01
Practice area
Throughput, flow and constraint removal
The plant is busy, the schedule slips, and nobody agrees on where the constraint actually sits.
What the work is
We work on the physics of the production system: where work queues, why it queues, and what changes when the constraint moves. The objective is a shop that can state its true capacity and defend a promise date.
Conditions we hear first
- 01Promise dates are set by negotiation rather than by capacity
- 02Overtime rises without a matching rise in shipped volume
- 03Work-in-process accumulates in front of the same cells every week
- 04Changeover time is treated as fixed rather than as a design variable
How it is done
Observation
Time on the floor across shifts, following real orders rather than routings on paper. Cycle, queue, changeover and interruption behaviour are recorded as observed, not as standard.
Constraint analysis
Load and capacity are reconciled at the resource that limits the system. Where the data required does not exist, we say so and design the smallest measurement that would settle the question.
Sequencing
Changes are ordered by what the constraint responds to first, and scheduling discipline and setup reduction usually precede capital.
Engagement form
Typically a scoped diagnostic on one value stream, followed by implementation support alongside the plant's own team.
Scope, duration and fees are agreed per engagement after the framing conversation. We do not publish fixed prices for work that has not been scoped, and we do not guarantee financial or operational outcomes.