Well it's not Rocket Science!

At the end of the day it?s the staff that come up with many ideas, and the Industrial Engineer will have some ideas based on experience. This is in addition to technological changes of course.

In my experience, improvements are not generally new, they are just common sense. The key to improved methods is teamwork, and that is why many companies particularly in manufacturing have introduced Kysan. Similar to the Quality Circle
approach and works well in that it focusses the mind and involves the team. Oh! How much the Public Sector could learn from the Private Sector lead here.

The Theory behind Method Review

S	Select	Select the job for analysis, and keep it simple!
D	Define	Use procedure analysis techniques to qualify "how" (flow charts, etc.) Quantify volumes (how many)
R	Record	Qualify the duration of the existing method. Stopwatch / Lap Timer Electronic boards (e.g. Tectime) PMTS CWD (Commercial Work Data) MTM (Methods Time Measurement)
E	Examine	Use the analysis, and ask the obvious questions for each stage of the process, and quantify each stage. What Why How When Who Where
D	Develop	Use the analysis and ask the next stage of questions What else Why (the more "why's" the better!) How else When else Who else Where else Brainstorming in a group can be beneficial. CWD is particularly useful here in that it highlights each small of an operation (refer to CDW in Warehousing).
I	Install	Needs good teamworking, with open-minded and understanding staff, well trained and prepared to take risks to succeed.
M	Maintain	Regular maintenance ensures that processes are kept efficient.