{"id":1254,"date":"2015-01-22T01:18:21","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T06:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=1254"},"modified":"2015-01-22T01:24:18","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T06:24:18","slug":"find-the-constraint-find-the-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/find-the-constraint-find-the-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Find the Constraint… Find the Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"break_constraints\"The question I am asked most often by business owners and students is \u201chow can Lean Six Sigma improve business?\u201d\u00a0 My answer is very simple and always the same–find the constraints… find the money<\/em>.\u00a0 What is keeping product from reaching the customer faster?\u00a0 These are the constraints–find them–remove them–and watch profits soar.\u00a0 It sounds easy, and it is, if you are willing to make the removal of constraints a priority.<\/p>\n

But first, what is a constraint?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The definition is simple: a constraint exists when Cycle Time exceeds Takt Time at any process step.\u00a0 In other words, when the product takes longer to produce than the customer requires.\u00a0 OK, so how do you find the constraints?\u00a0 Walk the process and look for inventory \u2013 that is, work in process.\u00a0 Wherever partially completed product is waiting for further processing, that is where the constraint exists.\u00a0 There are other ways to do this but if you are looking for a quick method that warrants immediate attention, this will suffice.<\/p>\n

Now that you’ve found the constraint(s), what\u2019s next?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Several techniques are available for removing constraints:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Balance the process. Cross train employees so that resources can be moved from low Cycle Time process steps to those exceeding Takt Time.\u00a0 Practically, Cycle Time should be no more than 80% of Takt Time.<\/li>\n
  2. Construct a Value Stream Map, identify the Non Valued Added (NVA) activities and eliminate them.\u00a0 A simple test of value is this: if a process or activity is on the invoice to the customer, then it is Value Added, otherwise it is Non Value Added (NVA).<\/li>\n
  3. Identify Waste in the process using the 7 Wastes Evaluation tool.\u00a0 50-95% of all business activity is Waste \u2013 find it and eliminate it.\u00a0 The 5S Evaluation tool can also be used to assist with identifying waste.<\/li>\n
  4. Identify Waste in the process using the Yamazumi Chart and eliminate it.\u00a0 This involves a little more work but is very precise at identifying Waste.<\/li>\n
  5. Conduct a Setup Reduction (SMED).\u00a0 Setups are NVA and so must be minimized.\u00a0 Move as much work as you can so that it is External to the process.\u00a0 That is, they are performed while the process or application is running (i.e. Before or After)<\/li>\n
  6. Reduce batch size.\u00a0 The smaller the batch size, the faster product will flow.<\/li>\n
  7. Create Standard Work.\u00a0 Be clear on how long each activity should take and then monitor the process and identify process steps exceeding their expected time.<\/li>\n
  8. Use Visual Management.\u00a0 Simple, clear, understandable communication is a challenge in many organizations.\u00a0 Visual Management is a powerful communication tool and can overcome many communication deficiencies.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Constraints in a process are synonymous to rocks in a river \u2013 they inhibit movement, which ultimately adds cost to the organization.\u00a0 The relentless pursuit of removing process constraints is a wise management directive and a profitable one as well.\u00a0 Train all employees in the methods that help identify constraints.\u00a0 Then, reward employees for eliminating constraints.\u00a0 Do this one thing well and business will constantly grow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The question I am asked most often by business owners and students is \u201chow can Lean Six Sigma improve business?\u201d\u00a0 My answer is very simple and always the same–find the constraints… find the money.\u00a0 What is keeping product from reaching the customer faster?\u00a0 These are the constraints–find them–remove them–and watch profits soar.\u00a0 It sounds easy,… Find the Constraint… Find the Money<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[19,665,667,661,663,668,662,664,669,666],"class_list":["post-1254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-operations","tag-5s","tag-7-wastes","tag-conduct-a-setup-reduction","tag-cycle-time","tag-non-value-added","tag-smed","tag-takt-time","tag-value-stream-map","tag-visual-management","tag-yamazumi-chart"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1254"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1256,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254\/revisions\/1256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}