ISO 9000 series standard have defined efficiency and productivity very similarly (LST EN ISO 9000:2001). Output is the result achieved and input is the resources used. Therefore it could seem that the same subject has different titles.
Actually there is no single accepted view about these terms. Usually effectiveness is described as “doing the right things”, while efficiency means “doing things right” (Sink, 1989). Efficiency is strongly linked to the utilization of resources and it mainly influences the input of the productivity ratio. This means that efficiency in manufacturing can be seen as the minimum resource level that is theoretically required to run the desired operations in a given system, compared to how much resources are actually used. The efficiency ratio is rather simple to measure, whether it is based on time, money or something other.