Factory Physics – 2 day course
The instructors from Factory Physics Inc., USA start out with the classic Rother and Shook map
from ‘Learning to See’; but add process variation, breakdowns, rework, demand variation.
Then they explore possibilities. How will the following affect leadtime and inventory:




Reducing process variation (which one is best?)
Reducing changeover
Reducing mean time to repair
Reducing rework
It is then up to management to decide
An overview of the practical science of Factory Physics® principles





Improve on time delivery and cash flow, optimize inventory and lower costs
Resolve conflicts and fill in the gaps between Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Theory of
Constraints and other frameworks to get YOUR company's productivity initiatives focused
for the biggest benefits and best approach for YOUR operations
Factory Physics principles and tools work using practical science, not slogans, so you can
make more money faster
Understand and resolve conflicting objectives, e.g. less inventory vs. higher customer
service or higher utilization vs. shorter cycle times
Demonstrate examples of the application of Factory Physics® principles in practice
Program Content
Financial Measures
Basic Factory Dynamics
Variability Basics
Corrupting Influence of Variability
Calculating Capacity and Utilization
Understanding Cycle Time
Optimizing and Managing Inventory
Factory Physics Sales and Operations Planning
Hands-on exercises and computer simulation illustrations
Who Should Attend
Manufacturing and Supply Chain Operations Executives
Planning and Production Control Managers
Anyone trying to improve performance of their company's operations
Bring and Use Your Own Data to do a first-pass examination of your own processes.
The data we need is the data that people use for putting together their value stream maps
plus some, for each product at each step:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Rate
Set up time
WIP at each step
Shift time (scheduled run time per period)
The additional info:
5)
Mean time between failures (MTBF) and Mean Time to Repair (MTTR). This is
only for each machine and not dependent on product. If this is not easy to get, the
Availability number for each machine as used in “Learning To See” will do.
6)
Lot size
7)
Yield
8)
Demand per period for each product
9)
Finished Goods and Raw Material for each product
10) Fill rate for Finished Goods and Raw Materials
You may not have all of this but the more you bring, the more you will benefit.
Course Content Description and Expected Outcome
Topic
Content
Basic Factory Physics
Dynamics
A description of the
fundamental relationships
between work in process,
cycle time and throughput.
Absolute Benchmarking is
introduced as an objective
framework for determining
best, marginal and worst
case performance
boundaries for a process.
The uses of Absolute
Benchmarking for identifying
process improvement
opportunities are explored.
Further quantitative
understanding of process
performance fundamentals.
A quantitative description of
the parameters and
equations governing
variability in process
performance. Definition of the
three levers (inventory, time
and capacity) used to
manage variability when
trying to achieve best cash
flow and highest profitability.
Improved understanding of
the drivers of variability in
processes.
A description of the effects of
variability on process
performance and the
appropriate priority to place
on variability reduction in
addressing process
performance.
Improved understanding of
the role of variability in
process performance.
Variability Basics
Corrupting Influence
of Variability
Expected Outcome
Understanding of the use of
Absolute Benchmarking.
Preliminary evaluations of
where participants process
(es) are performing.
Improved understanding of
the strengths and
weaknesses of popular
continuous improvement
programs.
A framework for
understanding appropriate
uses of Six Sigma, Lean,
and Theory of Constraint
tools in performance
improvement efforts.
Optimizing
Inventories
Financial Measures
Computer Simulation
examples and case
studies
Factory Physics Sales
and Operations
Planning
An overview of the drivers of
inventory is provided.
Involves an exercise in
reducing inventory while
maintaining a high level of
customer service.
Better understanding of
inventory management and
methods to improve existing
operations.
The primary requirement for
any business is to stay in
business and that means
staying profitable.
Throughout the seminar,
Factory Physics concepts are
continually addressed in the
context of how they help
achieve financial and
marketing objectives.
A detailed understanding of
how the natural conflicts in a
business can be best
managed to achieve highest
possible cash flow.
EXCEL examples for simple
demonstration of concepts
and applications to
participants’
companies. Demonstrations
of Factory Physics’ CSUITE
software.
Insight to how software can
be used to assess
performance.
A capstone discussion
demonstrating application of
powerful Factory Physics
concepts to firmly link optimal
strategic planning to daily
execution.
An understanding of how
executive strategies can be
tied directly to daily
execution to achieve
marketing and financial
goals.
Familiarization with the use
of efficient frontier curves for
making strategic inventory
decisions.
Improved understanding of
the strengths and
weaknesses of standard
cost accounting measures
and solutions for addressing
the gaps.
Knowledge of how to
interpret the outcome of a
simulation.
Knowledge of how to
completely change the way
you use your ERP/MRP
system so that it is a
powerful planning and
control tool rather than only
a transaction tracking
database.