Resistance to Change (Here’s HOW to Overcome it using Theory of Constraints)

Check out this new post on the Velocity Scheduling System blog:

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/overcome-resistance-to-change-here%e2%80%99s-how-using-theory-of-constraints/

The Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program is a complete scheduling system for highly custom job shops.  It is a visual system -- NOT software.  Check it out here:  http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/

Live from the eye of the storm (a Theory of Constraints lesson)

"Now let's go live to Suzy who is reporting live from the level 5 hurricane... Suzy, how is it out there?"

"Well Bob, I can barely stand up as I'm getting pelted with hail in 70 mile per hour winds.  I hope you can hear me because I can't see the camera man 2 feet in front of me.  Things are pretty crazy out here; the entire area has been evacuated.  I expect to be completely blown off my feet any minute, so back to you Bob." 

"Thanks Suzy, stay safe out there.  Now, in other news ..."

Have you ever noticed that every network that reports the weather also reports it "live from the eye of the storm"?  I have even seen this live reporting watching the news in China and Thailand too.  I did not understand a thing during the news, except when they were reporting "live from the eye of the storm". 

 

I said to Brad - hey look they're reporting "live from the eye of the storm" here too.  We mused over the way the warm dry newscaster interacts with the reporter that puts their life in danger.  

Well, the week before last I finally heard about a limitation to this kind of live reporting.  Evidently it's nuclear radiation.  Many stations told their reporters to stay at least 50 miles away from the troubled nuclear reactors in Japan.  I was relieved.  

But before they decided to pull back, reporters were right in the thick of things.  It seems to me that if nuclear radiation is where you draw the line, you would know that right from the start.  (NOTE:  they may have had a trigger for pulling the reporters back, I don't know.  It just didn't seem that way.)

Deciding after the fact can be problematic.  You might try to stick with the current approach, policy or plan for too long.  But, if you know what would cause a change of plan, you'll identify the need for the change and then change faster.  

Now I realize that you can't predict everything, but many things can be predicted.  For example, what will you do, how will you handle these situations in your business:

• You lose 25% of you business in 1 day.  (heaven forbid, knock on wood)
• A customer threatens not to pay $750,000 in products or services.
• You get sued.
• You way oversell your capacity.
• You work through your entire backlog (while sales remained constant) because you're using the Velocity Scheduling System or Project Velocity System.
• You're NOT going into the red zone of the buffer anymore which is slowing your ability to continuously improve.  (Remember we expect to go into the red zone of the buffer about 5% of the time so that we can collect those whys and identify our biggest disruption to flow so we can identify our one and only improvement project.)
• And, what's your trigger to go out with your mafia offer - how will you know when your operations are ready?

 What is your list?  You don't have to get crazy, the first 3 I listed above, I hope, are very unlikely to happen to you.  The remaining items, though, may be more probable since they are negatives due to success.  So what things are most likely to happen at some point?  Then starting with the highest probability one, how could you prevent or best deal with each?

 By doing this exercise, you will be improving your systems and processes to protect against any negatives from success and from stagnation.  This will make your company more viable and more able to handle growth.  

In Theory of Constraints (TOC) this is called coming up with your Negative Branch Reservations.  We like to do this NBR analysis whenever we're going to make a change/improvement.  But most of us don't take the time to do this.  In particular, I very rarely see that clients have prepared for their negative branches to SUCCESS.  So basically I'm suggesting you do this now. 

 For example , if you don't know what your trigger is for shortening your buffer, it may not get shortened (or shortened fast enough) and your continuous improvement may be stalled.  But if instead you include in your SOP that when we've had 1 month of 1% or less stuff going into the red zone we are going to shorten our buffer -- now you know, and chances are it will get done and done quickly.  (something we do in the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program -- scheduling for custom job shop)

 I'm just suggesting a little preparation instead of waiting until the reporter's hair is falling out and deciding that you should have pulled out sooner (not that that happened).  

 How many people do you know that did not react fast enough in the 2008-2009 down turn?  How many of those did not live to fight another day?  What are YOU doing to make your company more viable to ensure you can take market share during the next downturn?

 Remember -- hope is not a strategy.  

 Let me know what you think, by leaving a comment on this post.    

Wishing you success.,

Dr Lisa

President, Science of Business

Velocity Scheduling System Named Key Domestic Manufacturing Growth Strategy

Check out this article 5 Strategies for Growing as a Domestic Manufacturer
where the Velocity Scheduling System is named a key strategy for growing domestic manufacturing.

Subject: Theory of Constraints 2 Laws of Leadership (Part 2)

In Part 1 I covered the Theory of Constraints first Law of Leadership -- “Don’t be a sissy!” And I have to admit I was holding my breath as I clicked the send button. I was direct (as I tend to be) and I wasn’t sure what your response would be.
 
It stirred up a lot of response. My heart rate increased as the first responses starting showing up within 10 minutes! Here are just a few of the first responses I received:
 

“Liked this one a lot!”

“I really love this – I talk to “just do it” all the time in my work (it’s in a frame on my desk). Adding “don’t be a sissy” is fantastic.”

“Amen”

“Great mail Lisa!”

“Agreed and amen!!“

So it seems that I have your permission to be direct (except for the few people who unsubscribed).  Now, I want to cover the second Theory of Constraints Law of Leadership – “Just do it!”

So now that you know how not to be a sissy and you’ve decided what you are going to go do. Just do it!

“Just do it” does NOT mean steam rolling your people (but at the same time don’t let THEM be sissies!), it means to focus and get it done NOW.

Use the Theory of Constraints buy-in and “yes, but …” processes to get agreement on what you want to do and why you want to do it. These processes also serve to clarify what exactly you’re going to go do and usually the solution improves in the process.

Then, if you have someone who just doesn’t want to do it -- do it anyway. Ask them if they are willing to try (really try) it. If so, then get on with it. If not, it maybe it’s time to replace that person with someone who is.

Don’t make excuses as to why you can’t start now. If there are other things going on, and those things are NOT your biggest most important project (yes singular) – stop doing them. You can start them again if they become your biggest priority.

There are really only 2 Theory of Constraints “Just Do It” measures:

1) Reliability – did you do what you said, when you said you’d do it. Whatever the something was you decided to do that we talked about in Part 1 – did you do it on-time? If you are unreliable you didn’t. If you are reliable you did it and finished when you said you would. Due date performance is a type of reliability measure.

2) Effectiveness – you didn’t waste time being distracted on other things and/or doing things you shouldn’t have been done. Ineffectiveness is the biggest cause of unreliability and “not doing”. If you’re doing things you shouldn’t, typically you are making it very difficult to be reliable and get done what you should. Inventory is a type of ineffectiveness measure – if you have produced something ahead of when it was needed in order to be efficient or to save money.

Being ineffective is really a focusing issue – both not working on the right things and working on too many things at one time.

So get really clear on what you’re going to do and what you’re NOT going to do and then get it done.

And to me, that takes care of leadership. There are only 2 things you need to do:

1) Don’t be a sissy!

2) Just do it!

One of the best leaders I’ve interacted with recently was one of my Velocity Scheduling System clients – Tanya DiSalvo, President, Criterion Tool. Her team was struggling with buying into VSS but she held firm (definitely not a sissy) and then focused on doing it. And doing it right, not some watered down version of what the group was first willing to do.

Here’s the payoff she and her team got:

 
And I received this email update from Tanya on June 6, 2010:

“Welp it’s Criterion’s one year anniversary with the VSB (Velocity Scheduling System) and WE STILL love it!

A few major projects went thru our building: new product launch in Oct- Dec, another new product launch currently under way, reduction of staff thru attrition and increase in work, and in most cases we came thru with flying colors.

Attached is our score card. :)”

Wishing you unsissified success,

Dr Lisa

P.S. Make sure that you click on the links above. They link to additional information and some really good stuff.

P.P.S. If you run a custom job shop and are frustrated with scheduling -- check out the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program  http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/

P.P.P.S Download the "9 Challenges to Scheduling Your Job Shop and Why Your Schedule is Dead on Arrival" special report here: http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/ebook/

The biggest constraint we Theory of Constraints consultants find is ... (part 3)

This is Part 3 of a multi-part series that will be posted on the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program blog. We covered the biggest constraints we find as Theory of Constraints consultants.

Read Part 3 here: http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/the-biggest-constraint-we-theory-of-constraints-consultants-find-is-%e2%80%a6-part-3/
 
The Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program is a guided implementation of the Theory of Constraints Drum Buffer Rope. 

Theory of Constraints POOGI Part 68 -- Employees Need Time Off? That’s unproductive! (conclusion)

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt and the Theory of Constraints. {This series was co-written with Brad Stillahn}


Dr. Lisa: So business owners cope with the issue in several ways. Many let the problem happen to them. They have long-standing vacation policies that dictate how much time off people get, most often dictated by length of service. Many times, the employees get to choose when they would like off, with no limit as to how many people can be off at a time. But, some business owners do manage this, placing a limit on how many people can be off at the same time, and from the same department.


Brad: In my experience, once employees make enough money, time off becomes a high priority. And, that is in conflict with the needs of the business and business owner. I want a secure, satisfied work force to keep turnover down, but the more secure and satisfied they are, the more time off they desire.

Dr. Lisa: Interesting dilemma to have with your best and longest term employees. And, I would guess that you also have employees who constantly need last minute time off to deal with the crisis of the moment.
Brad: Yes, of course.
Dr Lisa: Unplanned time off can be very disruptive. Sometimes, it is the same people who need or take unplanned time off over and over again. That requires enough people in total to cover for the lost productivity. It may be additional "protective capacity" in the department, or in other departments that pitch in to help. Sometimes, the work just sits and waits for the employee to return, especially when no one else has that skill set. That interrupts flow, and flow is the most important thing a business needs to maintain.
Brad: Again, these problems hit small businesses especially hard. There is no one else with the needed skill set and/or there aren't enough people to get the job done in the first place.

Dr. Lisa: How did you handle it as an owner of a label printing business?
Brad: By installing a system that wasn't popular, but was very effective. For all non-exempt employees, I raised pay rates and the vacation that was possible to earn. That was the good news, and provided me the opportunity to put in a system that had some teeth to it. Everyone earned vacation by working a full work week. Any unplanned absences during regular hours (being late, sick, etc.) resulting in earning less vacation, and required using existing vacation time for the time off. No longer was vacation an entitlement that was just given, and we actually had a system for "earning" it. We coordinated employees' vacation such that two weeks of vacation were taken by employees in blocks, one week in December and another in July. Otherwise, two weeks notice was required, and we quoted two weeks lead-time, so we could predict available resources accurately.
Dr. Lisa: Would you recommend something like that for other business owners.
Brad: Only if they have a problem with availability of people.
Dr Lisa: Nice answer and as you know, I agree. We should only do those things that are necessary and sufficient to achieve the results we're after. So my recommendation is to do the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program first (or Project Velocity System for service companies). Then, if you have this issue, it will show up in the red zone of the buffer and you now know what to do about it.

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!

Dr Lisa

(c)Copyright 2010, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hello? Is anyone reading? Please add your comments (just click the comments hyper link at the bottom of the post)

Theory of Constraints POOGI Part 67 -- Employees Need Time Off? That’s unproductive!

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt and the Theory of Constraints. {This series was co-written with Brad Stillahn}

Dr. Lisa: Each employee has a life outside his or her job in a business. They have family, financial and other pressures. Time off is sometimes needed.

Brad: Of course, but business owners have to run the business to satisfy their customers, as well as make enough profit to stay in business. Time off can be a real issue. In some businesses, it is the main issue.

Dr. Lisa: In many businesses, employees have holidays and earned vacation. Normally there are paid breaks for non-exempt employees. In addition, depending on the company, they might also have paid sick leave and/or unpaid time off.

Brad: Often times, the more senior the employee, the more earned vacation they have. And senior employees are frequently the most skilled. When they are off, it's tough to maintain productivity. Early in my career, I supervised a small department of highly skilled employees. We were responsible for the production of a large group of paper mills. It didn't take me long to realize that on average, one person would be off on vacation every day. And of course, it didn't work out that way. Half the department would be gone the whole month of December. Most small businesses have this problem, although they cope with it in different ways.

Dr. Lisa: Yes, I've seen all kinds of different ways business owners cope with this, including NOT dealing with it at all. But, to maintain due date performance, there needs to be some predictability and consistency of resource availability. In the Velocity Scheduling System (based on Theory of Constraints drum buffer rope), machine shops are comparing load to capacity for several weeks into the future. Often the company policy requires less notice for vacation than the scheduling horizon, meaning that significant variability is added from even planned time off, not to speak of unplanned time off that happens with no notice. Due date performance is jeopardized.
Dr. Lisa: Then there is the impact on profitability. Paid time off is an operating expense. Throughput (Throughput equals Sales dollars minus Truly Variable Costs in Theory of Constraints Throughput Accounting) dollars must exceed Operating Expense to make a Profit. During some weeks and months of the year, there isn't enough productive time available to produce enough Throughput to make money. This puts the business owner in the position of having to make enough more money in the more productive months to make up for the loss months.
Brad: And, customers don't care about the people scheduling issues the supplier has. They expect what they want when they want it (or at least when it was promised). For sure, the demands placed on a supplier by a customer do not neatly fit into the preferences of when employees would like to work.

... to be continued in Part 67
Hello? Is anyone reading? Please add your comments (just click the comments hyper link at the bottom of the post)

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!


Dr Lisa

(c)Copyright 2010, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of Constraints POOGI Part 66 You Want Me To Do WHAT? (conclusion)

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt and the Theory of Constraints. {This series was co-written with Brad Stillahn.}


So how do we get the key people in a highly custom job shop to do the totally counter intuitive steps of the Velocity Scheduling System (based on Theory of Constraints Simplified Drum Buffer Rope)? Well, instead of pushing the steps of a system they don’t understand, don’t agree with, and have no intuition around - we build on a previous success.


What success? Ask any custom job shop if they have ever pulled out all the stops for a customer and turned a job really quickly. Most (probably all) will say yes. Ask them to tell you the story. You will find that they were able to do a job in a fraction of their typical quoted lead-time. For example, one client did a job in 3 days that they would normally quote a 6 week lead-time for.

When they are telling the story ask about what they had to do to get that job done. And what did they had to stop doing or what jobs did they have to stop working on to make it happen. Listen very closely, take notes and ask questions to draw out the story.

Typically they will explain how they had to stop working on a several jobs that they had already started. Then they will talk about how they "crashed" the job. "Crashing a job" is our terminology for bringing multiple resources to bear on a job. They might have used 2 lathes to run operation 1. And as soon as one piece was done it immediately went to operation 2 on a mill instead of waiting for all it sister parts to complete operation 1. In this way, the job just zipped through the shop.

They were able to complete this job so quickly because they 1) reduced work in process by stopping work on other jobs; 2) By focusing on finishing this one job and 3) by "crashing the job" and bringing multiple resources to work on it.

These 3 actions are some of the key components of the Velocity Scheduling System (VSS). The problem you would discover is that they think that they cannot continue to take these actions on an on-going basis. And if they did, they would be inefficient and the company would lose money.

So what we now explain, is that the VSS is a system that will help them find the balance between what they did on that rush job and efficiency. Then we simply ask - would you be willing to try it and to help customize VSS for their plant. We will explain everything, but knowledge does not change behavior, what we need from you is a commitment to try what we ask.

Who would say no to that? Particularly in the group environment we have for our VSS Coaching Program.

If we can get the biggest detractor for each company to agree to try it, to really do the program, they are unlikely to go back on their word. (Law of Consistency) Then, the crystal clear step by step instructions of VSS, in combination with their story and experiences will help the new process (VSS) to stick.

This process of building on a success can be used in any number of circumstances. We’ve also used it to help companies with their sales and marketing, project completion, and distribution solutions. How can you use it? Drop us a line and let us know your thoughts.

What's your experience with buy-in? Please add your comments to this post  (really, I want to know).

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!

Dr Lisa

(c)Copyright 2010, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of Constraints POOGI Part 65 You want me to do WHAT?

In Theory of Constraints we follow a process to improve. First we decide "what to change". To do this, of course, we need to agree on the problem(s). Once we have consensus on the problem we then work on the solution or "what to change to". And after that, we decide "how to cause the change".

It all sounds very straight forward and logical and it is. This process does work, but at times it can prove to be challenging -- especially when we don’t take enough time to agree on the problem. So Brad and I are especially vigilant about that. Because there is really no point to moving into discussing the possible solutions unless and until we have agreement on the problem. Every time we’ve pushed ahead too fast we always have to go back and get agreement on the problem.

This is particularly true when we are talking about problems that the Theory of Constraints (TOC) logistical solutions will solve. So Brad coined the expression “we are going to go slow so that we can go fast”. That approach has helped us to get better, faster results with clients. Then we teach our clients to do this each time a challenge, problem, or opportunity presents itself. And, with a little coaching and guidance, they also get very good at this.

Then we move to agreeing on "what to change to". Now, you would think this should be pretty straightforward once we’ve agreed on the problem, but we have found it’s not that easy. Why?

• There can be multiple solutions that would work or we think there are multiple solutions that could work.
• People are only comfortable with solutions which they are familiar with and have intuition around.
• We don’t know what we don’t know.
• The Theory of Constraints solutions are often counterintuitive, the opposite of what most people do now, and most people have no familiarity or intuition around them.

So you can see, if the solution is to implement our Velocity Scheduling System for scheduling job shops (based on Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints and Simplified Drum Buffer Rope) we may get some push back (aka You want me to do WHAT?) even AFTER we have successfully agreed on the problem.

In fact we’ve had some job shops suggest that we must have been hiding out in their shop when we wrote "The 9 Challenges to Scheduling Jobs Shops and Why Your Schedule is Dead on Arrival".

That is the highest compliment someone can pay and we have clearly agreed on the problem. Then those same companies argue and resist every step of the way during implementation. This was super frustrating until we learned how to get them to agree on "what to change to".

So how do we get the key people in a highly custom job shop to do the totally counter intuitive steps of the Velocity Scheduling System? Well, instead of pushing the steps of a system they don’t understand, don’t agree with, and have no intuition around - we build on a previous success.

... next week I'll take you through how we do that.

 What's your experience with getting buy in? Please tell me in the comments of this post.

Theory of Constraints POOGI - Part 55: Yes, but… The Value of Concerns and Objections cont.

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt and the Theory of Constraints. {This series was co-written with Brad Stillahn.}

Dr. Lisa: Back to the process for handling a “yes, BUT”. We are saying “yes” to the solution, and the “BUT” is a negative we anticipate if we go forward with the solution. So the first step is to identify which part of the solution your concern stems from. State this explicitly. Next, indicate what your concern is, what negative could occur (called Negative Branch Reservation). Now together you can figure out that (1) either that you misunderstood the solution or (2) that you are correct that the negative could happen. If so, how could we modify the solution to eliminate completely or substantially the possibility of the negative?

Brad: That sounds a little theoretical. Do you have an example?

Dr. Lisa: Sure. When we are doing the Velocity Scheduling System with a machine shop, someone in the management team will often have the idea to do preventative maintenance. In this example, this is the “part of the solution the concern stems from”. Someone will respond that there isn’t enough capacity to do preventative maintenance without being late on orders. This is the concern, the negative that could occur.

Brad: What’s the solution to trim the negative branch?

Dr. Lisa: To do both -- to complete ALL the orders on-time AND do the necessary preventative maintenance. The Detailed Planning portion of the Velocity Scheduling System is what we use to see and plan for opportunities for preventative maintenance while maintaining 100% due date performance.

“Dealing with yes, BUT’s” is one of the bonus videos included in the Velocity Scheduling System which is based on Goldratt's Theory of Constraints and Drum Buffer Rope.

Get a daily TOC Tip on Twitter, just follow http://twitter.com/TOCExpert.

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!

Dr Lisa Lang

(c)Copyright 2009, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of Constraints POOGI - Part 49

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt and the Theory of Constraints. {This series was co-written with Brad Stillahn.}

Do-it- yourself 'Viable Vision' continued ...

Brad: "Most businesses find that their fixed costs increase nearly proportionately when sales increase. How is this avoidable?"

Dr Lisa: "Yes, and some gleefully hit a sales goal only to notice that profits have decreased due to having to increase fixed costs to meet the goal."

Dr. Lisa: "By leveraging the resources they have. There needs to be a monitoring system for the performance of operations. By determining the reasons why due-date commitments are threatened, actions can be taken-using lean and six sigma tools-to improve performance, normally without adding resources."

Brad: "Can a small business owner lead this kind of improvement process?"

Dr. Lisa: "Sure. The companies going through the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program are doing that now. They are getting to 100% due date performance in about 2 months WITHOUT a consultant camped in their conference room and at a fraction of the price. Next, those companies will participate similarly in an on-line version of the Mafia Offer Boot Camp. The combination of those 2 programs will get those companies on their way to a Viable Vision."

Dr Lisa: "Actually, having the owner and his/her executive team really drive Viable Vision kind of improvement is the only way to go. They just need a proven process and little coaching so they know how to apply the concepts to their situation along the way."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are a business owner that would like to turn your company's sales level into its profit level in four years or less, please contact Brad Stillahn at Brad@ScienceofBusiness.com with an email that says "I'm interested". We recommend our www.MafiaOfferBootCamp.com to develop your Mafia Offer, and our www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com to achieve 'perfect' operations

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!

Dr Lisa Lang

(c)Copyright 2009, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of Constraints POOGI - Part 47

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt and the Theory of Constraints. {This series was co-written with Brad Stillahn.}

Do you really think you can do it all yourself? continued

Brad: "So, we agree on the problem. What's the direction of the solution? How can a small business owner get the talent they need to grow profitably?"

Dr. Lisa: "Well, that depends. It is ultimately the business owner's decision. I think it comes down to two choices that are not mutually exclusive:
1. Build an effective management team, and/or
2. Get outside help."

Dr. Lisa: "When small business owners think about getting outside help, they generally think about solving specific problems, not about running the overall business better. They'll get one consultant for one type of improvement, and a different consultant for another type of problem."

Brad: "We're back to affordability. Outside help costs a lot of money. If I have a problem I can't fix myself, I'll get the help I need to fix the problem. Like a plumber, electrician, or a 6S Lean consultant."

Dr. Lisa: "Think bigger. A business should be a money-making machine. There is one overall process that needs to be defined and improved."

Brad: "Well, I can think of a couple of examples of ways to get outside help. One is to belong to and be active in an industry association like NTMA. That's a way to learn from successful peers. Another is to join a CEO membership organization like Vistage. I've been a member for six years and it has provided me value."

Dr. Lisa: "Absolutely, both are important. But I have a recommendation. Get help to specifically improve your business, your money-making machine."

Brad: "I did that. I paid for the best TOC consultants available for four years before I felt I was self-sufficient. But that was expensive. The day-rates were sky-high. We're back to affordability."

Dr. Lisa: "Any good consultant should be willing to get paid if and only if they produce bottom-line results."

Brad: "But we've made the case that a business owner can't know everything. Can a consultant know it all?"

Dr. Lisa: "Well, we like to think so! I recommend a business process improvement team that is involved over a period of time to help the business owner achieve his or her goals. To help them think big, we recommend 'Viable Vision'. Viable Vision is defined as turning your sales level into your profit level in four years or less. It's aggressive but doable. And the value of the business soars with such increased profitability."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are a business owner that would like to turn your company's sales level into its profit level in four years or less, please contact Brad Stillahn at Brad@ScienceofBusiness.com with an email that says "I'm interested". We'll follow up to discuss how it just might be possible for you, and share with you our 100% results-based option where you pay if and only if your bottom-line increases."

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!

Dr Lisa Lang

P.S. If you have an internal constraint, check out http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ejsoxadab.0.0.vsi4mocab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.velocityschedulingsystem.com%2F&id=preview Group 5 starts November 23, 2009! (for job shops only)

P.P.S. If you have an external constraint, check our our ON-LINE at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ejsoxadab.0.0.vsi4mocab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mafiaofferbootcamp.com%2F&id=preview; GROUP and PRIVATE Mafia Offer Boot Camps at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ejsoxadab.0.0.vsi4mocab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mafiaoffers.com%2F&id=preview

P.P.P.S. If you have a cash constraint ACT NOW! Free cash video, click here --> The Fastest Way to Increase Cash Flow.

(c)Copyright 2009, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Job Shop Scheduling / Machine Shop Scheduling

We are getting ready to start our 4th Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Progam. Three groups of machine shops and jobs shops have already seen big results.

The Velocity Scheduling System is based on Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC) and drum buffer rope. We modified the "off the shelf" TOC for highly custom job shops and machine shops.

To find out more, check out this special report on "The 9 Challenges to Scheduling a Job Shop and Why Your Schedule is Dead on Arrival".

Our 4th Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program starts on July 14, 2009. For more information, testimonials, and to sign up please visit Job Shop Scheduling. This program is limited to the first 10 companies, so don't delay!

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!
Dr Lisa Lang
(c)Copyright 2009, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Job Shop Scheduling and Machine Shop Scheduling

If you own or run a job shop or machine shop, check out this Special Report on the "9 Challenges to Scheduling Your Job Shop and Why Your Schedule is Dead on Arrival!"

I'm a lot like you. I read The Goal and loved it. I related to it, and thought it was common sense. It was so refreshing to read a business book like that.

I totally got the hike with the boy scouts and having Herbie lead, then off loading Herbie's backpack. The game they played with matches showed the impact of variability and why it is so hard to get things done.

All really good stuff and I read it in one sitting. I wanted the results they had in The Goal - I wanted to be 100% on-time, I wanted less chaos and less work in process, increased throughput and I wanted all this with the same or less overhead.

But then I really didn't know how to apply it to my situation. I didn't have the budget to hire a consultant to help, much less an expensive Theory of Constraints consultant.

So I did what I could, based on what I understood. I identified what I thought was our constraint, and I studied it. I determined what was keeping us from getting more through the constraint. I made a few changes.

And, we got some results. Nothing like what they had in the book mind you, but some results. But that is where I really got stuck.

I knew much more was possible, much bigger and better results. After I had read The Goal, I did some research and found some published success stories. These case studies showed that I should have achieved more.

But I rationalized -- we're different. We are in a different industry, a tougher industry. Maybe it just doesn't work in our type of business. Yeah, that's it - too bad, it just won't work for us.

Now fast forward a few years.

In the mid 90s Theory of Constraints became more available. There were annual conferences, training classes, and many more books on the subject.

I went to school on all of it.

I immersed myself in the theory. I read everything, I asked a ton of questions. And what's interesting is that I still didn't really know where to start. I still didn't know how to get beyond a few modifications around the constraint and I still didn't know how to get the kind of results I had read about.

And this was after I had been to the mountain. I had taken courses and studied at the Goldratt Averaham Institute founded by Eliyahu M Goldratt, the father of Theory of Constraints.

How can common sense be this hard?

I finally got it when I became a consultant and worked with several clients.

By the way, all my clients had read The Goal, and only achieved small results on their own or got no results because they simply did not know where to start and so had not tried.

My first client was a machine shop. And since then I've worked with a number of "metal benders" - custom machine shops making custom parts and job shops. Some of the shops I worked with had 80% of their parts/products repeat and some only had 20% repeat. But they all had terrible due date performance (on orginal dates), high work in process, and lots of chaos.

I needed to figure out how to make a difference in these highly complex environments where the constraint can move week to week depending on the mix of work that came in.

I discovered, in working with these clients, the secret -- the way to implement what we read in The Goal.

I figured out:

• the order to implement. What to do first, then second and so on.
• that the first steps we take need to provide BIG results to get the buy-in and support to continue.
• that the scheduling and priority of the shop needs to be visual.
• that the visual scheduling system facilitates eveyone's involvement and the desperately needed communication throughout the shop.
• how to create an effective scheduling system that does not require massive computing and manpower to run.
• how to accommodate a complex environment where the constraint moves frequently.
• how to implement the Theory of Constraints process of on-going improvement so that we continuously improve.
• and, how to coach managers and supervisors to get it done.

This approach lead to the big results that I had read about in the case studies and in most cases we achieved the results faster.

We also found that our visual scheduling system created faster buy-in and helped the changes to stick.

So my partner, Brad, and I sat down and documented what we did. We documented the process we used, we documented the differences between companies that can cause differences in the solution. We ended up with THE process to quickly implement what we read about in The Goal to get quick, substantial results.

So why am I telling you all this?

Well... this is something of an "open secret"... I have been working on a way for you to have the exact same system that my job shop and machine shop clients use without the burden and expense of an on-site consultant.

And we have now tested it with several clients and we have done 2 Velocity Scheduling System Coaching programs. So the program that starts on April 27th is our 3rd Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program. We focus on job shop scheduling and machine shop scheduling.

Now is the right time for this. In fact, I would say that now is THE critical time. Implementing the system is particularly important in this economy for 2 main reasons. 1) With the system it will become clear where you can cut people and have the least effect on productivity; and 2) If you have a market constraint then it is paramount that you improve your due date performance and reduce your leadtimes so that you can capture more market share. This will be particularly effective as your competitors cut people, and get worse on due date performance and leadtimes.

This system has PROVEN to dramatically increase your due date performance, reduce your work in process and decrease your manufacturing lead-times without a consultant camped in your conference room. And of course, this will lead to improved cash flow and increase your profits!

Here's an update I got just received (April 15, 2009) from a client that participated in our VSS Coaching Program:

"Just to update you on our company status, I thought you'd be happy to know we
are still 100% on time and raking in some good profits. I've seen a higher frequency of penetration into the red zone, but no late jobs. We just shipped the mother of all jobs today (in excess of 4000 man-hours) on time! Furthermore, the price tag was $750K, of which final throughput MINUS LABOR was nearly $390K! (Don't tell the customer that)"

That's all for now...

Wishing you success,

"Dr Lisa" Lang

P.S. To sign up go to http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/ The next session start
on April 27 and will be limited to 10 companies to ensure you get all the
coaching you need!

If you're interested in learning how to run your shop according to the Theory
of Constraints and Drum Buffer Rope principles discussed in The
Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt, then sign up for our next Velocity Scheduling System
Coaching Program.