One-Piece Flow vs Batching A Guide to Understanding How Continuous Flow Maximizes Productivity and Customer Value Endorsements K25855 – One-Piece Flow vs Batching by Charles Protzman “This is the first book I have read that comprehensively confronts the ills of batching in a single volume and provides an alternative It does so in language that is clear and accessible to all levels in an organisation - from CEO to middle managers to workers on the shop floor! A great contribution to the ‘improving productivity’ agenda Read it!” Augustus J Lusack MSc, MBA, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Founder: ‘Why Not?’ Solutions Limited, www.whynotsolutions.co.uk; Head of Pathology, Northampton General Hospital, Northampton, UK “This book is relevant to both newer students of Lean as well as seasoned Lean practitioners looking to gain an insightful understanding of a cause of much waste in our organizations, BATCHING By presenting numerous examples from many different industries, readers will finish the book appropriately armed to first identify and then eliminate batching.” Kenneth W Place Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt University of Illinois BIS “I am a batch-person Whenever there is a chance to batch I have a certain tendency to so Charles Protzman’s book made me reconsider this position I think this is the best one can say about any book As a ‘good’ scientist I not agree in all points; but I consider the arguments brought forward for one-piece flow convincing It is not a dull repetition of you ‘should not batch’, but reasonable arguments against batching are developed While this sounds not very exciting, practical examples and great writing style make it a very enjoyable read In short - the authors successfully continue Ohno’s quest towards one-piece flow.” Matthias Thürer Professor, Jinan University, China “I have spent 38 years in the steel industry in quality assurance, process control and operations management and have been successful by finding ways to optimize performance by taking advantage of new technology, understanding and controlling process variation, and looking for opportunities to get more for less Like the plant manager that Charlie dedicated this book to, though, I have to admit that I still believe that in some industries there is cost savings to be had by increasing batch size I would be the last guy to tell you that it might be efficient to make a heat of steel for each casting that you are producing But I will admit the book makes you think about what savings could be possible if that was technically possible Charlie uses an example in the book of having to wait until you fill up the dishwasher and run the cycle before you get a clean plate He challenges you to imagine if there was a dishwasher that does one place setting at a time What a dumb idea, right? I was just in an innovation class where it was discussed that Whirlpool has been working on just such a device, but has not yet overcome the resistance to the cost of retrofitting it into current households Their new strategy is to work with builders of new homes Maybe not such a bad idea after all If we stick to our old paradigms we may never see the opportunity to try something different Remember there are three stages to implementing change The first stage is total resistance When the idea first comes up it is always a really dumb idea Giving up on economies of scale and our very nature to complete one task on all parts before moving on? After enjoying an easy read with some great examples and taking advantage of the workshop activities that Charlie has presented, you might make it to stage two in the change process: ‘hey this stuff may actually work’ When you actually implement one-piece flow and watch your inventories disappear, your quality improve, and your costs decrease you will have made it to stage three in the change process You will be proud to tell Charlie, ‘I am glad I thought of it’.” Jon Schumacher Chief Operating Officer Wheel, Amsted Rail One-Piece Flow vs Batching A Guide to Understanding How Continuous Flow Maximizes Productivity and Customer Value Charles Protzman Joe McNamara Dan Protzman CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2016 by Charles Protzman, Joe McNamara, Dan Protzman CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S Government works Version Date: 20150923 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-2695-5 (eBook - PDF) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint Except as permitted under U.S Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400 CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com This book is dedicated to a favorite plant manager of mine who happens to work in China He has done an exceptional job of turning around his plant in his first two years, but his success is also inhibiting his ability to truly maximize his profitability He doesn’t know it, but he inspired this book I have worked hard to convert him from the batching mindset to one-piece flow but, as of this writing, have not succeeded in converting him Hopefully by the second or third edition, if we are that fortunate, we will have converted his thinking to that of a flow mindset But only he can change his mind No one else can it for him All I can is hopefully provide a compelling need for him to change Hence the writing of this book Contents Foreword .xv Preface xix Acknowledgments xxi Authors xxiii The Silent Productivity Killer The Initial Source of Inspiration What Is Batching? A Brief Example of Batch vs Flow Timeout Timeout Review Who Batches … and What’s the Big Deal If It’s “Me?” We All Batch Types of Batching 19 Types of Batching .19 Pure Batch .19 Timeout 21 Segmented Batch 21 Cashier Line: Segmented Batch 21 Period Batch 23 Location Batch: Kanbans 24 Process Definition .26 Systems Thinking Definition 27 ix x ◾ Contents Types of Processes 28 Batching Systems 28 Where Do We Find Batching? 29 The CrossFit Story .32 I’m Going to Need a Few More Examples .35 Let’s Get into This a Little Deeper, Shall We? 43 A Very Detailed Comparison of Batching to One-Piece Flow 43 So, What Problems Are Created by Our Batching Example Listed Above? .52 Principle: Each Step in the Process Is an Opportunity for a Defect to Occur 54 Cycle Time and Throughput Time 54 When Do We Get Our First Pen? .57 Space 58 WIP 58 What Is Flow? 59 How Does Batch Compare to One-Piece Flow? 60 So, What Differences Do We See between Batching and One-Piece Flow? 61 Principle: Each Step in the Process Is an Opportunity for a Defect to Occur 61 Cycle Time and Throughput Time 61 Station-Balanced Line .62 When Do We Get Our First Pen? .63 Space 63 WIP 64 So Which System Is More Efficient? 66 Batching Model 67 How Do You Improve a Batch System? 69 What Impact Does Size Have? 70 What Impact Does This Smaller Lot Size Have? 71 Other Ideas? 71 Timeout 72 Metrics (5/98) –46% +117% 9.3 –82% 13 –55% $ 26k –42% 2,456 –25% –85% 80 –67% Metrics (3/99) –54% +117% –85% 13 –55% $ 26k –42% 2,456 –25% –85% 80 –67% Includes: Overhead reduction Water spider Team leader In line welder Parts not stocked Source: BIG Archives Company X: This company improved productivity by 85% after three iterations 85% increase in productivity – 9× return on consulting fees All Lean implementation costs paid back well within first year Teams pick up activities normally associated with overhead Baseline metrics (1/98) Operators 13 Units per day (includes OT) 2.3 Labor hours per unit 52 WIP (pieces)* 29 WIP dollars $ 45k Floor space (sq feet) 3,275 Thru-put time (working days) 20 Cycle time (est batch mins) 240 216 ◾ Appendix .3% 65% 77% 89% 70% 100% 0% 77% 80% 12 120 5.5 41.9 15 728 257 324 Source: BIG Archives significant improvement to productivity variation and standardized the process they are now 100% on time to request date with Company X: This cell used to be 30% on time to their customer—once we fixed all the 77% increase in productivity Note: The team leader’s desk and all the raw materials were added into the cell where the space was freed up Baseline metrics–station balanced Operators Units per day per person Paid minutes per unit Thru-put time (working days) Cycle time (min - est batch) Overtime #hours estimate per week Space (sq ft) Travel distance (ft) WIP # Actual after Lean metrics Operators 35 Units per day 27.42 Paid minutes per unit Thru-put time 12.2 Cycle time (min) Overtime #hours 728 Space (sq ft) 52.4 Travel distance (ft) 65 WIP # Appendix ◾ 217 16 6.5 6.5 7.5 60 50 149 –73% 0% –73% –96% –96% –18% Source: BIG Archives detection equipment expectations for on-time delivery, quality, and overall process control for chemical Company X: This company received more contracts by exceeding their customer's 17% savings using vendor managed inventory (VMI), 55 transaactions to 73% increase in productivity = $423,000 contract savings 13× return on consultant fees Operators Units per day (includes OT) DL per unit (hours) WIP Thru-put time (hours) Cycle time (hours) After actual Operators Units per day (includes OT) DL per unit (hours) WIP Thru-put time (hours) Cycle time (hours) est Before 218 ◾ Appendix 62 6.5 0.153 504 554 554 42 –66% –104% +160% –61% –100% –80% –99% –56% –99% 69 2.5 0.4 2,500 Lots 35 days 1,327 10 miles Annual savings = better than 10× Consulting fees 61% increase in productivity – Some investment was required • Reduced setup times from hours to six minutes • Reduced factory labor overhead • Reduced headcount through attrition • Significant reductions in inventory in first six months • Freed up and sold capital equipment • Eliminated need for production facility 10 miles away Source: BIG Archives market share in their industry cut 38 weeks late backlog to weeks early—in weeks Now they are leaders in Company X: Weld cell: They used to refer customers to their competitors We then Operators Units per day (includes OT) Output per hour per person DL hours per unit WIP Floor space (sq ft.) Thru-put time Cycle time (seconds) Distance traveled (feet) After actual Before Operators Units per day (includes OT) Output per hour per person DL hours per unit Floor space (sq ft.) WIP Thru-put time (working days) Cycle time (sec) estimated Distance traveled Appendix ◾ 219 Operators Units per day Mins per unit Thru-put time (working days) Cycle time (mins) Overtime #hrs Space (sq ft) Travel distance (ft) WIP # 81.7% increase in productivity 2.33 93 14.2 11 6.45 2.5 286 590 1048 < 0.5 93 2.6 11 2.6 64 930 78.5% 0% 81.7% 0% 59.7% 100% 77.6% 100% 11.3% Actual after Lean metrics: pay by invoice process Source: BIG Archives Freed up 1.8 operators and the AP supervisor No one was laid off Company X: Accounts payable transactional process 81.7% productivity improvement Operators Units per day avg Mins per unit Thru-put time (working days) Cycle time (mins) Overtime #hrs per day Space (sq ft) Travel distance (ft) WIP # Baseline metrics: 3-way match process Accounts payable Lean implementation 220 ◾ Appendix Appendix ◾ 221 2pc flow with pc buffer 3-21-03 Operators Units per hour DL mins per unit Thru-put time (min) Cycle time (est batch min.) Space sq ft 26 9.2 33 2.3 90 20%+ increase in productivity over Batch After lean PC flow 3-28-07 Operators Units per hour DL mins per unit Thru-put time (min) Cycle time Space sq ft 33 5.4 5.4 1.8 18 25% +25% –41% –84% –22% 80% 41% increase in productivity over 2pc flow Company X, Casting results, OPF yielded a 41% improvement Source: BIG Archives 40 79.2 4.42 10.13 4.8 5167 813 528 After Lean flow Baseline product flow and the entire second shift Company X: Yielded a 61% increase in productivity and was able to eliminate overtime 0% Operators (eliminated 2nd shift) 0% Cell Lead 80 100% Units per day 61% 30.8 Paid minutes per unit 93 79% Thru-put time (working days) 5.03 50.03% Cycle time (min) 100% Overtime #hrs 1,640 68.3% Space (sq ft) 318.5 60.8% Travel distance (ft) 75 85.8% WIP # (until UV cure is enacted) Actual after Lean metrics Nov 2010 data Operators Cell Lead Units per day Paid minutes per unit includes OT Thru-put time (working days) Cycle time (min - est batch) Overtime #hrs/day Space (sq ft) Travel distance (ft) WIP # Baseline metrics (not including shafts or pack) 2" and 3" motor line 10-18-10 222 ◾ Appendix 35 1.82 $ 11k 2,500 3.6 11.4 Source: BIG Archives flow and freed up 38% of their floor space Company X: This company improved productivity 35% by transitioning to one-piece –32% +0% –35% –85% –69% –38% –94% –0% 13 35 2.97 46 $ 36k 4,000 63 11.4 35% improvement in productivity Operators Units per day Hours per unit WIP (pieces) WIP dollars Floor space (square feet) Thru-put time Cycle time (mins) After Lean metrics Operators Units per day (includes OT) Hours per unit WIP (pieces)* WIP dollars Floor space (sq feet) Thru-put time Cycle time (est batch) Batch baseline metrics Appendix ◾ 223 224 ◾ Appendix Contact Information Please contact Charlie or Dan Protzman directly to learn more about their services: ◾◾ One-piece flow (Lean) training ◾◾ One-piece flow Implementation for Manufacturing, Healthcare, Government, or Service Industries ◾◾ Speaking engagements ◾◾ Products and services Charlie Protzman Dan Protzman Business Improvement Group LLC Towson, MD 21286 410.984.1158 443.463.5353 charlieprotzman@biglean.com danprotzman@biglean.com Website: www.biglean.com Other books by Charlie Protzman: The Lean Practitioner’s Field Book and the Shingo Prize– winning Leveraging Lean in Healthcare series These books can be found at CRC Press (http://www.crcpress.com/search/ results?kw=protzman&category=all) or Amazon.com Index A Akers, Paul, 202, 203 Akio Yamada The Happiest Company, 145 B Batchards, 19, 90, 111–113, 118, 120, 163 Batching, 12–13, 38 comparison with one-piece flow, 60–69, 71–73, 178–179, 193 comparison with parallel processing, 180–183 cost of, 204 CrossFit case study, 32–34 engineering changes in, 176 examples of dishwashers, 12–13 emergency room, 17 golfing, 13–14 planting bushes, 15–16 in factories and offices, 165–166 fixture, 120–121 group technology and, 184–185 hidden costs and impact of, 125–137 batching as lost opportunities, 140–141 errors and defects, 137, 139 mass production, 139–140 human factor in, 176–177 improving of, 69–70 meaning of, myths, 151–163 paradigm impact, 114–116 of pen parts, 44–52 problems in, 52–59 prebuilding and outsourcing as forms of, 166–167 problems in, 39–41 reasons for, 106–111 root causes of, 75–77 equipment, 91–95 idle time, 97–102 mind, 77–80 processes, 96–97 setups/changeovers, 80–83 space, 103–105 travel distance, 86–90 variation, 83–85 as root cause of eight wastes, 143–148 as system, 167–169 systems, 28–32 225 226 ◾ Index types of location batch, 24–26 period batch, 23–24 pure batch, 19–21 segmented batch, 21, 23 Bill of material (BOM), 131 Bodek, Norman, 145 BOM, see Bill of material (BOM) Bumping, 33, 64–65, 76, 152, 155, 190–192 Business Improvement Group LLC, 210 comparison with throughput time, 57 reduction of, 178, 180, 206 D Dean, Jeremy, 160 Defective batch, 95, 106 Defects, see Errors and defects Deming, W Edwards, 168 Discounts, bulk, 108–111 E C Cash flow, 58, 114, 132, 149, 198 increase in, 178, 193, 208 Centers of excellence, 158 Centralizing, 145, 157–159 Change equation, 200–207 Cherry-picking, 150 CNC, see Computer numerical control (CNC) machine COBACABANA, see Control of Balance by Card Based Navigation (COBACABANA) Complacency, 84, 116, 123, 202, 207 Computer numerical control (CNC) machine, 93–94 Continuous flow process, 28, 76, 78, 95 Control of Balance by Card Based Navigation (COBACABANA), 185 Cook-chill process, 94 Cross-cell processing, 184 Customer satisfaction, 127, 130, 193 Cycle time, 54–55, 61–65, 69, 148, 153, 182 Engineering change requests (ECR), 176 Equipment, as root cause of batching, 76, 91–95 Errors and defects, 17, 137, 139, 147 Excess motion, 146–147 External time, 82 F Factories and offices, batching in, 165–166 5S, 87, 173, 197 Flow process, see One-piece flow G “Go see” scheduling, 197 Group technology, 184–185 I Idle time, 63, 144–145, 166 conversion to productive time, 69 elimination of, 76 as root cause of batching, 97–102 In-line process kanban, 98, 99 Index ◾ 227 Inspection, 60, 77, 94, 108, 139–140, 168 Internal time, 82 Inventory, 25, 30, 81, 105, 108–109, 129–130 batched, 133 excess, 41, 130–133, 136, 146, 192, 197 just in case, 87, 115, 136 obsolete, 64, 130–132, 197 reduction of, 70–71, 83, 178, 180 vendor-managed inventory (VMI), 26, 149 work in process (WIP), 47, 50, 51, 114, 115, 205 Isolated islands, 145 Level loading, 31, 109, 111, 150, 186, 196 Lights-out process, 28 Little’s Law, 148–149 Location batch, 24–26 Lot delay, 5, 56–58, 61–62, 92 Lot size, 70–71, 76, 81, 173, 181 Low volume–high mix, as impediment to flow, 199–200 M Mind, as root cause of batching, 76, 77–80 Mirai Industry, 145–146 Monuments, as impediment to flow, 199 J Jiang, Jordan, 192 Jidoka (autonomation), 196 JIT, see Just in time (JIT) Jones, John Harvey, 84 Just in case inventory, 87, 115, 136 Just in time (JIT), 192 K Kaizen, 202 Kanbans, 24–26, 62, 149, 185, 198, 210; see also Pull system in-process, 98, 99 Keurig system, 174 one-piece flow advantages of, 175 L Lead time, 169 longer, 129, 130 reduction of, 25, 81, 135, 149 O OE, see Order entry (OE) Ohno, Taiichi The Toyota Production System, 191 O’Koren, Dave, One-piece flow advantages of, 12 case study, 195–200 comparison with batching, 5–7, 60–69, 71–73, 178–179, 193 comparison with small lot, 179–180 consulting, 210 exercise, 188–190 Keurig system and, 174–175 meaning and significance of, 59–60 model, 23, 28 and one-person flow, 178 paradox, 117–123 sustaining, 169 228 ◾ Index without standard work, 171 with standard work, 169–174 transitioning to, 200–203 Optimization, 3–4 Order entry (OE), 27, 36 Overprocessing, 143–144 Overproduction, 85, 98, 133, 136, 143 Pull system, 26, 70, 190, 192, 198, 205; see also Kanbans Pure batch, 19–21 P S Parallel processing, 180–182 “Parts hotel”, 93 Part size, as impediment to flow, 199 PDCA, see Plan check act (PDCA) cycle Period batch, 23–24, 176 Peters, Tom, 130 Physical separation, 199 Place, Ken, 3, 171 Plan check act (PDCA) cycle, 202, 208 Prebuilding and outsourcing, as forms of batching, 166–167 Process; see also individual entries challenges, 132–133 definition of, 26–27 and systems thinking, 27–28 as root cause of batching, 76, 96–97 types of, 28 Process variation, 195 as root cause of batching, 76, 83–85 Product designs, 198 Protzman, Charles The Lean Practitioner’s Field Book, 192 Protzman, Lauren, 30, 37 Segmented batch, 21, 184 cashier line and, 21, 23 Setups/changeovers, as root cause of batching, 76, 80–83 Shared resources, as impediment to flow, 199 Shingo, Shigeo, 82, 196 Shook, John Learning to See, 197 Single minute exchange of dies (SMED), 79, 82, 169, 173–174, 196 Space, as root cause of batching, 76, 103–105 “Stat” process, 92 Station-balanced line, 62–63, 190, 191 Storage time, reduction of, 180 Systems thinking, 27–28, 167, 179 R Rabbit chase method, 113 Rother, Mike Learning to See, 197 T Talent waste, 147–148 Throughput time, 55, 130, 136, 153, 181 comparison with cycle time, 57, 148 reduction of, 58, 61, 63, 71 Transportation, 5, 53, 129, 144, 158–159, 169 Index ◾ 229 Travel distance, as root cause of batching, 76, 86–90 Triple batching, 9–12 True mixed-model sequencing, 185–186 V Value stream map (VSM), 56, 62, 155 Vendor-managed inventory (VMI), 26, 149 Von Beals, 130 VSM, see Value stream map (VSM) W “What’s In it For Me?” (WIFM), 206–207 Work in process (WIP), 11, 41, 58–59, 64–66, 93, 188 caps, 98 inventory, 47, 50, 51, 114, 115, 205 stored labor capacity, 52 ... Amsted Rail One- Piece Flow vs Batching A Guide to Understanding How Continuous Flow Maximizes Productivity and Customer Value Charles Protzman Joe McNamara Dan Protzman CRC Press Taylor & Francis... materials and operations management He spent 13 and a half years with AlliedSignal, now Honeywell, where he was an aerospace strategic operations manager and the first AlliedSignal Lean master He has... States and date back to 1436 with the Venetian Arsenal* and later to Taylor, Gilbreth, and Henry Ford in the early 1900s. The principles were refined and expanded by Taiichi Ohno at Toyota® and