lean manufacturing

Posts Tagged ‘takt-time’

Every Product Every Interval (EPEx)
The frequency with which different part numbers are produced in a production process or system. If a machine is changed over in a sequence so that every part number assigned to it is produced every three days, then EPEx is three days. In general, it is good for EPEx to be as small as possible in order to produce small lots of each part number and minimize inventories in the system. However, a machine’s EPEx will depend on changeover times and the number of part numbers assigned to the machine. A machine with long changeovers (and large minimum batch sizes) running many part numbers will inevitably have a large EPEx unless changeover times or the number of part numbers can be reduced.
See: Heijunka

Related Terms Involving Time Effective Machine Cycle Time Machine cycle time plus load and unload time, plus the result of dividing changeover time by the number of pieces between changeovers. For example, if a machine has a cycle time of 20 seconds, plus a combined load and unload time of 30 seconds, and a changeover time of 30 seconds divided by a minimum batch size of 30, the Effective Machine Cycle Time is 20+30+(30/30) or 1 = 51 seconds. Machine Cycle Time The time a machine requires to complete all of its operations on one piece. Nonvalue-Creating Time The time spent on activities that add costs but no value to an item from the customer’s perspective. Such activities typically include storage, inspection, and rework. Operator Cycle Time The time it takes an operator to complete all the work elements at a station before repeating them, as timed by direct observation. Order Lead Time Production lead time plus time expended downstream in getting the product to the customer, including delays for processing orders and entering them into production and delays when customer orders exceed production capacity. In other words, the time the customer must wait for the product. Order-to-Cash Time The amount of time that elapses from the receipt of a customer order until the producer receives cash payment from the customer. This can be more or less than order lead time, depending on whether a producer is in a build-to-order or a ship-from-stock mode, on terms of payment, etc. Processing Time The time a product actually is being worked on in design or production and the time an order actually is being processed. Typically, processing time is a small fraction of production lead time. Production Lead Time (also Throughput Time and Total Product Cycle Time) The time required for a product to move all the way through a process or a value stream from start to finish. At the plant level this often is termed door-to-door time. The concept also can be applied to the time required for a design to progress from start to finish in product development or for a product to proceed from raw materials all the way to the customer. Value-Creating Time The time of those work elements that actually transform the product in a way that the customer is willing to pay for. Usually, value-creating time is less than cycle time, which is less than production lead time.

Creating Continuous Flow narrows the focus of Learning to See from the door-to-door value stream perspective to achieving true continuous flow at your critical pacemaker processes.This new workbook explains in simple, step-by-step terms how to introduce and sustain lean flows of material and information in pacemaker cells and lines, a prerequisite for achieving a lean value stream. Creating Continuous Flow takes you to the next level in cellularization where you’ll achieve even greater cost and lead time savings.






You’ll Learn:

• Where to focus your continuous flow efforts
• How to create much more efficient cells and lines
• How to operate a pacemaker process so that a lean value stream is possible
• How to sustain the gains and keep improving