Ryan:

I agree with your commentary! I read THE GOAL and, besides the sub-plot of
the manufacturing manager having problems at home due to working overtime to
solve his manufacturing problems, it is a very good book.

Instead of "constraints" though, the book discussed as I recall the theory
of the MOVING BOTTLENECK. Bottom line, no matter how much capacity was added
in one level of manufacturing, the bottleneck (read: constraint) simply
moved to the next level of weakness. The "GOAL" was to balance the weakness
with the manufacturing demand and still be profitable.

Just my mini-review of the book. This falls in line with the DEMMING
PRINCIPALS as well in mu opinion.

Charlie McMahon
[log in to unmask]

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Ryan Grant <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2000 4:22 PM
Subject: Re: [TN] Theory of Constraints


> Ralph,
>         Theory of Constraints is now one of the courses most industrial
> engineering programs and even some manufacturing engineering programs
> require.  As I have been told, it is an idea that Henry Ford started,
later
> refined by Edward Demming, and perfected by Toyota.
>
>         The theory can get quite in-depth, but in a nutshell, it is the
idea
> of determining your slowest step or process on the manufacturing line;
> otherwise known as the constraint.  Since nothing can move through the
> constraint any faster than the constraint, it makes no sense to produce
> things at the other steps faster than the constraint.  If you want to
> manufacture things faster than the constraint allows, then speed up the
> constraint.
>
>         Many people really have a BIG problem with slowing down other
> processes to match the speed of the constraint.  (It's at this point that
I
> start to argue with people).  No matter how fast things are built at other
> points in the process, once it gets to the constraint, the speed by which
it
> is processed is fixed.  No matter what!!!!.  Building things faster at
other
> points in the process will never make it go through the constraint any
> faster.  Since by definition, it must go through the constraint.
>
>         However, finding the constraint is the hard part.  Most people try
> to do it with a stop watch.  I don't feel that a stop watch works at all;
> mostly because I have never seen a static manufacturing line.  Typically,
> manufacturing lines are dynamic, causing a constraint to move from one
hour
> to the next.  Statistically, a constraint will occur is one process more
> often than any other place.  It is because manufacturing lines are dynamic
> that a constraint is not obvious, consequently, people don't see the value
> in slowing down a process for some "phantom" constraint.
>
> Good luck
> Ryan G.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Vaughan, Ralph H [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Monday, January 24, 2000 9:23 AM
> > To:   [log in to unmask]
> > Subject:      [TN] Theory of Constraints
> >
> > 'mornin' T-net,
> >
> > I perusing the want-ads lately, I ran across a manufacturing engineering
> > job
> > that was looking for familiarity with the 'Theory of Constraints'.  I
have
> > asked around in mechanical design, design of experiments, and quality
> > groups, but no one seems to have ever heard of this.  So now I resort to
> > this know-all, see all, do-just-about-all  brain trust.  Anybody heard
of
> > this?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Ralph Vaughan
> >
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