QRM builds on the basic principles of eliminating waste and improving efficiency, while also incorporating principles unique to QRM. These include:
- Laser-like focus on lead time reduction in manufacturing.
- Rethinking the manufacturing process and equipment decisions, to put the focus on lead time reduction.
- Focusing all aspects of the organization, from the shop floor to the front office. This is including vendors in the supply chain, on quick responses and reducing lead times.
- Training managers on using time-based strategies.
- Linking business strategies to functional strategies
- Measuring performance in “time” units instead of monetary units.
- Using the principles of system dynamics to achieve a quick response.
- Cell-based system of manufacturing.
- Implementing the Paired-Cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization (POLCA) planning and control method
- A focus on implementation and sustaining changes that reduce lead times.
- Using Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT) to measure lead times.
With its focus on reducing lead times, manufacturing critical-path time is one of the key metrics used to measure success. This is the total time from when a customer creates an order, through the critical path, until the first part of the order is delivered. Notice that the clock starts when the customer creates an order. How quickly that order is received, processed, and moved into the manufacturing process is a part of the critical path. If orders come through an order desk, which includes salespeople manually entering the order, manufacturing may not start until the next day. If the customer enters the order directly into an automated online system, manufacturing can start within minutes after the order was created.
Reducing Lead Times
By focusing on reducing the manufacturing critical-path lead time, waste is identified with the result that overhead costs are significantly reduced. The goals of the organization become unified around reducing lead time, with activities that increase lead time being eliminated or redesigned.
1. The Power Of Time
Many hidden costs within a business are driven by long lead times. Typical symptoms include excess inventories, planning difficulties, expediting costs, overtime, quality issues, and so on. The result is often dissatisfied customers and a stressed workforce.
By visualizing the lead time clearly and using one overriding measure to drive it down, the organization will have clarity on its strategic goal and avoid confusion around conflicting objectives.
The overriding measure is MCT – Manufacturing Critical path Time; ‘ the typical amount of calendar time from when a customer creates an order, through the critical path, until the first pieces of that order are delivered to the customer.’
2. Organization Structure
The traditional focus on resource efficiency has driven a high degree of specialization into many organizations. Lead-time can become extended as a result, due to inflexibility (e.g. specialized equipment that suffers long changeover times, or specialized personnel that can only perform a narrow range of tasks – and frequently have long queues in front of them). In fast-moving production environments, the ‘bottleneck’ process often moves, so inflexible mass production systems are not the answer here.
QRM Cells overcome this through a high degree of cross-training and autonomy, promoting flexibility for resources to move to where the workload currently is. QRM promotes Flow efficiency underpinned by an additional capacity to keep the job moving, rather than holding additional inventory and applying Pull systems.
3. System Dynamics
Lead time is related to capacity utilization, demand variability, and lot sizing. High utilization is great for resource efficiency, but damages Flow – think about this by comparing driving along a freeway during rush hour, versus driving along the same roadway in the middle of the night! In Atlanta I285 and I75 is a well-known model that illustrates this phenomenon. The higher your utilization, the longer your queue is.
Also, the higher your variation the longer your queue is. Underpinning Flow efficiency by maintaining spare capacity will help absorb variability in demand and protect lead-time reduction. System dynamics will help managers to understand the impact that utilization and variability have on lead-time, and how even a small investment in additional capacity can generate a significant lead-time improvement.
4. Enterprise Application
QRM is not just a shop-floor-focused approach. Functions such as order processing, new product introduction, purchasing, and supply chain management can all have a significant impact on the overall lead-time experienced by the customer. Office-based QRM Cells can apply the same lead-time reduction philosophy to their processes to contribute to a reduction in overall lead time. As with any change management process, clarity of the goal and its benefits are essential to communicate. Remember, QRM is driven by the goal of lead-time reduction, to which all aspects of the business can contribute.
Quick Response Manufacturing applies to every aspect of an organization, is singular in its focus, and simple to understand – generating competitive advantage through relentless reduction of lead-time.
- Office and including vendors in the supply chain, on quick responses and reducing lead times.
- Training managers on using time-based strategies.
- Linking business strategies to functional strategies.
- Measuring performance in “time” units instead of monetary units.
- Using the principles of system dynamics to achieve a quick response.
- Cell-based system of manufacturing.
- Implementing the Paired-Cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization (POLCA) planning and control method.
- A focus on implementation and sustaining changes that reduce lead times.
- Using Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT) to measure lead times.
Quick Response Manufacturing applies to every aspect of an organization, is singular in its focus, and simple to understand – generating competitive advantage through relentless reduction of lead-time.
