people get form their job.
An issue within organizations is the relation between the job and motivation. The Job Characteristics Model presented by Hackman and Oldham (1976), describes the characteristics that a job requires in order to be motivating. The employee involvement, or sometimes called engagement, is a moderating factor in this model. In other words, as each employee has a different perception of the job design, the outcomes will also be different. Therefore it can be conclude that employee involvement is an important factor in the success of a Maintenance Strategy and accompanying job design. A higher involvement or engagement will lead to higher motivation (Thomas, 2000). Engagement reflects the commitment of employees; how hard they work. It is the amount of effort that is put into the job. Engaged employees work with vigour dedication and absorption (Schaufeli, Bakker, & Salanova, 2006).
