Question

(From "The Goal" by Eliyahu M. Goldratt)

How did they "Break Bottlenecks" at the plant? Give at least five SPECIFIC examples.

Answer 1

Breaking the bottleneck from your operation permanently.  elevating solutions are generally immediate and low cost, while eliminating solutions generally require redesigning your value stream and possibly capital investments.

The most obvious solution is to buy more equipment and capacity for the bottleneck operation, but this really should be the last option as there are often ways to "engineer the bottleneck out" without capital spending. These include:

• Completely redesign the process from scratch. Often our processes started out simple but over time more and more "bloat" was added to them, making them inefficient. Be willing to start from scratch, and re-evaluate the layout and steps of the process.

• Minimize downtime for tool and die change-over, or to setup a work station. This is one of the biggest wastes found in job shops as you are constantly switching your setups between jobs.  Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED), flexible work stations, other systems that speed up the change-over process are often enough to eliminate a bottleneck.

• Material handling is another huge waste. Add conveyors, overhead cranes, lifting devices, and anything else that will speed up material handling both internal and external to the constraint.

• Break apart the process into multiple processes with a shorter process time, so it is no longer a bottleneck. For example, if a worker is required to debur parts coming off a CNC machine, transfer that responsibility to the next step in the process if that is not a bottleneck. This is also very applicable to office functions, where you can remove some of work from one overworked person and transfer it to another.

• Organize parts, raw material, and information going into the process in a manner that makes it easier to consume. For example, if an assembly process is slowing you down, deliver all the parts to this station, stacked in the order they are needed, and remove any packaging that might slow them down.

• Add or reassign someone to be a dedicated material handler for the bottleneck.

• Equipment downtime is another common constraint. Institute a Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program, focused mainly on your constraints. This can bring your equipment up to "like-new" status, and keep it that way.

• For an office function, go through every single report and piece of paperwork they do. Anything non-essential get shifted to another functional area, or ended outright. Office functions often "collect" reports or paperwork that are time consuming, yet no one really needs or uses the data.

• For drafting functions, try reuse as many drawings as possible, and only render what the shop actually needs. Many drawing packets end up with numerous drawings that aren't useful to the shop floor, simply because no one asked.

• Probably the most difficult bottleneck to overcome is the labor market; you simply cannot find enough qualified people in your immediate area. Automation is usually not a viable solution due to the nature of job shops. Higher wages can attract more labor (assuming they don't price your company out of your market), but often the problem is not the quantity of labor but the skills available in your labor pool. One solution is to "dumb-down" processes so the skills needed are minimized. However, ultimately you may end up having to institute an extensive training program or even an internal school to "build" your ideal employee from the existing candidate pool.

Examples of such companies:

a. Redbox: Space and staffout,profit in

b. Bonobos:Paints to shopping

c. Hyundai:Anti-anxiety, pro - spending

d. Holganix: Fertile ground for growth

Reasons for Break Bottlenecks:

a. Eliminating expense

b. Overcoming customer's psychological barriers

c. Winning heart & minds

d. Eliminating negative externalities.