{"id":10313,"date":"2012-05-01T05:35:01","date_gmt":"2012-05-01T11:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/?p=10313"},"modified":"2013-08-13T20:52:28","modified_gmt":"2013-08-14T01:52:28","slug":"the-weakest-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/the-weakest-link\/10313\/","title":{"rendered":"Line Balancing Example and Theory of Constraints"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a296a24fa2fc69ef5487857f02f111e8\" data-index=\"9\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Single Post readerboard -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8207522353004717\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1144967431\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Pete&#8217;s Note<\/strong>: We&#8217;re pleased to have Gary Netherton provide a guest post for us today. In this post, he shares a dialogue between operators around how to balance a line, which inevitably leads to an educational lesson on the Theory of Constraints, and methods for line balancing such as reducing cycle time, doubling, and moving work elements. He shares a line balancing example with application in the theory of constraints.<\/p>\n<p>Enjoy his post and learn more about Gary after the article.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Ever have processes that need fixed but the team seems to have their own ideas about which processes need fixed first?\u00a0 As a result, you end up fixing\u009d problems that seem to create problems elsewhere.\u00a0 It seems that you end up right where you started.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>How did you manage to do that?\u009d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It is actually pretty simple.\u00a0 You don&#8217;t choose your best target for improvement.\u00a0 Or, as Eliyahu Goldratt would say, you don&#8217;t identify and attack your constraint.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>How do you do that?\u009d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Well, that is actually pretty simple, too . . . \u00a0if you take the time to do it correctly.\u00a0 This often means more than walking the floor and looking for a buildup of inventory between operations (though that is a very good start).\u00a0 One of the best ways to start is by <a title=\"process mapping\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/process-bloat-a-hidden-indigestion\/1322\/\">mapping the process<\/a>.\u00a0 Some might suggest a <a title=\"value stream map symbols\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/value-stream-map-symbols\/8984\/\">value stream map<\/a> while others may say a process flow diagram will suffice.\u00a0 Either is a good option, but I recommend choosing the one that works for you.<\/p>\n<p>After you have a picture of what your process looks like, pull out the old stopwatch.\u00a0 Take about 10 cycle time measurements for each operation that you&#8217;ve identified on your flow diagram.\u00a0 When you are done, average them out and create a Pareto diagram of the operations.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The first, tallest bar on your diagram is your constraint.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Complete a detailed review of that operation.\u00a0 Look for opportunities to <em>speed it up<\/em> or <em>pass off some of its activities to another operation<\/em> (that&#8217;s called line balancing\u009d . . . an important part of eliminating constraints).\u00a0 The idea is to either speed up that operation (if possible) or to share\u009d part of that operations activities with other operations.\u00a0 In the end, the goal is for all of the operations to take about the same amount of time (except the last one . . . it should be your fastest).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>But what if I can&#8217;t speed it up OR share with other operations?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Well, there is one more option, but this is a last resort.\u00a0 In the event that an all-encompassing operation cannot be split up or sped up  like, for example, some kind of functional test  you might need to consider doubling that operation.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Doubling?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Yes, doubling the operation is the equivalent of putting a fork in the river.\u00a0 Operation C\u009d can either feed station D-1\u009d or D-2\u009d, whichever is free.\u00a0 By having two D\u009d stations, you essentially reduce the overall cycle time of that operation.\u00a0 Then either of the D\u009d stations can feed the next operation.\u00a0 Granted, this operation may be a bit capital-intensive, but it can pay for itself in increased productivity if done correctly.<\/p>\n<p>Using the <a title=\"theory of constraints, bottleneck\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/the-theory-of-constraints-the-fundamentals\/2632\/\">Theory of Constraints<\/a>  the equivalent of a chain is as strong as its weakest link  the team can attack items in a sensible order.\u00a0 And once that is complete, the cycle can start all over again (like <a title=\"plan do check act, pdca\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/lean-six-sigma-plan-do-check-act-pdca-and-a3\/2881\/\">PDCA<\/a>).\u00a0 Restudy, re-graph, and research the weakest link (slowest operation).\u00a0 Attack that constraint and watch as the team starts to see improvements.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-10135\" title=\"gary-netherton-quality-professional\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/gary-netherton-quality-professional.jpg\" width=\"150\" height=\"151\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/gary-netherton-quality-professional.jpg 214w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/gary-netherton-quality-professional-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/gary-netherton-quality-professional-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/gary-netherton-quality-professional-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>Gary Netherton is a multi-certified quality professional with project management experience in leading quality and manufacturing efforts from product and product launch to problem-solving using Six Sigma, PDCA, and other quality tools. His expertise is advanced product quality planning as well as data collection and analysis. He currently reside and work near the Seattle area of Washington.<\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pete&#8217;s Note: We&#8217;re pleased to have Gary Netherton provide a guest post for us today. In this post, he shares a dialogue between operators around how to balance a line, which inevitably leads to an educational lesson on the Theory of Constraints, and methods for line balancing such as reducing cycle time, doubling, and moving [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12327,"featured_media":10314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Weakest Link: A Line 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