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We now know how to squeeze the maximum out of John. However, if I
only organize the foreman of my biggest limitation and I don't give any
attention to the foremen of the non constraint resources, then they will not be
working in line with my biggest limitation (step 3). This will lead very soon to
another disaster in the factory. What will be the role of Bill ? Or in other
words, what will be the role of the non weakest links ? |
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If you want a group of marching soldiers to arrive at the same time at their destination,
then everybody should
march in the same pace as the slowest soldier. To manage this you can introduce a drummer boy. Each time the drummer boy
hits the drum everybody takes one (1) step.
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The drum is used to set the pace of the whole troop at the pace of the
slowest soldier to assure, that the whole troop is marching in the same pace and arrives at the same
time at their final destination. Furthermore, behind the troop we put a sergeant-major. If the
distance between two people is getting too big, he gives a shout and the concerning soldier walks for a
while a little bit slower or faster.
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It doesn't hurt anybody because they can adapt their pace to the slowest soldier. In fact their is an
analogy with the drummer boy organizing the troop by controlling the slowest
soldier and managing your constraint in a sequence of business operations.
The pacesetter in our business environment is the constraint as defined in
step 1 of the 'Five Step' cycle. This is why we use often instead of the word pace setter the word 'DRUM'.
In other words: "The DRUM (= schedule of the constraint) is the
pace setter for the total process and a guidance for the raw material control".
This means that the material issue operation and the schedule
of the constraint (= DRUM) must be connected to each other. It is named the
'gating operation', because you open for a moment the gate to let the raw
materials go through. This to guarantee the material arrives in the right
sequence and in the right quantity and at the right time at the constraint in
order to make sure "the handle" never stops. |
