|
The
Newsletter of Lean Manufacturing Strategy
8 January 2007
www.strategosinc.com
A Systems View of Scheduling
Or Creating Chaos From Thin
Air
Disorder, confusion, chaos--
all too common descriptors for activities on
the plant floor. People normally attribute this to causes
such as:
-
Lack of Discipline
-
Inadequate Training
-
Poor Processes
|
-
Bad Layout
-
Poor Attitudes
-
Etc., etc., etc.,....
|
While the above factors would aggravate
any situation, the root cause is often
systemic, i.e., the design of the process and
scheduling system.
Manufacturing processes and scheduling are
in a class of systems that, under certain conditions, are
inherently unstable and/or unpredictable
even without external
perturbations. Such systems generate their own instability. When overlaid with the usual
random factors (above) it is difficult to identify the true sources of
resulting problems.
Therefore, it is vital to understand the
origins of this self-generating instability and
minimize it. Some solutions involving complex
arrangements, time delays, batching, non-linearity and amplification
actually exacerbate the problem.
Our new web pages on
A Systems
View of Scheduling address this. They derive
from our training program on Strategic Scheduling
and Kanban
as well as my latest book (soon available) on Kanban. They explain why
Kanban works so well. This theory provides a foundation for designing
and implementing an effective Lean Scheduling
Strategy.
I find these ideas fascinating and useful
and I hope you do so as well.
Best Regards,
Quarterman
Lee
qlee@strategosinc.com
You
may forward Lean Briefing to colleagues or use it in your publication.
Please do so in its entirety.
(c) 2004 Strategos, Inc.
|
