Ways to Realize Lean Benefits Using Taylor Scheduler
- Lean Objective: Reduce cycle time by decreasing the queue time between manufacturing operations.
Taylor Solution: With an APS system, you can be better synchronized with your shop floor. You no longer need to keep large queues of work in front of each machine to prevent downstream machines from starving for work. Because you have better visibility, you can reduce the lag time between operations, shortening the overall make time and cycle time.
Overlap facilitates a shorter cycle time by starting operations before the preceding operation completes or by reducing the normal lag time from the end of one operation to the start of the next. Many organizations plan for some work to queue in front of downstream operations. With Taylor Scheduler, you can reduce that queue to hours or even minutes. You can allow complete overlap; when one step is finished, the part can immediately proceed to the next step, eliminating wait time and reducing cycle time to an absolute minimum.
Another method of decreasing cycle time is to reduce the standard lead-time allocated to operations like Quality Assurance (QA) testing. Many organizations simply set up a standard time for QA or testing instead of assigning actual QA or test time to a machine or workcenter and then finitely scheduling that area.
Sometimes cycle time is excessively long because you are short of critical resources such as tools or operators. Use Taylor Scheduler to identify when these resources are needed to make certain they are available. Lack of resources has a huge impact on cycle time.