Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Synchronous Flow Manufacturing

John J. Civerolo & Robert A. Stahl

In today's dynamic, customer-driven market, there are few chances to gain a strategic competitive edge. One way is to view the core manufacturing operation as not just a cost center, but as a valuable opportunity.

A sustainable competitive advantage comes from meeting the expectations of all constituencies (see insert) without trade off.

For example, increasing profits (low cost) at the expense of satisfying customers, or meeting customer expectations by reducing profit (ROI) are short-term temporary solutions.

A competitively superior advantage comes from satisfying the rising expectations of all constituencies without trade off! The question is...how to do this?

Synchronous flow manufacturing shows people that all activities in a manufacturing operation are costs, but not all of those activities add value to the product or service.

A synchronized flow of product must be achieved for maximum speed, flexibility, and distance. The following are barriers to these objectives because they add cost without benefits...

• Long setups and/or changeovers
• WIP/queue inventory
• Unreliable manufacturing
• Poorly-designed systems
• Cumbersome paperwork
• Material movement

How to Implement Synchronous Flow Manufacturing!

• Develop a common understanding throughout the organization
• Change the traditional mindset towards the new philosophy of speed, agility, simplicity & velocity of product flow
• Focus on major problems (20-80 rule) that will provide the "biggest bang for the bucks"

We must eliminate non-value-added activities and concentrate on simplicity, speed and velocity of product flow to flex the factory to the customers' needs.

• Start with a small pilot
• Form a cross-functional action team
• Set stretch goals & objectives--example: 50% reduction in cycle time, setups/changeovers, paperwork & WIP inventory
• "Guided discovery" provided by visionary leaders
• Track progress & confirm results
• Reward achievements

This model of change (start small and build on success) is the hallmark of Partners for Excellence, and is the path by which our clients have achieved remarkable success. We are extremely excited about the significant results that our many clients are achieving through synchronous flow manufacturing.

_______________________________________________