Maximizing Profitability with Theory of Constraints

INTERVIEW: Jeff Cox, co-author of The Goal along with Eliyahu M. Goldratt

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sat, 08 Jul 2023 16:45:00 +0000

In this interview Jeff Cox shares his experience in writing The Goal with Eliyahu M Goldratt. Circa 2009, not sure who the interviewer is.

If you'd like to implement the Theory of Constraints concepts from The Goal in YOUR shop, visit https://www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com

Reducing Job Shop Costs versus Increasing Job Shop Throughput

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 07:48:00 +0000

Reducing Job Shop Costs

I was just reading an article on CNCReport.com titled "Never Enough Magnetic Mounts". The author was calculating how much money you'd save if you invested in some magnetic strips to make finding tools faster and easier. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Hourly Pay Rate = $15 ($0.25/minute) Time spent looking for a tool = 5 minutes Times per week looking for a tool = 3 With these numbers in place it costs nearly $200 a year in lost time and money simply searching for a tool ($0.25 x 5 mins x 3 times a week x 52 weeks = $195). The math doesn’t lie so lets get some part numbers: McMaster-Carr: Magnetic Mount – $20 – 6613A24 Allen Wrench Set – $15 – 5709A52 Good Scissors – $9 – 7091A16 Box Cutter – $5 – 4927A11 Screwdriver Set – $14 – 5791A51 Spending about $70 will save time and $200. Did we miss anything?

YES! But I don't disagree with the recommendation, only the justification. To determine if an investment of $70 is worth it, I would NOT calculate the cost savings as done in this article. Why? Because the reality is that your going to pay your people their hourly rate regardless of how they spend their time. You won't actually get a reduction in their hourly rate. Saving time is NOT ...

reducing job shop costs.

Instead, I would estimate how much additional Throughput you'd generate due to being able to reduce or eliminate time wasted looking for tools. For most job shops and machine shops Throughput is sales minus raw material, outside processes, freight, and sales commission (if any). Throughput is similar to margin but without direct labor.

Increasing Job Shop Throughput

For example, if you could ship one more $500 job per week and the Throughput on that job is $375, then you would easily and quickly recover the $70 investment with first additional job shipped (and paid for). BUT BE CAREFUL! When you're considering how much additional Throughput you'll get from an investment you have to be REAL. If you put these magnetic strips at a non-constraint, the additional Throughput will be ZERO or very low. However, if you speed up your constraint, you can and will be increasing job shop throughput!

Job Shop Scheduling

Making sure that you have all the tools you need is part of getting "full kit" in Velocity Scheduling System. VSS is for highly custom job shops and machine shops. It is a visual, manual scheduling system. My experience is that it usually pays to have full kit before releasing a job. Learn how -- check out the "How to Get More Jobs Done Faster" webinar. In 47 minutes I explain how and why full kit along with other things can help you increase your Throughput with the same people and resources. This, of course, means that your profits will increase. And isn't THAT really The Goal? Wishing you success! By Dr Lisa Lang This article is copyrighted by Science of Business, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit our Re-post guidelines.

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=2212

Manufacturing Expert Dr. Lisa Lang Hits Amazon.com Best Seller List With “Trendsetters”

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 00:38:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Manufacturing Expert Dr. Lisa Lang Hits Amazon.com Best Seller List With “Trendsetters” Dr. Lisa Lang, of the Science of Business, recently hit two separate Amazon.com best-seller lists with the new book “Trendsetters.” Orlando, Fla. – October 6, 2011 – “Dr. Lisa” Lang, President of the Science of Business, recently joined a select group of business experts and entrepreneurs to collaborate and co-write the business and marketing book titled Trendsetters: The World’s Leading Experts Reveal Top Trends To Help You Achieve Greater Health, Wealth and Success! The book was released by CelebrityPress™, a leading business, marketing and health book publisher. Trendsetters: The World’s Leading Experts Reveal Top Trends To Help You Achieve Greater Health, Wealth and Success! was released on Thursday, October 6, 2011 and features top advice from leading entrepreneurs, business owners and marketing experts from around the world. The authors tackle an array of subjects ranging from health, wealth, marketing and business success. Dr. Lisa contributed a chapter titled “Velocity Manufacturing” which is based on her Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program for scheduling highly custom job shops and machine shops. On the day of release, Trendsetters reached best-seller status in two Amazon.com categories: Entrepreneurship and Direct Marketing. Dr Lisa was selected by the editor for an Editor's Choice Award for her Velocity Manufacturing chapter. And, after such a successful release she will be recognized by The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™, an organization that honors authors from many of the leading independent best-seller lists. Dr. Lisa is the President of the Science of Business and has recently worked with Dr Goldratt who is the father of Theory of Constraints and author of The Goal. Science of Business specializes in increasing profits of highly custom manufacturers and job shops by applying Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma to operations with Velocity Scheduling System and to engineering with Project Velocity System and to marketing with Mafia Offers. About the Book: Are YOU a TRENDSETTER? By definition, a Trendsetter is not a follower. So, what is a Trendsetter? Is it a leader? Leadership can mean leading in thought, word or deed, or some combination of all three. In the Business World, thought has no future if bounded by inaction - commonly referred to as 'analysis paralysis' - so thought and deed are invariably intertwined. Now combine those two with the 'word' portion of the trifecta of thought, word and deed, and now...we have the prospect of leadership and success. So, are you a Trendsetter? You may be. There is no prescription for one, but you can compare your goals and achievements with the benchmarks made by those in this book. In this book, we give you a number of our Celebrity Experts® who are Trailblazers and Trendsetters. They have done it! These are successful experts who made their mark and share with you how they and their concepts developed. Can Trendsetting be emulated? Absolutely, but you, yourself, will have to personally work through the stages of thought, word and deed...just like these leaders have. May you be crowned by your definition of Success! What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. ~ Zig Ziglar To order a copy of the book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0983340463/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=thescienceofb-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0983340463&adid=01VV9ZBERTVPK9EP6DN3 About Celebrity Press™: Celebrity Press™ is a business book publisher that publishes books from thought leaders around the world. Celebrity Press™ specializes in helping its authors grow their businesses through book publishing. Celebrity Press™ has published books alongside Brian Tracy, Dr. Ivan Misner, Ron LeGrand, Mari Smith, Kelly O’Neil, Alexis Martin Neely and many of the biggest experts across diverse fields. ### keywords: Dr Lisa Lang, Dr Lisa, Velocity Manufacturing, custom manufacturing, Theory of Constraints, Velocity Scheduling System, Science of Business, CelebrityPress, business book, marketing book, business book publisher, marketing book publisher, business book publishing company

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=1228

FREE Webinar on Job Shop and Machine Shop Scheduling

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 00:38:00 +0000

This webinar replay is on exactly how to Get More Jobs Done Faster. It is NOT theory but a specific "how to". This is the same program recommended by Westinghouse to their vendors and recommened internally to Schlumberger plants. To participate LIVE in one of these webinars and to get YOUR questions answered, sign up here: https://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/webinar/ Space is limited to to ensure we get all your questions answered. (replay no longer available, please sign up for our next webinar) If you're looking to improve your scheduling and you own or run a job shop or machine shop, you don't want to miss these insights! This video will be taken down, so watch while you can. Dr Lisa Lang (know as Dr Lisa) will be your webinar presenter. She is a Theory of Constraints expert and recently worked for Goldratt Consulting owned by Dr Eliyahu M Goldratt, author of The Goal and father of Theory of Constraints. Dr Lisa developed the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program to hand hold companies through the process of implementing the Theory of Constraints scheduling technique called Drum Buffer Rope. Leave your questions on Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program and tell me what you thought of the webinar. Did you like it? Did it answer any questions for you? CLICK THE COMMENT LINK ABOVE!!

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=298

Theory of Constraints Velocity Scheduling System Webinar

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 00:38:00 +0000

WEBINAR: How to Get More Jobs Done Faster

Each webinar covers exactly how to get MORE Jobs Done Faster. We cover how scheduling is traditionally done and then we cover the Velocity Scheduling System approach. During the webinar you learn what to go do TOMORROW! Sign up here: https://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/webinar/ WARNING: The Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program is NOT training. This is a go and do program. Only job shops ready to improve due date performance, cut lead-time through thier shop and who seriously want to reduce chaos should sign up. Velocity Scheduling System is based on Goldratt Theory of Constraints Drum Buffer Rope and is for job shops looking for a better way to schedule their shop.

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=449

Dr Lisa and Theory of Constraints featured in Wire Forming Technology International

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 00:38:00 +0000

Dr Lisa was featured in the Fall 2011 Wire Forming Technology International magazine with an article titled: Velocity Manufacturing: Stop focusing on efficiency and focus on velocity to reduce lead and queue times, and to increase lead-time predictability, on-time deliveries, quality and cash flow. The article explains how highly custom job shops and machine shops can schedule and change their thinking using Goldratt's Theory of Constraints to get more jobs done faster with the same people and resources. You can check it out here: WFTI Fall 2011 Velocity Manufacturing Article

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=1308

Manufacturing Expert Dr. Lisa Lang Discusses Theory of Constraints in The Fabricator

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 00:38:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Manufacturing Expert Dr. Lisa Lang Discusses Theory of Constraints in Article Dr. Lisa Lang, inventor of the Velocity Scheduling System, featured in a November 2011 article discussing her expertise in Theory of Constraints Green Valley, AZ – October 10, 2012 – “Dr. Lisa” Lang, President of the Science of Business and inventor of the Velocity Scheduling System is featured in a November 2011 article in The Fabricator and TheFabricator.com, where she was interviewed about Theory of Constraints and Velocity Scheduling System. The article also highlights two of Dr. Lisa’s clients, CMI Industry America and Guntert & Zimmerman. The article, titled “High mix, fast delivery--on time: How high-mix, low-volume fabricators adapt the Theory of Constraints,” was written by Tim Heston. Tim Heston explores how Dr. Lisa helped both clients utilize the Theory of Constraints to keep the chaos of their manufacturing in check, but allow for dealing with emergencies while increasing productivity. Dr. Lisa remarks on the negatives of focusing on efficiency. Below is an excerpt:

TOC goes against traditional manufacturing thinking, in which workers produce more than is needed to reduce the number of setups and maximize the efficiency of all resources. The forecast, after all, says these parts will be needed eventually, so why not produce them now? The problem is, of course, that sales forecasts are notoriously inaccurate, so those parts may never be needed. Also, producing so many unneeded parts floods the floor with work-in-process (WIP), while jobs in queue sit for days or weeks waiting for large batches to work their way through.

Dr. Lisa offers her expertise throughout the article, which explores five main topics: “The Value of Throughput,” “The Importance of Flow,” “Drum-Buffer-Rope for High Mix,” “Full Kit and Accurate Information” and “Enabling Change.” The full article can be found here: http://www.thefabricator.com/article/forceos/high-mix-fast-delivery--on-time “Dr. Lisa” Lang is one of the foremost Theory of Constraints experts in the world and a sought after manufacturing expert having been named the 2012 Manufacturing Trendsetter in the USA Today for her inexpensive and guaranteed Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program that has dramatically improved performance of well over 100 highly custom job shops and machine shops. She has also appeared in CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Finance.com, About.com, NY Daily News, CNBC, The Boston Globe, The Miami Herald, and others. She is active in helping reshore manufacturing back to the U.S. and in the NTMA, PMA, and AMT communities having helped member companies to reduce their lead-times and improve due date performance. She worked with Dr. Goldratt who is the father of Theory of Constraints and author of the bestselling book, The Goal. Dr Lisa is the President of the Science of Business specializing in increasing profits of highly custom manufacturers by applying Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma to operations with Velocity Scheduling System and to engineering/design with Project Velocity System and to marketing with her Mafia Offer Boot Camp. Learn more about Dr. Lisa and job shop scheduling at https://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/ and check out her 47-minute webinar “How To Get More Jobs Done Faster” at www.velocitySchedulingSystem.com/webinar/. ### Contact: Dr Lisa Lang President, Science of Business Inc DrLisa@ScienceofBusiness.com keywords: Dr Lisa Lang, Dr Lisa, Theory of Constraints, Velocity Scheduling System, high mix low volume, drum buffer rope, job shop scheduling, Goldratt Links: http://prlog.org/11996440 http://bit.ly/WSz4zB http://bit.ly/WSA4Ul

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=1492

Precision Machining Job Shop Scheduling Client Success Story

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Wed, 31 May 2017 23:53:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Manufacturing and Theory of Constraints Expert Dr. Lisa Lang Shares Client Success Story Tanya DiSalvo, President of Criterion Tool, shares her story of how her precision machine shop used Velocity Scheduling System to achieve record profits. Green Valley, AZ – November 14, 2012 – “Dr. Lisa” Lang, President of the Science of Business and Theory of Constraints expert, is proud to share one of many client success stories. Tanya DiSalvo is the President of Criterion Tool (founded in 1953) and an active member of both NTMA (National Tooling and Machining Association) and PMPA (Precision Metal Products Association). Tanya has utilized Dr. Lisa’s Velocity Scheduling System at her machine shop to improve on-time delivery and reduce lead times. Tanya DiSalvo’s case study and success story (written by Mike Touzeau) can be found at https://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Tanya_Success_Story_v5.pdf Here is an excerpt: “It’s so different from what we’ve seen in the world of manufacturing that it sounded too good to be true. At first as a team we couldn’t get our arms around it, but Dr. Lisa said she was going to give me my money back if it didn’t work, so we were going to do everything she said.” They liked the homework, but several of her 30 employees, including her dad, who was then consulting and observing as he neared retirement, bet some real cash against her that it wasn’t going to work. “I was pretty sure they thought this was just another flavor of the month. Before VSS we were all frustrated,” she remembers, because they were always trying to manage the “slop,” as she calls it—the jobs that got bogged down and often carried into the next month, with select customers always suffering. Once they saw how the system could facilitate movement of jobs, things started clicking. “As we worked through the Velocity Scheduling process, we got more and more in control. We could focus our resources where we needed them the most. We didn’t have to monitor the jobs, the deadlines, the priorities anymore.” “It was all the same people just changing their focus.” To learn specifically what Tanya did to improve her machine shop scheduling, watch a 47 minute webinar on “How to Get More Jobs Done Faster” at https://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/webinar/ “Dr. Lisa” Lang is one of the foremost Theory of Constraints experts in the world and a sought after manufacturing expert having been named the 2012 Manufacturing Trendsetter in the USA Today for her inexpensive and guaranteed Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program that has dramatically improved performance of well over 100 highly custom job shops and machine shops. She has also appeared in CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Finance.com, About.com, Gear Technology, CNBC, MoldMaking Technology, The Fabricator, NTMA’s The Record and many others. She is active in helping the reshoring of manufacturing back to the U.S. and in the NTMA, PMA, and AMT communities having helped member companies to reduce their lead-times and improve due date performance. She worked with Dr. Goldratt who is the father of Theory of Constraints and author of the bestselling book, The Goal. Dr Lisa is the President of the Science of Business specializing in increasing profits of highly custom manufacturers by applying Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma (TLS) to operations with Velocity Scheduling System and to engineering/design with Project Velocity System and to marketing with her Mafia Offer Boot Camp. ### Contact: Dr Lisa Lang Science of Business, Inc DrLisa@ScienceofBusiness.com keywords: Dr Lisa Lang, Dr Lisa, Theory of Constraints, Velocity Scheduling System, job shop scheduling, machine shop scheduling, Goldratt, reshoring manufacturing, Success Story, Case Study

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=1654

Job Shop Scheduling Problems and Challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Tue, 30 May 2017 05:12:00 +0000

Job Shop Scheduling - High mix low volume job shops and machine shops can be quite a challenge to schedule.

Why? Here are just a few of the complex problems and challenges that plague the environment:

Bottlenecks or constraints in job shops can move based on the volume and type of work.
Work is diverse -- typically low volume high mix but a production job may be run on occasion, or prototypes will be in the mix.
Jobs are typically made to order, but there are some job shops that may make a stock part, in addition to, custom parts.
While producing new custom jobs are the norm, some job shops and machine shop will do repair work.
Shops may do some amount of on-site new work or on-site repairs.
Emergencies can be fairly common and can take a fair amount of capacity (2% to 30%) and be very disruptive.
For some shops, customers call and make changes (frequently) - dates, quantity, or change their order completely.
It's common place to have employees which are not cross trained at all or cross trained very little so the skill needed isn't always available.
Shop employees don not always show up for work or on they may not show up on time.
Set-up times can vary and some set-ups can take a substantial amount of time, while others take very little time. And, what's worse, is that both scenarios can occur in the same shop and at the same time.
The high mix low volume nature of custom job shops leads to a mix of jobs with all different quoted leadtimes.
The touch time to complete a job can also vary wildly. The same shop can have very short touch time jobs and at the same time have very long touch time jobs and everything in between.
Due to precision and/or tolerances, certain jobs have to run on particular machines, making scheduling a problem.
And if those weren't problem enough, some jobs have outside processing to be done and some don't. Some have more than one outside process to be and some have none.
The leadtime on necessary outside processes will vary by the process and the vendors do not always deliver when they promised.
Yield rates are not perfect -- they may not be 100% or quality issues can play a role depending on the precision and type of work.

And, regardless of all these problems that can occur in scheduling a job shop and often do, customers still want their job done on time.

Now you know why it's so difficult to schedule a custom job shop. It is the nature of the beast. There is a solution -- it is called the Velocity Scheduling System. It was developed for highly custom job shops and machine shops where these problems and Murphy not only exist, but thrive. Velocity Scheduling is NOT software but a visual scheduling system. It is a manual system that includes a visual planning board, as well as, a visual scheduling board. These boards are customized for your specific situation. Given all the complex challenges discussed above, you can imagine how important it is to customize any solution for your particular environment. To learn more, check out the ebook tab and the webinar tab. The ebook provides more information on the scheduling challenges and the traditional solutions while the 47 minute webinar provides the VSS solution. Best Wishes, Dr Lisa By Dr Lisa Lang This article is copyrighted by Science of Business, Inc. Visit our Re-post guidelines.

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=2311

Job Shop Scheduling Software

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Mon, 29 May 2017 16:44:00 +0000

Job Shop Scheduling Software | Machine Shop Scheduling Software

I'm like you. I invested in job shop scheduling software (we used to own a job shop). Spent hours and hours getting it setup up only to spend more time continually updating the schedule. Why does it seem that the moment I print the schedule it's out of date? And the software itself doesn't lead to an improvement, a little time savings but no real improvement.

Job Shop Scheduling Software - it's NOT working!

There's no question that there is an almost unlimited number of job shop scheduling problems and challenges. And the scheduling modules that are available don't seem to fully address these problems. To try and solve these problems and challenges, we tend to add more DETAIL. If what we're doing now is not working, we just need to work harder. Right? We spend more time updating the schedule. We add more information. We update more often. We invest in software or add a module to our ERP systems that provides a way to collect and analyze the data. But, adding more detail is not the answer. Here's an excerpt from a job shop scheduling software article on thefabricator.com.

Sources concede that job shop scheduling is just too complex for software to do all the work. “There is always going to be a human element to the decision-making effort,” Lechleitner said. “I think any APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling software), at its best, will probably get you about 80 percent there.” Liddell agreed. “The software can do 80 percent of the donkey work, which will let the scheduler do 20 percent of the fine-tuning. We’re not trying to create the perfect schedule. We’ve never seen it work.” “I have not seen any magical formula,” said Richard Henning, president, Henning Industrial Software, Hudson, Ohio. “You need to monitor the skills people have for specific operations, what machines people are assigned to work on. These are all complex relationships. You still need a human being to help you see the big picture.”

And those guys are job shop scheduling software vendors. But in their defense software just can NOT take into account all the variability that job shops encounter. And yes I know there are some algorithms you can run (and rerun and rerun) that will balance your capacity. But again, it's a continual updating of the schedule. It really doesn't matter if you're running finite capacity scheduling, infinite capacity scheduling, foward scheduling, or backward scheduling -- it takes constant managing and updating. I'm not saying that you shouldn't invest in the an ERP package or even a APS package, just realize that if you just do what you're currently doing a little faster, it's likely that your productivity will not increase, your lead-time will not reduce, and your due date performance will not get better. And isn't that the point?

Job Shop Scheduling Software Solution

Velocity Scheduling System (VSS) is NOT software. It is a visual, manual scheduling system that will work with your existing ERP or no ERP. It is designed specifically for high mix low volume custom job shops and machine shops whose constraint can move week to week or even day to day and who suffer from a number of the job shop scheduling problems and challenges. VSS is implemented during a 14 week coaching program. Each shop is different and the system needs to be customized for your specific shop and challenges -- therefore coaching is extremely important and boxed solutions are not used. Results are realized typically in week 5 but it depends on how fast your team takes action. (more details and our guarantee below is a shorter summary) We need a list of your jobs including their due date, internal process time estimates, and outside process times (if any). And don't worry if your estimates are not accurate. That's to be expected in a custom job shop-- we don't need more detail! We're using the information to come up with a "priority release order". So as long as they are relative to each other, the order is close enough. By visually managing the jobs that are currently in process and on your visual scheduling board - Velocity Board, you eliminate the constant re-scheduling. And the Velocity Board is not like any scheduling board you've ever used. The details of how it works are proprietary, but you get all the specifics in the 14 week coaching program and more importantly we customize it for YOUR custom, complex shop. A good visual scheduling system will help you to see if you have any issues. Nothing can hide and nothing can fall through the cracks. If a problem arises, you see it and can deal with it. There's no rescheduling to do. There's no one walking around with a schedule in their back pocket -- it's a visual SYSTEM. Jobs that are not yet in process are on your To Be Released Board in "priority release order" so that you can visually manage your backlog. One thing we like to view visually on our TBR Board is the status of "full kit" on the jobs waiting for their turn to be released. Another component of Velocity Scheduling System is what we call "Detailed Planning". But detail in this case is much much less. This is where we come up with priority release order (this where we interface with your ERP or whatever you use) that we've already discussed and then we look to see if there are any issues with that release order. For example, if we release in that order might we encounter a constraint? If we release in that order are we likely to meet our due dates? We predict when each job will start and when it will be completed. We do NOT try to predict when each job will be on each machine. That level of detail is very likely to be wrong and cause massive re-scheduling. A macro view of starting and finishing is much more predictable. The order we implement is shown in the graphic below. But before we get to that we need to make sure that you shop is a good fit. So I recommend you watch the scheduling webinar which will provide more detail on Velocity Scheduling System. At the end of that webinar, I'll explain how we can talk to determine if you shop is a good fit and what results are likely. And if I don't think it would work in your case or your results would not be big enough -- I'll let you know. THE key measure in Velocity Scheduling System is productivity. The goal is to get more done with the SAME resources (the definition of productivity). And, if you ship more without increasing costs -- your lead-times reduce, your due date performance improves, and of course, you increase profits. All with less chaos and less re-scheduling. Sincerely, "Dr Lisa" Lang P.S. Check out the solution to job shop scheduling software --> How to Get More Jobs Done Faster Webinar! By Dr Lisa Lang This article is copyrighted by Science of Business, Inc. Visit our Re-post guidelines.

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=2450

FREE Special Report for Machine Shop Owners

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 19:03:00 +0000

Click the link below to download the free special report for machine shop and job shop owners titled: "The 9 Biggest Challenges to Scheduling YOUR Job Shop and Why Most Schedules are Dead on Arrival!" by Dr Lisa Lang.

https://www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com/ebook/

After you read this free special report, please CLICK on "COMMENTS"above and post your comments. I would love to know if you agree or disagree and your reasons!

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/site/?p=296

Conventional Wisdom vs "Off the Shelf TOC" vs Velocity Scheduling System

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 19:03:00 +0000

Here is the second FREE Special Report on scheduling for custom job shops by Dr Lisa Lang. This report takes an in-depth look at the differences between conventional scheduling wisdom, "Off the Shelf TOC" (Traditional DBR & Simplified DBR scheduling), and the Velocity Scheduling System. I think you will find it enlightening. It's something that most TOC consultants don't even understand. Please leave your comments and questions after reading it. https://www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com/ebook2/

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=79

Registration is LIVE!

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 19:00:00 +0000

www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com Thanks for your questions, comments and feedback to the special reports and videos. Video #3 is in the works so stay tuned for that. As I stated in one of my first emails, I was looking to get your feedback so I could fine tune our system to make sure it was ready to release. And in the process, I would provide you some free content and longer explanations of how you could put The Goal to work in your shop. In Video #2, I challenged you with the first actions to take if you really wanted to improve your operations -- and some of you were even brave enough to take the recommended actions! The next actions are customized for YOU. And this is where the Coaching Program takes over. So we are now ready to open registration of the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program! With this system you will - increase your due date performance - decrease your lead-time - and, increase communication while decreasing chaos And more importantly you will do this WITHOUT a consultant camped in your conference room and certainly without the expense. We will guide you and your team through the steps to achieve these results -- and provide the coaching necessary to customize it for your situation. Why is this important now, when most of us have MARKET CONSTRAINTS? For 2 reasons. First to exploit a market constraint you must have your operations in order -- you need to have close to perfect DDP, you need to have shorter lead-times than your competitors, and you need to be able to guarantee these commitments. And second, if you need to cut people, the system will help you to determine where you can cut and have the least impact on your ability to deliver. So, if you're ready to take control and tackle your market constraint, it would be my pleasure to share our experience and provide the system and guidance necessary to make it happen! To register go to: www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=132

Video 3 - Implementing the Velocity Scheduling System

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:58:00 +0000

In this 30 minute video I give you an overview of what's included in the VSS and how the coaching program will work. Then I interview a VSS Coaching Program client. This client was the LAST to get results during our last coaching program. But wait until you hear the results! And Ricky discloses an idea he used after cutting WIP but before his Velocity Board was up. You don't want to miss this! [embed]http://vimeo.com/13109539[/embed] Register NOW at http://www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com By Dr Lisa Lang

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=137

Job Shop Scheduling using the Velocity Scheduling System

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:58:00 +0000

I was interviewed about Theory of Constraints by Gear Technology magazine. You can read that article here: Theory of Constraints article by Dr Lisa Lang.

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/job-shop-scheduling-using-the-velocity-scheduling-system/

Machine Shop gets BIG results with the Velocity Scheduling System

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:50:00 +0000

By Dr Lisa Lang Tanya DiSalvo, President of Criterion Tool & Die, just sent me this email:

Lisa & Brad- We finished off our fiscal year end 10/31..... could have never turned things around w/out the V V S.!!!!!! We finished the year in the black because 'the board' helped us focus on FINISHING! The last 6 months also saw a serious improvement in on time delivery, and an increase in the volume of orders thru our building. We have accepted a long running project, and feel that the self releasing mechanism of "The Board" has allowed us to tackle this type of work effectively while still serving our job shop type customers. No job gets lost in the shuffle no matter how longs its in the building, and the resources (people) have become utility ball players! I have included a snapshot since May of our numbers. Jumped back into Mafia Offer training.... Got the itch to know more!!! THANK YOU! Tanya DiSalvo Criterion Tool

And here are some of their key meterics: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="441"] The Velocity Scheduling System helps this machine shop get on time![/caption] Criterion has almost doubled the dollars out the door. If you ship twice as much and you don't hire anyone or buy any equipment -- what happens to your profits? Tanya is now working on Criterion's Mafia Offer. Because by implementing the Velocity Scheduling System, they have uncovered capacity. So the next step is to sell that capacity. If you need to get your operations in order, you can sign up here: www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com. If registration is closed, you will have the opportunity to get on the waiting list to be notified if there is another session.

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=281

30 Job Shops Improve Scheduling

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:50:00 +0000

30 Job Shops Improve Scheduling

By Dr Lisa Lang

In 2009 we significantly improved the scheduling and operations of 30 custom job shops and machine shops. These 30 shops improved due date performance (DDP) to at least 97%, reduced lead-time by 50%, all while improving communication and reducing chaos. Isn't it time for YOU to do the same? Here's an email that I was copied on just yesterday. It's from one of my VSS clients to someone he is recommending the course to:

Jose, This is the best system for Manufacturing that I have encountered. This is our next step in the cables shop and covers the entire value stream. It is a web based course that you take 2 hours twice a week for a month and the person walks you through your specific implementation and helps you through the problems. We are currently finishing the training and building the new board. Trust me I have seen and implemented many JIT, Lean Six Sigma systems in the past and this is the best. I have copied Dr. Lisa the creator and facilitator of the program. She is top notch. As well I am attaching one of her free reports on how the system compares with other systems. Sincerely, Luis Fernandez Schlumberger Manufacturing Engineer IPC-Cables

It's amazing what can happen when a team of people participate together and acquire a shared vision.

And did I mention that 3 of the companies participating in group 5 were from multi-BILLION dollar conglomerates?

And 4 of the companies in group 5 were Westinghouse vendors because Westinghouse recommended their vendors sign up?

I just laid out my recommendations, the logic and provided a little motivation. They did all the work.

The next group is starting soon and you can sign up at www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com. The Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program is based on Goldratt's Theory of Constraints. So if you ever wanted some guidance putting The Goal (and Drum Buffer Rope) into action, now's the time!

https://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=287

The biggest constraint we Theory of Constraints consultants find is … (part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:46:00 +0000

By Dr Lisa Lang We have worked with companies around the globe and the constraint is always the same. It's how we think. In particular, it's how the business owner or leader of the company thinks. Last time, in Part 1, we discussed the efficiency mind-set and how focusing on efficiency can lead you astray. I made the case that efficiency is NOT a precursor to improved performance, but a by-product. In this installment I want to discuss another type of wrong thinking - the allocation mind-set. You buy the same equipment as your competitors. You hire from the same labor pool. The only difference is how you think. Unfortunately, you and your competitors also think the same way. So you are left to compete in a market where, from your customers' perspective, you're all the same. So they make decisions mostly based on price. Let me explain some of the common ways our thinking goes wrong and the negative effect this wrong thinking can have on your business. The allocation mind-set is where we believe that in order to ensure we are going to make a profit, we have to allocate some portion of our overhead to "product cost". The idea is that if every product we sell absorbs some of our costs, then we will know at what point we are making money and we can better ensure that we cover all our costs. So when we calculate the "gross margin" (GM) of a product it looks something like this: Selling price: $100 -COGS: -$60 ------------------------------ Gross Margin: $40 (also called Gross Profit) Where COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) typically include raw materials and the direct labor used to create the product or deliver the service. (Some companies may allocate more than direct labor, but this is the most common allocated cost.) But if you think about it, direct labor really is NOT a variable cost, unless you pay piece rate. And this is true for both manufacturers and service providers (again unless you pay piece rate - which is very rare). You are going to pay your employees this week whether you sell something or not. It is this allocation of direct labor to COGS that is what I'm referring to as the "allocation mind-set". The amount of direct labor allocated to a product/service is usually based on annual volume assumptions and the estimated time a particular job will take. This means that the allocation of direct labor costs to a job or opportunity influences your decisions: · Which jobs/projects you take. · Which markets you go after. · Which customers get preferential treatment. · How much you charge. So far, you're probably thinking - yeah, that's what we do, what's the problem? The problem is that the allocations you do are based on a volume assumption and time estimates. Both of which we know one thing for sure about - they are wrong. The question is by how much and in which direction. Not only will the amount you allocate be wrong, more importantly, it can lead you astray. The best way for me to demonstrate that is with an example. Let's say that you have a customer who wants to give you more business. They are one of your best customers and in exchange for the additional business they want a volume discount. The volume discount is reasonable and something you do all the time. The problem is that the way they want the product delivered along with their low inventory requirements it's going to require you to do 3X as many set ups as you would normally do for that volume. Using the allocation mind-set you would calculate the gross margin of this new business. And you would allocate the additional setup time to opportunity. Your COGS would include the cost of the additional setups. Now, let's say that the result is that the gross margin percent is slightly NEGATIVE with these additional setups. What would you do? Pass on the additional business? Take the business but give that customer lower priority and complain about that customer every time you run their job? What decision will you make with this cost allocation mind-set? Who knows since this isn't a real situation, but before you continue reading, please give it some thought. How do you generally feel about more setups or about lower margin work? If you're like most people you would probably pass on the business or try to negotiate with your customer to take more products at once so that you could reduce the number of setups you would do. And you may even find yourself saying "the cost of those setups makes this business unattractive for us". Let's challenge our thinking with Theory of Constraints and Throughput Accounting concepts. Let's challenge the allocation mind-set. First, how much throughput would the additional volume generate? Throughput = Sales - Truly Variable Costs. Truly Variable Costs (TVCs) are all the costs you pay as a result of selling one more. Typical TVCs include raw materials, purchase parts, outside services, subcontracted services, freight, and sales commission. The Theory of Constraints definition of TVCs do NOT include direct labor unless you pay piece rate. So when we calculate the "throughput" (T) of a product it looks something like this: Selling price: $100 -TVCs: -$20 ------------------------------ Throughput: $80 Next, determine if you will need to increase your fixed costs (operating expenses) if you take this additional volume? Will you need to hire anyone or buy any equipment? If so, how much? Let's say we do not need to hire anyone or buy any equipment. And if this is the case, we don't currently have an internal constraint. We most likely have a market constraint. The way we recommend you think about this decision is by comparing the change in Throughput (ΔT) versus the change in Operating Expense (ΔOE) as a result of this additional business. And if the ΔT is greater than the ΔOE, the difference goes to covering all your operating expenses and helping you make a profit. The fact is that, in most cases, a setup doesn't cost ANYTHING (or they cost a little raw material to get the machine lined out). They do, however, take time. But it is imperative that you differentiate between cost and time. If additional setups would consume so much capacity that you would need to add equipment or people, then it would be reflected in the change in OE. But to deliver that offer you need to do more setups. But because YOU understand that set-ups do not cost anything you are willing to do it. And your competitors are not! Which means you can make thinking differently pay off by taking market share. I'm not saying that if ΔT > ΔOE that you must take the business, but I am trying to get you to look at the real situation and understand the real bottom-line effect. Because in this example we would potentially pass on business that would add incremental Throughput and if you do have a market constraint then don't you need more business? Shouldn't you be trying to determine what you would need to offer your market to take market share instead of trying to talk your customer out of doing more setups? The allocation mind-set has you striving to reduce YOUR setups so that you can reduce YOUR costs. Notice that it's all about you. Not a good place to be if you have a market constraint. Now imagine that it's not the customer coming to ask you to increase your set-ups, but instead you created a Mafia Offer that better served your customers needs by: · increasing availability of the right products · by reducing overall inventory · by reducing the amount of cash they have tied up in inventory You can hear an example of such a mafia offer here: http://www.scienceofbusiness.com/free-stuff/free-videos-audios/video-player/videoid/20.aspx So if you improve your operations by eliminating the efficiency mind-set we talked about in Part 1 and then challenge your thinking about allocations to create a great Mafia Offer - what would happen to your business? How much more money could you make? The combination of our Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program (for custom job shops) or Project Velocity System Coaching Program (for your engineering department) with our Mafia Offer Boot Camp will accomplish just that. In Part 3 we will cover the cost mind-set. If you have questions or comments on Part 2, please click on the "Leave a Comment" link at the top of this post. Wishing you Success! Dr Lisa (c)Copyright Science of Business, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=371

Theory of Constraints Results After 1 Year

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:44:00 +0000

By Dr Lisa Lang You may remember these graphs from some reported results (a testimonial) on job shop scheduling below. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="441"] The Velocity Scheduling System helps this machine shop get on time![/caption] Well I just got an update from Tanya. Here it is:

SUBJECT: Our One Year Anniversary “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. ”

Accenture just released a report in conjunction with the United Nations Global Compact called “A New Era of Sustainability.” The most significant finding was that 93% of the approximately 1,000 CEOs surveyed from across the globe indicated they believe sustainability is important to their companies’ future success. So if sustainability is important to you, maybe the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program is a good fit. The Velocity Scheduling System that Tanya uses is based on the Theory of Constraints Drum Buffer Rope. There are 1000s of success stories dating back to the 80s. Build -- Capitialize -- Sustain. We agree that sustainability is important. The key is how to achieve it. The answer is simple -- the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program.

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=443

Manufacturing heads back to USA (reshoring) - USATODAY.com

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:42:00 +0000

This article in the USAToday on reshoring manufacturing back to the US is interesting and not at all surprising. Regarding this part of the article: "Products that are labor-intensive and churned out in high volumes, such as apparel, textiles and TVs, will likely continue to be made overseas. So will those that are relatively inexpensive to ship but high-priced, such as laptops and cellphones, Ellis says. Goods are increasingly being made near customers, a trend that's driving U.S. makers to build factories in fast-growing China." I did an RMTMA (Rocky Mountion Tooling and Machining Association) dinner presentation several years ago titled "China, India, Tawain ... Oh My!" and my contention then was (and still is) that the more flexible and custom you are as a manufacturer the more likely your work will stay here. The faster you can get highly custom work through your shop -- the more secure your future is. I suggest taking a look at the work you hate to do -- and figure out a way to make it easier, start loving it, and go get more of it because your competition hates it too! The shops participating in our Velocity Scheduling System program are seeing their lead-times cut by more than 50%. If they can have something ready to ship while everyone else is still complaining about it -- they are going to be extremely successful in the long run.

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=461

R&D Tax Credit to Improve Job Shop Scheduling

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:39:00 +0000

The Tax Extenders Package signed by President Obama on December 17th, 2010 calls for a two year extension, retroactive to 1/1/10 and through 12/31/11 for the R&D Tax Credit. The definition of Research and Development (R&D) is much broader than people realize. Activities and costs associated with developing and/or improving a product or process can potentially generate R&D Tax Credits. This means that your tuition for the Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program may be covered -- check with your accountant. So learn a new way to run and schedule your shop, get on-time, get happy customers, get more customers --- and then get a tax credit! How cool is that! And even if, for some reason, it doesn't apply to you. Velocity Scheduing System Coaching Program is so reasonably priced it may not be worth the effort to look for a writeoff or funding. Now, the only other question you may have is --- Yes, but will Velocity Scheduling System work for me? Will it work in my my shop with our unique situations and challenges? I don't know, because even though over a hundred highly custom job shops have had fantastic success, that doesn't mean you will. But I'm willing to investigate it with you. So if you'd like a private strategy session to discuss your company, your unique scheduling challenges and how/if our scheduling solution will work for you, you can sign up here, there's no charge:

https://www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com/private

You'll need to enter your name and phone number so that we can call you to schedule a time to talk. I am personally doing these sessions and we will be going deep into YOUR scheduling challenges. I will hold nothing back and give you my best advice, even if it is that you should NOT sign up for VSS. Time slots are limited SO SIGN UP NOW! Dr Lisa President, Science of Business

P.S. Sign up for the no charge strategy session here: www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com/private This is your first step to getting on-time in 2011 and then to getting a tax credit!

P.P.S. And some states have their own R&D Tax Credit too. I know Ohio has one, so check with your accountant on that too. But don't spend too much time, VSS typically pays back in a couple weeks. It's based on the Theory of Constraints Simplified Drum Buffer Rope, and it works FAST!

http://velocityschedulingsystem.wordpress.com/?p=504

Reshoring U.S. Manufacturing -- a 3 part article series

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:20:00 +0000

The final part in a 3 part series on reshoring has just been published. Part 1 is titled Velocity Manufacturing and is authored by Dr Lisa Lang . Part 2 is titled Total Cost of Ownership Calculation and is authored by Harry Moser. Then Part 3 was co-written by the two and is titled Reshoring Manufacturing Can Increase Your Competitiveness. June: http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=70112&p=46 -- Part 1 August: http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=77825&p=56 -- Part 2 October: http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=82790&p=28 -- Part 3 This 3 part series was brought to you by Fastener Technology International. If you have questions or comments for Harry Moser or Dr Lisa -- please leave them below.

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=1177

Manufacturing Expert Dr Lisa Lang is featured in MoldMaking Technology Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:16:00 +0000

The Secret to Getting On Time and Reducing Leadtimes

Create a competitive advantage by refocusing your job scheduling strategy.

Article From: MoldMaking Technology, Dr. Lisa Lang, President from Science of Business Job scheduling plays a big role in our on-time delivery performance and leadtime, which determines our competitive position within our industry. This is particularly true as competition has gotten more fierce in recent years. Only the best shops have survived. And those shops have very good quality and lead the pack in expertise. This means that scheduling is where and how you can really stand out. But there’s no question that scheduling has its challenges; and, every time we encounter a challenge our schedule is out of date and requires an update. We spend a lot of time updating the schedule. Following are just a few of the common scheduling challenges that cause us to continually update the schedule:

Clients change their mind
Vendors aren’t always reliable
Mix can vary wildly and so our constraint moves
Employees do not always have the right skill and their discipline is lacking
Processes are not reliable
Machines and tools break
Quality is not near perfect
Data is not readily available nor accurate nor communicated
Communication between silos is difficult

Mold shops usually don’t have the luxury of making the same parts over and over again. The mix of work and amount of repair/emergency work a shop has can change so dramatically week to week that their bottlenecks can move, making on-time delivery a real challenge. Most shops have tried a number of strategies to improve their on-time delivery and reduce leadtimes—e.g., updated ERP or scheduling software, used some lean techniques or hired an expeditor—but, the results are usually not substantial. And, that’s because typical solutions address the various symptoms, but don’t address the root cause. So how do you address the root cause? How can you dramatically improve your scheduling?

The Secret Solution

The secret is to stop focusing on efficiency. When you are willing to do that, and put a more effective scheduling system in place, you create a buffer to better absorb all those sources of variability listed above. If you are willing to give this strategy a try and your competitors continue to cling to efficiency, you can create an incredible competitive advantage. So, what does it mean to be efficient? The definition from Dictionary.com is “performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort.” Money and cost should be added to that definition. One of the ways we typically apply efficiency in a shop is by keeping all our equipment and/or people busy so that we don’t waste any capacity and have the highest possible utilization. But to keep our key resources busy they all must have a job to work on, and to increase the likelihood that all resources have work, we typically make all jobs in house available to be worked on. “Available to be worked on” means included in our work-in-process. This max’s out your work-in-process and increases the pile of work at every work center. That way all key resources have a very high probability of having something to work on. This is particularly relevant in shops where the mix of work can change from week to week. That’s one of the things we do in the name of efficiency. According to Little’s Law there is a direct correlation between the amount of work-in-process we have and our leadtime. The higher our work-in-process, the longer our leadtimes. Figure 1 is an illustration showing the relationship between work-in-process and leadtime.

The more jobs that wait for their turn, the longer the average queuing time, leading to longer production leadtimes. Example 1 has the most work-in-process and longest leadtime. And, conversely, Example 3 has the least work-in-process and the shortest leadtime. So, as you increase work-in-process, you are also increasing your leadtime—not to mention the amount of cash you have tied up in raw materials. But wait, there’s more—on-time delivery decreases. The diagram does not include the effect of variability. But if it did, it would show that the variability of production leadtime is increased as the queue grows. So the effect of high work-in-process just gets more dramatic the more variability you have. This directly reduces the on-time delivery because it is more difficult to predict the exact production leadtime and to confirm orders accordingly. High work-in-process can also have an impact on quality. Many production failures occur early in the routing, but are detected much later in the production process (usually at final inspection). If work-in-process is high, the average leadtime is also high, causing a long lag time between the production steps and the final inspection. That means the final inspection step occurs a long time after the step that caused the failure. And because so much time has passed, it can be difficult to determine and correct the root cause of the quality problem, making improvement very difficult. Thus, the higher the work-in-process, the harder it is to detect and correct quality problems. All of this leads to why you should stop focusing on efficiency. As you stop focusing on efficiency and reduce work-in-process, here’s what happens: Queue time reduces Leadtime reduces Leadtime predictability increases On-time delivery increases Quality increases Cash flow increases As a result of these improvements, your production leadtime becomes much shorter (if you do it right) than your quoted leadtime. This difference can be used in two ways. First, it creates a buffer allowing you to absorb a fair amount of variability and further enhancing your on-time delivery performance. And secondly, the difference is so big that you can also afford to reduce the quoted leadtime to customers.

Summary

The combination of a shorter quoted leadtime and 99-percent + due date performance creates a competitive advantage. Understanding that all of this is easier said than done, but it’s not physically hard to do, it is just mentally challenging because we don’t have intuition around this approach. Take some time to digest the negative effects an efficiency focus can have on your shop scheduling. LearnMore: Check out Dr Lisa’s 47 minute webinar How to Get More Jobs Done Faster at www.velocitySchedulingSystem.com/webinar. Contributor: “Dr. Lisa” Lang is one of the foremost Theory of Constraints experts in the world and a sought after manufacturing expert having been named the 2012 Manufacturing Trendsetter in the USA Today for her inexpensive and guaranteed Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program that has dramatically improved performance of well over 100 highly custom job shops and machine shops. She has also appeared in CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Finance.com, About.com, NY Daily News, CNBC, The Boston Globe, The Miami Herald, and others. She is active in helping reshore manufacturing back to the U.S. and in the NTMA, PMA, and AMT communities having helped member companies to reduce their lead-times and improve due date performance. She worked with Dr. Goldratt who is the father of Theory of Constraints and author of the bestselling book, The Goal. Dr Lisa is the President of the Science of Business specializing in increasing profits of highly custom manufacturers by applying Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma to operations with Velocity Scheduling System and to engineering/design with Project Velocity System and to marketing with her Mafia Offer Boot Camp. Here's the link to the article in MoldMaking Technology Magazine: http://www.moldmakingtechnology.com/articles/the-secret-to-getting-on-time-and-reducing-leadtimes.

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=1470

Michigan Precision Machine Shop Scheduling Success Story

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:13:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Manufacturing and Theory of Constraints Expert Dr. Lisa Lang Features a Michigan Precision Machine Shop Success Story

Robert Peuterbaugh, President of Joint Production Technology, shares his story of how the Velocity Scheduling System is helping his company to see increased production and profits. Green Valley, AZ – December 29, 2012 – “Dr. Lisa” Lang, President of the Science of Business and Theory of Constraints expert, is proud to share another client job shop scheduling success story. Robert Peuterbaugh, president of Joint Production Technology (JPT) in Macomb, Michigan. Robert has utilized Dr. Lisa’s Velocity Scheduling System to improve productivity at his facility. The Velocity Scheduling System is based on Theory of Constraints, but it has been adapted for highly custom job shops and machine shops whose constraint can move week-to-week or day-to-day. Robert Peuterbaugh’s case study and success story (written by Mike Touzeau) can be found at https://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/VSS-success-1-v4.pdf Here is an excerpt:

Providing high tech innovations for precision cutting, boring, and other applicable manufacturing functions for such big outfits as GM, Ford, TRW, and many others here and abroad, Peuterbaugh knows his operation inside out. Battling the downturn like everyone else, this seasoned leader has always investigated long-term remedies rather than groping for gimmicks, so he began to search for solutions. “As things got worse, I looked at what would make things better,” he said.” I had followed Dr. Lisa’s emails for two years before signing up.” He knew it would be important to improve productivity, so having read much of what Dr. Lisa had written on Velocity Scheduling System (VSS), he took the plunge, knowing many others wouldn’t. “Sometimes you say that we’re good at what we do, so why change?” “When I saw all the reasons,” he put it, “it all fit. That’s what got me to talk to her.” JPT HAS SHOWN A 64 % INCREASE IN SHIPPED $. He estimates between a 25 and 35 percent profit increase “directly attributable,” he says, to the changes his team instituted after starting the VSS program in February. Once the process started working, he recalls, his team stood in awe at the seamless flow, shipping each day with customers getting something every day. “They just could not believe it.”

And another:

Robert Peuterbaugh’s story is probably not unlike your own. You worked hard to build a solid reputation with your customers. You want American manufacturing to be great, and though you’re a successful small or large operation, scheduling is still always an issue. VSS is a system that creates a continuous flow in your operation so all your employees share in knowing what needs to be done and when.

A member of many manufacturing organizations, Robert Peuterbaugh works with local schools to promote manufacturing career education, and serves on the Board of Directors for Tooling, Manufacturing & Technologies Association (TMTA). To learn specifically what Robert did to improve Joint Production Technology, watch a 47-minute webinar on “How to Get More Jobs Done Faster” at https://www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com/webinar/ or read the “9 Challenges to Scheduling Your Job Shop” ebook at https://www.VelocitySchedulingSystem.com/ebook/. “Dr. Lisa” Lang is one of the foremost Theory of Constraints experts in the world and a sought after manufacturing expert having been named the 2012 Manufacturing Trendsetter in the USA Today for her inexpensive and guaranteed Velocity Scheduling System Coaching Program that has dramatically improved performance of well over 100 highly custom job shops and machine shops. She has also appeared in CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Finance.com, About.com, Gear Technology, CNBC, MoldMaking Technology, The Fabricator, NTMA’s The Record and many others. She is active in helping the reshoring of manufacturing back to the U.S. and in the NTMA, PMA, and AMT communities having helped member companies to reduce their lead-times and improve due date performance. She worked with Dr. Goldratt who is the father of Theory of Constraints and author of the bestselling book, The Goal. Dr Lisa is the President of the Science of Business specializing in increasing profits of highly custom manufacturers by applying Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma (TLS) to operations with Velocity Scheduling System and to engineering/design with Project Velocity System and to marketing with her Mafia Offer Boot Camp. ### Contact: Dr Lisa Lang Science of Business, Inc DrLisa@ScienceofBusiness.com keywords: Dr Lisa Lang, Dr Lisa, Theory of Constraints, Velocity Scheduling System, job shop scheduling, machine shop scheduling, Goldratt, reshoring manufacturing, Success Story, Case Study, TMTA, Michigan Manufacturer Links: http://prlog.org/12050614 http://www.pressnewsroom.com/?p=18180 http://bit.ly/Wbxt5w

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=1666

Job Shop and Machine Shop Profitability part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Lisa Lang) — Sun, 28 May 2017 18:05:00 +0000

This is the second in the series of conversations. Brad: “Just what should a highly custom job shop or machine shop company set as a profitability goal? What is reasonable? How high is up?” Dr. Lisa: “I’ll give you Dr Eliyahu Goldratt’s answer and then I give my more direct answer. Dr. Goldratt stated that profitability goal of the business should be a level of return on sales that top management of a company agrees is definitely impossible to attain.” Dr. Lisa: “For example, if everyone agrees that 5% Return of Sales is definitely possible, that is too low of a goal. If everyone feels the same about 6%, 7%, 8%, and 9%, they those levels are also too low of a goal. But if everyone agrees that 10% is not achievable, that then becomes the goal.” Brad: “That would be an interesting exercise for any CEO to do with his or her top management team.” Dr Lisa: “My answer: How high is up is going to be dependent on 1) what percent your Truly Variable Costs (TVCs) are of sales. And 2) how much capacity you can undercover – meaning how much productivity you can gain with the same people and resources.” Dr Lisa: Knowing both of these numbers (better to be approximately right, than precisely wrong), will allow you to arrive at a very feasible goal and yet one that most will agree is not attainable based on previous experience.” Dr Lisa: Using the same example from our last conversation, I’ve added the Return on Sales:

We’ve gone from 0% Return on Sales to 8.3% Return on Sales by being able to sell the 20% productivity gain that was achieved. Brad: “Many job shops and machine shops that we work with have 20 to 35% TVCs (which typically includes raw materials, outside services, and sales commission if any). Some more some less, but this is common. When I initially analyze the financials of a company, I’m looking for the actions and implementation steps required to bring the company to reliably make a 20% Return on Sales month in and month out, year in and year out.” Dr. Lisa: “Ha! Be careful, you’ll scare some business owners with that goal. He or she will definitely think that goal is unattainable!” Brad: “A small business making 20% Return on Sales is a lot more fun to run than a larger business barely managing to reach breakeven.” Dr. Lisa: “For sure. A company with sales of $2.5 million and a 20% Return on Sales has $500,000 of net income. And so does a company with $25 million of sales with a measly 2% Return on Sales”. Brad: “Now the nifty thing is that TOC ‘silver bullets’ can be used with that same company with $25 million in sales to bring them to achieve a 20% Return on Sales – a jump from $500,000 to $5 million of net profit.” Dr. Lisa: “Yes, no wonder that Merger & Acquisition and Turnaround Management Professionals are showing a lot of interest in TOC.” Brad: “Okay, so let’s discuss more about how this fantastic improvement just might be possible…” To be continued. Best Wishes, Dr Lisa and Brad Stillahn P.S. To ask questions or leave a comment go below this post. P.P.S. To find out more about improving productivity in highly custom job shops and machine shops, take a tour around this site. You'll want to check out the job shop scheduling ebook and the webinar. P. P.P.S. If you have plenty of capacity, but can’t sell it, visit www.MafiaOffers.com. By Dr Lisa Lang and Brad Stillahn This article is copyrighted by Science of Business, Inc. Visit our Re-post guidelines.

http://www.velocityschedulingsystem.com/?p=1761