Monday, April 4, 2011

Flow to the extreme


A simulation clip for a train designed to never stop I fisrt saw over at the Goldratt House.
First off, I think it is important to think about the paradingm shift this represents. All the trains I have ever encountered work on the same paradigm - the train waits for people to board/unboard. This is, to the best of my knowledge, a main reason for train schedule flactuations. A Londoner once told me that he could catch the underground  at 7:45 and be at work within 10 minutes, or he could be a bit late and catch it at 8:00 and then be at work within 30 minutes. So it is pretty clear what is the power of this new technology and it is probably good practice to try and work through the other questions of new technology. But what keeps troubling me is - how does this thing turn around to start the trip back if it never stops?

In manufacturing we seek flow because it means inventories are moving and as inventories move in one direction they create a move of income (or rather Throughput) in the other direction.Jusr remember flow is only a means to a goal and must be viewed from the greater perspective of the entire system (here's why)

No comments: