In my previous post about checking your assumptions, I talked about the rules and requirements about your process. The supply chain is no different. After all, rules are made, boundary conditions established around how you deal with your suppliers. Therefore, you should also look at your supply chain policies to find possibilities to increase output – …
Reconsider Your Rules on Materials and Suppliers Read More »
To increase output, whether in a disaster or in everyday pressures, you must challenge your assumptions to find solutions. Usually, the solution is not obvious (otherwise, it would have been implemented, right?), so you have to dig deeper. Challenging assumptions helps us see where we can change the process. There is still more to get out …
The more contractors or departments involved in a project, the more chances for variation and, often, more confusion. There is always the opportunity for misalignment and miscommunication. The larger the organization, the more opportunity for missing cues on priorities and direction. For the process owner, the challenge is to align a team to drive progress towards …
Manage and Align Performance by Applying Uniform Standards Read More »
To increase output, whether in a disaster or in everyday pressures, you must challenge your assumptions to find solutions. Usually, the solution is not obvious (otherwise, it would have been implemented, right?), so you have to dig deeper. Challenging assumptions helps us see where we can change the process. There is still more to get out …
What if you can’t simply reallocate resources to maximize flow because the constraint is the process or a machine itself? Sometimes it takes a little more creativity to identify how to exploit the constraint (the drum), but just because a machine is the constraint does not mean the fix is more expensive equipment. The key to …
Knowing what (and where) the drum is for your process does not mean that you should run out and buy more capacity to fix it. In my previous blog post, I discussed that before you react to an increase of demand and making any changes in the process, you first need to analyze the process and …
What is the first thing to do to increase output when you need more, yesterday? Often, when output needs to increase, we learn that this heightened sense of urgency creates rushed decisions and frantic behavior. This leads to the obvious and time-tested band-ads: adding another shift, throwing overtime at the problem or buying another machine. As …
Make the Invisible Visible – Look for “The Drum” Read More »
The process helped BP save more than $200 million by identifying key measurements and planning the bottleneck into the operation.
Last week, I did an interview with Joe Dager of Business 901 on the topic of the integration of Theory of Constraints with Lean and Six Sigma. We discuss how it all fits together and the biggest problem facing managers who want to implement a continuous improvement program.
Well, maybe you won’t double them, maybe you’ll do better! Many organizations struggle with their continuous improvement (CI) efforts; achieving real bottom line results, whether in cost savings or increased revenues, has proven to be difficult. In spite of the widespread implementation of Lean and Six Sigma principles, poor results persist. The TLS process generates 15-20 …
How to Double Your Profits with TLS Theory of Constraints Lean Six Sigma Read More »
