Fabricator’s Coach

The fewer jobs in your shop (work in process – WIP), the shorter your lead time.  Having a lot of jobs in your shop means your lead times may be longer than you like. Lean is a popular process improvement tool and it pushes for the lowest inventory to generate the shortest lead times possible – and, therefore, great competitive advantage.  So, if we want short lead times, then this must be the best business solution, right?

WRONG! The lower your WIP levels, the more you are impacted by variation in process performance. Variation comes from:

• Inconsistent machine performance due to wear and tear

All production operations have inherent variation and, while it can be managed to some degree, this variation cannot be eliminated. Worse still, that variation accumulates through the steps of your fabrication process rather than averaging out. The result is a whip effect that makes it difficult to predict customer install dates. Since this variation can’t be eliminated, lowering WIP too much can hurt your ability to hit your promised install dates and hurt your ability to delight your customer!

Since we can’t completely stop the variation, how do we keep output of the plant consistent so we can meet our promised install dates and still make a profit – all while having short lead times?

Listen to this podcast to hear a discussion of how to get predictability and control of your countertop shop, and additionally, how to increase capacity utilization by 30 percent or more AND shorten your lead time.

The article that is the basis of this recording can be found at: https://www.slipperyrockgazette.net/index.cfm/pageId/4081/Increase%20Inventory%20to%20Increase%20Profit/

Countertop Fabricators! Would you like to be able to process 10 percent more square footage through your plant every day – without additional capital investment, without adding people, and without working additional hours?

You can get that very quickly if you apply the simple principles discussed in this podcast from a Fabricators Coach webinar.

Ed discusses Value Added and Non-Value Added activities and how to use some basic tools to get you started to 10% more through your plant each day.

Go to this link https://fabricatorscoach.com/free-helpful-tools/ to download the Recapture 10% of Your Capacity Today tool.

The original article, published in The Slippery Rock Gazette How to Find 10% More Capacity in Your Plant - for Free can be found at:

 https://fabricatorscoach.com/how-to-find-10-more-capacity-in-your-plant-for-free/

Feel free to reach out to me:

www.FabricatorsCoach.com

[email protected]

864-328-6231

Some days your shop runs pretty smoothly, but many days are filled with entirely too much chaos. This session discusses how to have fewer of the chaotic days and more of the sane days.

1. FIRST: DECIDE 03:30

In this public coaching session, we discuss the first critical steps of this trip to less chaos in this coaching-session-turned-podcast. And, I want to thank the participants in this session – you really made this learning much more valuable.

The articles referenced in this podcast can be found at

How Do I Control The Chaos Article:

https://fabricatorscoach.com/how-do-i-control-the-chaos/

The referenced article “Manage To Get Your Life Back” is at

https://www.slipperyrockgazette.net/index.cfm/pageId/4202/Manage%20to%20Get%20Your%20Life%20Back/

Every countertop fabrication shop owner deserves to have a business that not only makes you money but also allows you time to enjoy it.  Contact me at [email protected] or call 864-328-6231

This episode discusses the article of the same name published in The Slippery Rock Gazette in December of 2020. It is taken from the January 2021 webinar and answered questions about the article and the process.

This podcast comes from the February 18, 2022 webinar of the same name. If you want to find out more about how to implement measures that you can share with your whole team, and use to drive better company performance and better control of your business, this is your Podcast!