STUDENTS' CORNER - 69

Another objective of production planning is providing better work environment.

All business men know that the success of a business depends on the production and the production in turn depends on the workers’ efficiency.  It is clearly understood by all business men that unless the work environment is comfortable and convenient to the workers, the production will not be at the level it should be.

Men and machines make the most significant part of the work environment; however, performance of men and machines becomes less effective if the workspace is not conducive to the work.

The structural aspects of the workspace include safe passageways, adequate lighting, healthy indoor air quality and tidiness of the workplace and the surroundings. Standard structural parts assure the workers physical safety which gives psychological comfort; both the features are vital for an efficient performance.

All equipments, tools and other work-related machinery must be in working order; any lapses in maintaining the tools and work machinery in proper order will ultimately affect the business; poor maintenance of the machinery will end up in poor performance; poor performance will end up in poor profit which in turn may lead to downsizing the company by removing the poor workforce. All these unpleasant results could be avoided just by strict maintenance of the machines and tools thereby facilitating better and optimum performance of the workforce.

Attention to the safety of a worker forms a basic aspect of the work environment. If there is a task of lifting heavy machines or tools, proper workstations must be provided so as to enable a worker to accomplish the task without injury to his arms and legs. In fact, the workers assigned with the task of lifting heavy machines must be guided and given training too so that the task is completed with ease and safety.

Orderliness and tidiness improve the workplace environment. Every tool must find a place for it; every machine must find a proper place for it. The proper arrangement of the tools and machines ensures that there will be no accidents on the spot. ‘A place for a thing and a thing for a place’ is a proven management strategy to utilize the place at a maximum level without wrongly affecting the ambience of the place. A neat place makes a worker comfortable and happy and therefore his productivity is not affected.

Production planning aims at effective production with an efficient workforce. And to achieve maximum advantage of production planning presupposes standard quality of workplace. Thus obtaining a proper work environment becomes an integral part of standard production planning.

In our next session, we shall consider the importance of quality improvement as a significant component of production planning.