ABSTRACT
Production is a network of processes and operations. To make fundamental improvement in the production process, people must distinguish product flow from work flow and analyze them separately. Process analysis examines the flow of material or product; operation analysis examines the work performed on products by worker and machine. Consider a typical product, a shaft cut on a lathe, for example: The shaft is drilled, then rough cut and finally finished. All production, whether carried out in the factory or the office, must be understood as a functional network of process and operation. Processes transform materials into products. Operations are the actions that accomplish those transformations. These fundamental concepts and their relationship must be understood in order to make effective improvements in production.
