Productivity Measurement and Improvements: A Theoretical Model and Applications from the Manufacturing Industry

Abstract : At many companies, workers associate productivity or efficiency increase with something negative, it is interpreted as an increase in speed and the “sweat factor”. Productivity is not only made up of the speed factor, but these misconceptions and lack of knowledge tend to put “a wet blanket” on all attempts to increase productivity. It is therefore important to clarify what productivity is and especially how it can be improved.In general, the productivity at shop-floor level can be improved through improving the method, increasing the performance, and increasing the utilization. The design of the products and the amount of scraped products also affects the productivity in both manual tasks as well as work performed by machines. These aspects of productivity will be elaborated in the theoretical model and the industrial applications presented in this article.