1. What are the methods described in The Goal for identifying a bottleneck?
‘A bottleneck is any resource which is equal to or less than the market demand placed on it.’ To find out the bottleneck in the case, they’ve tried different ways.
At first they tried to look at all the resources and compare them with market demand. They believed the one in which demand is greater than capacity is the bottleneck. Soon they found this method was too complicated and time-consuming to execute, not to mention the inaccuracy of data.
Then they figured out that they could talk to expediters to find out the parts most frequently in short supply, which were probably the ones passing through a bottleneck.
Building on this method, they finally found out the most …show more content…
After bottlenecks have been identified, what are the concrete factory floor-level actions described in the book for improving overall system performance?
They’ve executed a series of actions to increase the productivity at the bottleneck so that to improve the system performance.
1) Moving quality control inspection first. Checking parts before they go to bottlenecks. And dedicating an inspector checking pre-bottleneck parts.
2) Implementing new rules for lunch break.
3) Reusing three old machines to complement what NCX-10 does.
4) Organizes the bottlenecks to work on only overdue orders from the most overdue to the least.
5) Setting task priority through adding red and green tags. Red for bottleneck parts to be worked on first as to not hold up the bottleneck machine, and green for the non-bottleneck parts.
6) Relieving workload by outsourcing work out to vendors.
7) Dedicating a foreman at each location all the time.
3. Relate the notions of statistical fluctuations and dependent events mentioned in the book to concepts covered during the course. Also explain and relate to course concepts the statement made by Jonah that a factory “balanced with demand” will soon experience …show more content…
In every step Alex and his team took, they needed to seek help and support from other stakeholders, such as the union, sales team, marketing team, finance department. Among these, the most important is upper management team. Without a power support, it’s hard to carry out any changes.
Fourth, challenge the old mindset. As Alex and his team deep dived into the issues, they found out a lot of flaws in the old policies, such as the cost-calculation model, the accounting policies. In the fast changing world, we always need to deal with new challenges and adjust our mindset to adapt to new situations.
Last but not the least, learn to communicate, no answers, only questions. Johan used 'Socratic approach' to inspire Alex. That is, leading to the answers through asking questions. Instead of forcing others to accept one’s idea, this is very effective at peeling away the thick layers of common practice.
7. Leaving writing style and other delivery issues aside (e.g., romance novel format), what substantial critiques of this book would you make pertaining to its function as a “textbook” on