Most people’s approach to increasing production is to “identify ” the constraint. I believe there is a better approach. My approach is to look at the process and decide “where” you want the constraint. Once you shift your perspective to this method, your approach becomes proactive as opposed to a reactive. In a proactive approach, […]
Category Archives: Blog
Maximizing Thruput: The Myth of Efficiency
Efficiency improvement feels like a good thing. I mean it makes sense, doesn’t it? If we can make something more efficient, it stands to reason that it should improve the process. Not always. I propose that in most cases increases in efficiency will be of little benefit, if any, to the overall process. In fact, […]
Maximizing Thruput: Perspective and Airplanes
How would you like to have all your machines run at 100% efficiency? It would be great, would it not? However, how would like to be responsible for making all of your machines run at 100% efficiency? You see, machines just don’t run at 100%. Airplanes, for example, with all their redundant backup systems still […]
Maximizing Thruput: Buffers!
The reason we put buffers into a system is to protect the constraint from the malfunctions of other machines. The last thing we want to do is to add downtime to the system caused by the buffers. That would defeat their whole purpose and render them useless. Buffers should be extremely simple in design principle. […]
Maximizing Thruput: Protect It
After the constraint has been chosen, or identified, the next step is to protect it. But, protect it from what? What you must protect the constraint from is the effect of malfunctions on machines that are non-constraints. You see, in a close-coupled system, anytime a non-constraint shuts down it immediately shuts down the constraint. This […]
Maximizing Thruput: Finding the Constraint in the Data
Finding the constraint is simple once the preliminary data previously discussed has been analyzed. You simply look for that operation which has the lowest net output. That net output is now going to be the lines potential thruput. 100% thruput will be whatever the constraint’s net output is. At this point, we have developed a […]
Maximizing Thruput: Example Calculations
Until now, we have been discussing the background on thruput and what you need to know to find it. Let’s take a look at a couple real world examples: Here is an example of how to calculate the POR or Probability of Run. If you think about the logic of the formula you will see […]
Maximizing Thruput: What You Need to Know
It is really simple. If you know: The maximum RATE of the machine The average length of time a machine is down (MTR) How many times per hour or shift it goes down (MTBF) You have everything you need! Remember, it does not need to be exact. There are checks built into the system […]
Maximizing Thruput: Find It (Existing Line)
The analysis of the line is a fairly simple process, which will do the following: Identify the constraint Identify strategic buffer locations Identify the optimum capacity for the buffers Verify that there is sufficient rate capacity of the non-constraints Predict the effect on overall thruput Determine efficiency thresholds for each machine The collection of the […]
Maximizing Thruput: The Theory of Constraints Is Not a Theory Anymore
Welcome to installment number 2 of the Maximizing Thruput Series: The Theory of Constraints Is Not a Theory Anymore. What is the Theory of Constraints? This theory was put forth by Eli Goldratt in the early 80’s in a book called The Goal. I highly recommend it. It is an easy read and does a good […]