Do you recognize this?
The operators indicate that you have to get more machines because there is a backlog.
But is that true? How do you know for sure?
If you really sit down and analyze the OEE (performance) of the machine, nine times out of ten you will find that the machine is often idle.
The reason the operator probably says more machines are needed is because something went wrong in the process in front of him and he fears being held responsible for it. This is well-intentioned, but usually not accurate.
Or perhaps the employee experiences too many disruptions: ambiguities, incorrect instructions, missing information or even missing materials.
Here’s point:
Adding more capacity to a bottleneck without improving it first hardly solves anything and increases operational costs.
Before you buy an extra or a new one and invest tons of money, consider that with process improvement you can achieve the same result at a fraction of the cost.
