Fast Cycle Production

 When middle and upper management look at their processes, they most likely look at bottom line reports and presentations by lower level managers. If a machine department isn’t putting out enough product, they (management) usually associate the problem with resources or training. They either need more machines or more people to run them or perhaps they need a better training program. Their bottom line orientation leads them to conclusions that probably won’t work and will certainly not give them quick and permanent results. They just don’t know what they don’t know. You can never know where the solutions really are until you know every little detail of your process because the real truth will stay hidden until it is dug out through analysis. Process mapping and simulation modeling are great tools to get management to understand the real reasons and solutions for their problems.

In a machine oriented process there is a measurement that helps you to understand how well you are performing. The measurement is known as the X-Factor. The letter “X” is a symbol for “Multiply” in this case. The equation is: X = CT/RPT, (RPT = Raw Process Time). CT is the total time from the moment the product is AVAILABLE to the department until the product is available to the next department or distinct process step.  RPT is the defined as the actual amount of machine time needed to produce the product. It does not include time taken to complete setups, load or unload the machine or to deal with machine interventions. It also does not include any quality checks, counting, paperwork or anything else that the operator does that slows the CT. It is simply the time the machine itself needs to complete its job. Queue time in front of and behind the machine counts in the CT, not in the RPT.

To determine the CT, you use Little’s Law (CT=WIP/Output) so that in order to compute the X Factor, don’t try to do it one widget at a time. Look at X Factor over time (Total output daily or hourly). If the total cycle time of the product from input to output is 90 minutes per widget, and the RPT is 30 minutes, you have an X Factor of 3. If that is true, you have an X Factor that is world class. Most likely you will see an X Factor of more than 15 and many times will be 30 or more! That means that your CT is 30 times longer than your RPT!

If your X Factor is high, it is an indication that you have too much NVA in your process. Start looking at how much WIP is at the front and back, and how often you ship your product to your internal customer. If you ship 50 widgets per hour and your X Factor is 30, your CT is much too long. You should look to cut down on WIP, reduce setup times and look for wasteful process steps.

The most important thing to get from this is that just like manual assembly lines and other processes, machine oriented departments can find that they have problems and will often come to the wrong conclusions as to how they should deal with those problems. Employing the correct values and using the proper tools will help you to fix your problems. Technology helps sometimes. Added resources help sometimes. Automation helps sometimes. The only thing that ALWAYS works is process simplification through the elimination of waste and NVA. And to top it off, it’s much cheaper than any of the preceding solutions. Amazing isn’t it?