Some may resist combining improvement approaches, preferring to use just one or none at all.
They are experienced and get results they are proud of based on their own philosophy and background.
But mixing the Theory of Constraints and lean is powerful.
Let me explain why.
Prepare yourself to discover:
TLS - TOC + Lean +
6SigmaA Good vs. a Bad approach.
Other ideas to stimulate creativity and performance.
Case Study: The Automotive Mexican Factory 🏜.
Takeaways.
What is TLS?
TLS is a combination of TOC, Lean and Six Sigma.
However, there is Good Lean and Bad Lean.
And there is Good TOC and Bad TOC.
And Good Six Sigma and bad Six Sigma.
Good vs. Bad Lean
There is good and bad Lean.
Good Lean is the "Toyota Way" and Industrial Engineering adapted to the particularities of each company.
Bad Lean too often look like just headcount reduction.
How to go from 12 people to 9 using Japanese words. 🥷
Open vs. Closed TOC
There is open TOC and closed TOC.
Open TOC is powerful.
It is necessary but not sufficient.
And more importantly, it can benefit from other ideas.
Closed TOC is the opposite:
TOC is better than everything else.
TOC is the answer, what is your question.
TOC is the only way.
Good vs. Bad Six Sigma
And finally there is good and bad Six Sigma.
Good Six Sigma is:
to use data/voice of the customer,
reduce variability,
perform design of experiments.
Bad Six Sigma is just a lot of belts, complicated projects, and no results.
Concerning pure, classic, Six Sigma it is not used much anymore. We are tempted to drop it from the TLS "label" for that reason.
We keep it because, in our opinion, Design Of Experiments / Taguchi is a powerful tool.
And that does not fit in either TOC nor Lean.
Also there is the heritage of the (horrendous) belt system (Bad Six Sigma).
What to do then?
Good TLS is good Lean, good Six Sigma and good TOC.
It's as simple as that.
Other ideas
We should go even further and look at all the other good sources of ideas.
Here the ideas we like at Marris Consulting.
Industrial Engineering
The science of work and organizational efficiency. How to create the right layout? how to plan work? how to design work stations? How to integrate machines and human workers?
A lot of techniques and tools exist to improve decision-making and to design better workplaces.
TOC and Lean are powerful frameworks to guide one’s decisions, to know where and when to apply the right tools and techniques. Combined with good industrial engineering, your chance of success are high.
Good Agile
Tom DeMarco’s ideas and books, like Slack. The book complements Goldratt’s Critical Chain and his daughter’s book The Rules of Flow.
The Phenix Project and DevOps are interesting too.
John Ricketts has interesting things to say about Agile and how it compares with TOC’s Critical Chain.
Deming
Deming influenced Japan post WW2. He was a statistician and his work may be seen as the foundation of Lean and Six Sigma.
He wrote extensively about Management and the art of doing business.
His book Out of the Crisis is a must.
Automotive Production: a Blend of Lean Manufacturing and TOC
A case study in Mexico🌮, where we applied the Theory of Constraints (TOC) to address production challenges in one of the world's largest and leanest automotive equipment manufacturers (car alternators).
The Challenge: Enhancing Output in a Lean Giant
Background: The company, despite being a leader in Lean practices, struggled with production output across its entire operation.
They had already sent 10 of their best world managers to the plant to make it work better.
Action Taken: In a move of desperation, they turned to TOC, inviting Marris Consulting to inject its principles into their well-established Lean system.
Identifying and Addressing the Bottleneck
Rapid Bottleneck Diagnostic: Marris’ team quickly identified two and a half of the 20 autonomous production units as bottlenecks.
Focused Intervention: The intervention focused on a U-cell responsible for producing car alternators, operating with about 10 people and churning out 6,000 units daily.
The approach was very targeted thanks to that. Management attention could focus on the rights levers. Lean and Industrial Engineering efforts were focused where it matters the most in the short-term.
Breaking Lean Rules with TOC
The TOC Twist: The key to the dramatic improvement lay in one of the core rules of TOC, applied within a highly Lean-oriented production setting.
Introduction of a Buffer: Unlike Lean's one-piece flow, a small buffer of just a dozen parts was introduced before the bottleneck. This buffer, amounting to three minutes of protection, absorbed micro-stoppages and improved the throughput by 17% in just 15 minutes.
Other actions:
Production 25 hours / 24: breaks, shift changes, lunch breaks, 5-minute stand up…
Implementation of 4 baskets containing about 30 minutes of production before the bottleneck.
Industrial engineering: the teams identified and resolved the frequent micro stoppages (that did not appear in any data before). Improvement of the production process (some of less than half a second but…).
Maintenance priority (preventative and curative).
Etc.
Results and Reflections
Significant Production Increase: Beyond this single change, broader TOC-based interventions led to a 30% increase in production across the 1,000-person factory within months.
The Power of Integration: This case exemplifies how combining TOC with Lean and industrial engineering can yield results, challenging traditional norms and demonstrating that in some scenarios, 'one plus one equals three'.
By the way,
We can do a diagnostic of your operations or projects in only 2 days.
Takeaways:
Good Lean is the "Toyota Way" adapted to the particularities of each company. Bad Lean too often looks like just headcount reduction.
Closed TOC considers that TOC is the answer for every problem before asking what your problem is.
Mix the approaches : TOC and the Lean philosophy for the big picture, Lean tools and industrial engineering for targeted actions.
TOC, Lean, Deming & all have interesting things to say about management philosophy (learning organisations, people are good, system-oriented, etc.).
Focus your action plan on the bottlenecks first.
Break the existing rules if required to improve the bottleneck’s operations.
Subordinate support services to the bottleneck (maintenance, HR, etc.).
Reach out 💌
We would be pleased to get your feedback and start a discussion with you.
Answer this article directly.
We read and answer all your messages 😊
It's time to act,
Etienne Lecerf
Marris Consulting ⏳🔗📈