What is the Productivity Cycle?

Society has prepared people as a cultural factor to believe that the more time is dedicated to an activity or work, the better it is. To better analyze this, it is necessary to understand the productivity cycle.

Sometimes some people don't spend enough time on core activities instead They waste part of their time on trivialities or tasks that are very loosely related to the center of the affair.

The productivity implies the optimization of productive process, beyond the time spent in the process, this optimization is given by the comparison between the amount of resources used and the volume of goods and services produced. Frequently the term productivity is confused with production itself, there are people who think that the higher the production, the higher the productivity.

Therefore we begin by clarifyingWhat is production? Which is understood as the activity of producing a good or service. YWhat is productivity? What refers to the production that is carried out by using effective and efficient of the resources available in the process.

Productivity cycle

The perception of productivity cycle shows us that its optimization and improvement must be preceded by methods of measurement, evaluation and planning. Four stages that are very important to reach an adequate level of productivity and development.

This cycle also establishes the nature of the process in productivity.

What is the productivity cycle? In simple words, it can be said that it is the administrative process that perceives and achieves productivity in 4 phases, in order to reduce total product costs per unit and increase total productivity.

Productivity measurement

Whenever any productivity program is started, it must be measured. The interest of measure productivity It is given by the need to obtain an indicator concerning the effectiveness with which the company has used the resources within the process and complying with the expected results.

Said measurement is based on thedata register, under certain circumstances and can be:

• Utility: Reflects the importance of decision making.
• Accuracy: Reflects the dimension of the event to be analyzed.
• Opportunity: It refers to decision making, before an unwanted event or anomaly.
• Reliability: Periodic review of the entire production measurement system in the company.
• Economy: It is given by the existing proportionality between the different costs incurred in the measurement.

Productivity assessment

After the productive levels have been measured, we proceed to evaluate and compare with previously planned values.

The evaluation phase constitutes a transitory stage to arrive at planning, so its importance within companies is evident.

After observing and understanding what is happening, it is evaluated. Any deviation from the described procedure becomes uncertain and must be assessed in detail.

Productivity planning

It is the phase where a action plan to achieve certain short-term and long-term goals.

This planning takes care of instituting the levels as a goal, in total and / or partial productivity, so that they can be used as a point of comparison in the second stage (evaluation of the productivity cycle) and in the same way serve as a basis for drawing improvement strategies, in the last stage (improvement) of the cycle.

This planning can be:

• In the short term: When the time limit to reach the goal is less than a year, such planning is adequate to establish goals in productivity levels, for For example, when certain productivity indices are established, either total or partial, for periods of a week, a month, a quarter or a semester.
• Long-term: When the time limit for planning productivity levels goes beyond one year. The usual time in these cases can range from 3 to 15 years. It is ideal as a strategic planning tool. It can be used, for example, integrated into the market penetration, product diversification and in the operational capacity plan.

To develop a plan, different processes must be developed linked to:

• The scope: Point where the scope of the activities and tasks must be defined, in order for the project to conclude and be delivered according to what is specified.
• The Times: In this phase the schedule with activities, sequences and progress of the project.
• Costs: Here the use of resources is planned, approximate costs are estimated and a budget is prepared.
• Human Resources: At this point, workers are identified and assigned to participate in the project and their due responsibilities within the project.

Productivity improvement

Continuous improvements are implemented with the intention that goals are achieved. The productivity cycle it will allow us to achieve its improvement.

A cycle is not a single application project, it is a continuous and constant program.

Actions are established that anticipate a probable cause and seek to eliminate it before its existence. That is, in this phase the causes of a possible deviation are identified and some measures are proposed corrective measures, which is possible by monitoring the actions planned within the process of productivity.