ASSIGNMENT NO.

3
Q 1) What is environmental management system (EMS)? Explain basic

EMS framework?
Definition:
A set of procedures to reduce our environmental footprint in our day-to-day activities.
Purpose:
The combination of people, policies, procedures, review and plans to help address
environmental issues.
Costs and Benefits of an EMS
Internal

Staff/manager time (represents the bulk of EMS resources expended by most

organizations)
Other employee time

External

Potential consulting assistance

Outside training of personnel
Potential Benefits
Improved environmental performance
Enhanced compliance
Pollution prevention
Resource conservation
New customers/markets
Increased efficiency/reduced costs
Enhanced employee morale
Enhanced image with public, regulators, lenders, investors
Employee awareness of environmental issues and responsibilities

EMS under ISO 14001

Figure 1: The continuous improvement cycle.

An EMS encourages an organization to continuously improve its environmental performance.
The system follows a repeating cycle (see figure 1). The organization first commits to an
environmental policy, then uses its policy as a basis for establishing a plan, which sets
objectives and targets for improving environmental performance. The next step is
implementation. After that, the organization evaluates its environmental performance to see
whether the objectives and targets are being met. If targets are not being met, corrective
action is taken. The results of this evaluation are then reviewed by top management to see if
the EMS is working. Management revisits the environmental policy and sets new targets in a
revised plan. The company then implements the revised plan. The cycle repeats, and
continuous improvement occurs.
The most commonly used framework for an EMS is the one developed by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) for the ISO 14001 standard. Established in 1996, this
framework is the official international standard for an EMS which is based on the Plan-DoCheck-Act methodology.
Basic Framework of EMS:
Plan, do, check, act is the basic framework of environmental management systems.
1. Plan: Planning, identifying environmental aspects and establishing goals.
2. Do: Implementation includes training and operational controls, defining roles and
responsibilities.
3. Check: It includes monitoring, preventive and corrective actions
4. Act: It includes taking action from the above steps.

Q 2) Explain ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 in detail.

ISO stands for International organization for standardization.
It is an international body consists of representatives from more than 90 countries.
The national standard bodies of these countries are the member of this organization.
These are non-governmental organizations and can provide common standards of goods and
services on international trades.
ISO 9000[2]
ISO 9000 series has 5 numbers of international standards on quality management which are
listed below with different objectives.
ISO 9000: Provides guide lines on selection and use of quality management and quality
assurance standards.
ISO 9001: This is applicable for industries doing their own design and development,
production, installation and servicing. It has 20 elements.
ISO 9002: It has 18 elements. It is same as ISO 9001 without the 1sttwo tasks i.e. design and
development.
ISO 9003: It has 12 elements covering final inspection and testing for laboratories and
warehouses.
ISO 9004: This provides guidelines to interpret the quality management and quality
assurance. It also has suggestions which are not mandatory.
Benefits of ISO 9000 Series [2]
1. This gives competitive advantage in the global market.
2. Consistency in quality, as ISO helps in detecting non-conforming early which makes it
possible to rectify.
3. Documentation of quality procedure adds clarity to quality system.
4. It ensures adequate and regular quality training for all members of the organization.
5. It helps in customers to have cost effective purchase procedure.
6. The customers during purchase from firm holding ISO certificate need not spend much on
inspection and testing. This will reduce quality cost and lead time.
7. This will aid to improved morale and involvement of workers.
8. The level of job satisfaction will be more.
9. This will help in increasing productivity.
Steps in ISO 9000 Registration
1. Selection of appropriate standard from ISO 9001/9002/9003 using guidelines given in ISO
9000.
2. Preparation of quality manual to cover all the elements in the selected model.
3. Preparation of procedure and shop floor instruction which are used at the time of
implementing the system. Also document these items.
4. Self-auditing to check compliance of the selected module.
5. Selection of a registrar (an independent body with knowledge and experience to evaluate
any one of the three quality systems i.e. ISO 9001/ 9002/ 9003) and the application is to be
submitted to obtain certificate for the selected quality system/ model.

ISO 14000[1]
ISO 14000 is a series of environmental management standards developed and published by
the International Organization for Standardization for organizations. The ISO 14000
standards provide a guideline or framework for organizations that need to systematize and
improve their environmental management efforts. The ISO 14000 standards are not designed
to aid the enforcement of environmental laws and do not regulate the environmental activities
of organizations. Adherence to these standards is voluntary. The ISO 14001 standard is the
most important standard within the ISO 14000 series. ISO 14001 specifies the requirements
of an environmental management system (EMS) for small to large organizations. An EMS is
a systemic approach to handling environmental issues within an organization.
Benefits of ISO 14000

Try to purchase goods from environment friendly companies.

More Efficient use of resources and raw materials and subsequently reduce a
companys cost
Reduce amount of potentially non-environment friendly practices

Steps in ISO 14000[1]

The ISO 14001 standard is based on the Plan-Check-Do-Review-Improve cycle.
1. The Plan cycle deals with the beginning stages of an organization becoming ISO
14001-compliant.
2. The Check cycle deals with checking and correcting errors.
3. The Do cycle is the implementation and operation of the ISO 14001 standard within
an organization.
4. The Review cycle is a review of the entire process by the organization's top
management.
5. The Improve cycle is a cycle that never ends as an organization continually finds
ways to improve their EMS.
The entire process can take several months to several years depending on the size of the
organization. If an organization is already ISO 9000-certified, the implementation of ISO
14001 does not take as long. When an organization is compliant, they can either register with
a third-party registrar or self-declare their compliance. The ISO 14001 standard is the only
ISO 14000 standard that allows an organization to be registered or "certified. The Technical
Committee (TC) behind ISO 14000 is TC 207.

Q 3) Explain value analysis/value engineering

Value analysis is defined as an organised creative approach, which has its objective, the
efficient identification of unnecessary costcost which provides neither quality nor use nor
life nor appearance nor customer features[3]
It is concerned with the costs added due to inefficient or unnecessary specifications and
features. It makes its contribution in the last stage of product cycle, namely, the maturity
stage. At this stage research and development no longer make positive contributions in terms
of improving the efficiency of the functions of the product or adding new functions to it.
Value is denoted by the ratio between function and cost.
Value= Function/Cost
Characteristics of Value are as follows:
1) Value is a relative term, and value can change with time and place.
2) It can be measured only by comparison with other products which perform the same
function.
3) Value is the relationship between what someone wants and what he is willing to pay
for it.
4) It relates to cost of function whereas others relate cost to product.
Value Analysis Framework
The basic framework for value analysis approach is formed by the following questions, as
given by Lawrence D. Miles[3]:
1. What is the item?
2. What does it do?
3. What does it cost?
4. What else would do the job?
5. What would the alternative cost be?
Value analysis requires these questions to be answered for the successful implementation of
the technique.
Steps in Value Analysis
In order to answer the above questions, three basic steps are necessary:
1. Identifying the function: Any useful product has some primary function which must
be identifieda bulb to give light, a refrigerator to preserve food, etc. In addition it
may have secondary functions such as withstanding shock, etc. These two must be
identified.

2. Evaluation of the function by comparison: Value being a relative term, the comparison
approach must be used to evaluate functions. The basic question is, Does the function
accomplish reliability at the best cost and can be answered only comparison.
3. Develop alternatives: Realistic situations must be faced, objections should overcome
and effective engineering manufacturing and other alternatives must be developed. In
order to develop effective alternatives and identify unnecessary cost the following
thirteen value analysis principles must be used:
1) Avoid generalities.
2) Get all available costs.
3) Use information only from the best source.
4) Brain-storming sessions.
5) Blast, create and refine
6) Identify and overcome road blocks.
7) Use industry specialists to extend specialised knowledge.
8) Key tolerance not to be too light.
9) Utilise the pay for vendors skills techniques.
10) Utilise vendors available functional products.
11) Utilise speciality processes.
12) Utilise applicable standards.
13) Use the criterion Would I spend my money this way?

Q 4)The activities of a project and estimated time in days for each activity
are given below:
Activity
1-2
2-3
2-4
2-5
3-7
4-5
4-7
5-6
6-7

Network Diagram for Given Table

Duration (in Days)

3
4
4
5
4
2
2
3
2

a) Calculate project duration and critical path.

Different Paths
1-2-3-7
1-2-4-7
1-2-5-6-7
1-2-4-5-6-7

Project Duration
11
9
13
14

Critical Path is 1-2-4-5-6-7 and Project Duration is 14 Days

Q 5) For above problem calculate EST,LST,EFT,LFT & Total float, free

float, independent float
The below network diagram for the above problem shows the calculated EST and LFT for
each activity. The calculation is done using the following formula EST is maximum start time
and LFT is minimum finish time.
Calculation of EST, LST, EFT, LFT, Total Float, Free Float and Independent Float.
The formulas applied to get the values are as follows:

EFT= EST + Duration

LST=LFT-Duration
Slack= ABS(EST-LFT)
Total Float= LFT-EST-Duration
Free Float=Total Float-Slack of Head
Independent Float= Free Float-Slack of Tail

The head of an activity is the node to which the arrow is inward and the tail of an activity is
the node to which the arrow is outward or moving away.

Activit
y
1-2
2-3
2-4
2-5
3-7
4-5
4-7
5-6
6-7

Duratio
n (d)
3
4
4
5
4
2
2
3
2

ES
T
0
3
3
3
7
7
7
9
12

LST
0
6
3
4
10
7
12
9
12

LF
EFT T
3
3
7
10
7
7
8
9
11
14
9
9
9
14
12
12
14
14

Slac
Slac k of
k of Hea
Tail d
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

Total
Float
0
3
0
1
3
0
5
0
0

Free
Float
0
0
0
1
3
0
5
0
0

Independ
ent Float
0
0
0
1
0
0
5
0
0

References:
1
2
3
4

Theory and Problems in Production and Operations management by S.Chari. Tata

McGraw-Hill
Operations Management by Mahadevan, Pearson.
Operations Management by S Anil Kumar. New age International
Operations Management by Prof.Kadri. Thakur Publications