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In the D.C., patience is a virtue.
It seems to be a common practice in many operations to flood the floor, or conveyor system with orders as soon as they are available. The prevailing feeling is that if we put the orders out there, then we will be able to see what needs to get done. The inevitable result is clogging of conveyors, constant recirculation that reduces capacity and lengthens order cycle time and large buffers of incomplete work that are difficult to manage.
Don’t push orders into the system. Match the introduction of orders with available processing capacity. It is a pull system, if you will, with a constant rate of processing based on staffing level.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James M. Apple, Jr. is a Director in The Progress Group. Prior to co-founding The Progress Group in 1991, he was a Partner with Coopers & Lybrand's SysteCon division. During 1992-1995 he served as a Senior Systems Advisor with Vanderlande Industries, a major conveyor and systems provider in Europe.
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