Plano, TX -- (SBWire) -- 02/12/2013 --Finding the true bottleneck means bringing Lean to the constraints reports the current issue of Quality Digest. Recently, the idea of synthesizing lean and ToC was used by a tier one automotive supplier to achieve two goals: Provide better clarity and focus by identifying true constraints, and spend less time collecting data and more time solving problems. During this project, weekly kaizen events were chosen based on these goals. By measuring the identified constraints before and after focused kaizen events, the true value of the method was quickly revealed.
Almost immediately, constraints on one line that had remained unidentified even after a year and a half of lean initiatives were now completely visible. The constraints-based system proved that resources were being misdirected toward downtime issues that had no direct bearing on throughput. Using ToC to identify the greatest non value-added constraint and then applying lean techniques to resolve it is dramatically more effective.
Before combining ToC and lean, the supplier had been focusing on maintenance downtime, since there had been numerous complaints from the operations team about the skill and work ethics of the maintenance team. Ed Kincer, Pinnacle Strategies’ theory of constraints, lean manufacturing, and Six Sigma expert, trained one experienced operator to monitor and record observations while another ran the two machines as stipulated in the company’s standardized work documentation. After observing the process, it became clear that the particular set of the two machines, not the maintenance crew, was the constraint. The machines ran in tandem and created waste from extra setup time and by performing the same operation.
About Pinnalce Strategies
Pinnacle Strategies (http://www.pinnacle-strategies.com) is an international management consulting firm delivering operations management excellence. Pinnacle Strategies increases shareholder value by developing high-performance business processes that significantly enhance productivity, reduce costs and time to market, improving profitability and accelerating sustainable growth.
Pinnacle Strategies is also the developer of ViewPoint a service that dramatically simplifies managing projects, enabling project teams to rapidly improve project performance. The RABIT methodology is a proprietary approach that is concentrated on implementing quick response solutions with rapid results. The RABIT methodology culminates years of practical experience and expertise in continuous improvement; it consistently delivers dramatic increases in process output to deliver solutions to industrial and manufacturing firms worldwide. Pinnacle Strategies offers results-driven consulting solutions in the areas of performance management, project management, operations management, and supply chain.
Pinnacle Strategies
www.pinnacle-strategies.com
Annette Hamilton, Director of Marketing
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972.492.7951
Ed Kincer of Pinnacle Strategies Helps Find the True Bottlenecks Reports Quality Digest
Ed Kincer of Pinnacle Strategies Helps Find the True Bottlenecks Reports Quality Digest