Be Careful. Be very careful.

I've recently been involved with helping a plant climb out of the Theory
of Constraints Black Hole. No real problem with the theory, just the
practical application. While they were focused on speeding up the
constraint, they took their eye off the rest of the plant. They'd
trained everyone that all that was needed was to produce at the rate of
the constraint.......

The trouble started when they were bought by new owners. Their other
plants were getting a whole lot more parts per man-hour invested (the
real cost driver). The problem was that the workers (and management)
interpreted the theory as encouraging sub optimal labor performance. It
was okay for everyone's productivity to spin down to the lowest common
denominator. (and boy had it!)

Picture a plant with ten process steps, manned by ten operators, with
one process that constrained them to 100 parts a day. Nine operators
were running machines that could process 1000 parts per day, but the ten
operators each processed just 100 parts per day supposedly justified by
the Theory of Constraints. The plant really should have been making 100
parts per day with just 2 operators, one on the constraint, and the
other running nine processes at spot rates of 1000 per day (achieving
the required 900 per day spot rate when you account for travel time).

The constraint is still getting the lion's share of attention, but the
rest of the plant is now set up to really support it effectively. Within
the limits of return on investment, every machine was driven to minimal
cycle time and is now always waiting and ready for an operator. Every
operator works as productively as possible every minute that they can.
Buffers exist in sizes that allow the operators to leave the
unconstrained tasks, and go somewhere else to be productive.

The operational art is fully integrated throughout the company.
·       Goals conform to the conditions of the actual situation.
·       Main efforts are concentrated to achieve the goal at the decisive time
and place.
·       Action upon the entire depth and breadth of the challenge facing the
organization is simultaneous.
·       Efforts are coordinated throughout the organization.
·       Adaptable operations are sustained at a high tempo.
·       Everyone's effectiveness is maintained.
·       Individual events form a mesh of linked actions within the context of
achieving the objective.

Machine utilization may be only important for the constraint, but in
this case labor utilization is important everywhere. Effectively
decoupling process steps, and rapidly shifting labor to the point of
action is now making them lots of money.

Andy Magee - Flex Guru
Senior Consultant, Bourton Group
[log in to unmask]
(937) 435-3629

The Bourton Group (formerly Ingersoll Engineers) specializes in the
design
and implementation of strategic manufacturing initiatives. We typically
work 'hands on' at all levels from the boardroom to the factory floor
and produce 'real world' (not just textbook) solutions.

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