Optimizing Factory Performance

Manufacturing is a crucial component of the foundation that maintains the security, health, and wealth of any country. One of the most important measures of manufacturing performance is cycle time--the time between introduction of a job into the factory and its completion. Firms whose factories deliver the right product to the right customer at the right time ultimately dominate those that are runner-ups. Manufacturers that are fast and agile will be the survivors in the highly competitive world of making "things."

Over the past 50 years, more than 50 management and manufacturing fads and fashions have been proposed for the achievement of improved organizational and factory performance. Almost all have failed to live up to their hype. Today, in fact, the principal performance measure of a factory--load-adjusted cycle-time efficiency--is the same or only marginally better than that of factories of a half-century ago. Consequently, there is enormous room for improvement in the running of almost any factory--in any country.

While methods such as lean manufacturing, reengineering, theory of constraints, and six sigma may--when and if applied properly--improve factory performance, they represent just one part of the solution. To achieve significant and, in particular, sustainable performance improvement, an approach that balances the art and science of manufacturing must be employed. It will necessitate, however, a paradigm shift--a shift akin to that which occurred when the third dimension of warfare was realized by means of exploitation of the airplane.

In this course, we examine manufacturing's importance, history, and terminology. We show that to improve factory performance cost-effectively, one must venture beyond the traditional first and second dimensions of manufacturing--the dimensions that rely almost exclusively on physical changes to the factory or its components. Instead, the most effective approach to improved factory performance may be achieved by means of the third dimension of manufacturing--the dimension involving changes to factory operating and maintenance protocols (i.e., the strategies and tactics employed to actually run a factory).

We introduce the operating and maintenance protocols best suited for effectively dealing with the two main enemies of factory performance; i.e., the obstacles of complexity and variability. While the approaches illustrated have a scientific basis and rely on the three fundamental equations and one fundamental model of manufacturing, the material is presented in a way as to limit the need for expertise in mathematics beyond that of a high school student.

Optimizing Factory Performance is a 3-day course that provides detailed instruction on those methods that comprise the Third Dimension of Manufacturing. Implementation of these methods is discussed and illustrated. Attendees will be able to actually manage and run a simulated factory. The course is designed for those who serve as managers, engineers, or scientists within the manufacturing sector.