Design work systems and hotplate manufacturing case study

¶ … Hotplates Case Study

What changes in the work situation might account for the increase in productivity and the decrease in controllable rejects? Changes in the redesign and distribution of workflow and increase in work responsibility of the employees accounted for both an increase in productivity and the resultant decrease in controllable defects. This redesign looked at the way the hotplate was being constructed, and then allowed workers to assemble a unit of the product instead of a simple part again and again. The workers then felt more empowered, that they had ownership in the final product, and were more likely to take responsibility for appropriate and expert construction. By giving the employees more responsibility, they then were also more accountable and felt more pride in their work.

Gaining ownership and more pride in the work was also the result of a change in psychology for the employee and managers. The employee was treated more as an important part of the process -- an individual creating a hot plate instead of just a cog in a large machine. The employees took this to heart and since they had a personal stamp on the project, were more careful and had a better sense of how their actions affected the entire company. They moved from an assembly line mentality to a shared work attitude, with the quality of the product being a sense of personal responsibility. Rejects declined because the hotplate, the product, was theirs -- making it important to be precise, accurate, and hold quality control as a core value.

Part 2 - What might account for the drop in absenteeism and the increase in morale? Clearly, the change in overall attitude and responsibility changed the way that management perceived workers and workers perceived the company. Because employees had more responsibility and were treated as important individuals, they had more impetus to be a part of the company and not be absent from work. Indeed, because they took personal pride in their output, they felt that they needed to be at work to complete their tasks because it was THEIR task. By increasing ownership of the product, management increased the attitude of partial ownership in the organization. Employees felt more challenged, more valuable, with a direct input on profit (Walter, 2011).

Part 3 - What were the major changes in the situation? Which changes were under the control of the manager? Which were controlled by workers? Attitude and responsibility were the major changes in the overall case study -- the belief that an individual worker had control and responsibility of their output. Management controlled specifications and statistics, but quality was directly the responsibility of the employee. The employee then rose to the challenge and improved both time and quality efficiencies.