A generalization of the Theory of Constraints: Choosing the optimal improvement option with consideration of variability and costs

Wu, Kan; Zheng, Meimei; Shen, Yichi

doi:10.1080/24725854.2019.1632503

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Godinho & Uzsoy (2014) and Wu et al (2020) are also in line with the findings of this study. Although they find that improvements in some non-CCR resources yields better results than in the CCR, these improvements aim to lower the variability in the upstream resources, which may positively affect the CCR's output.…”

Section: Theoretical Implicationssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Other variables can be assessed in future studies, such as the inclusion of machine down or other sources of variability and inefficiency, as, for example, modeling suggested in Kim, Cox & Mabin (2010). Another opportunity of continuing research is to include the costs or investments in capacity of the stations as Godinho & Barco (2015) and Wu et al (2020). Others can address the same issue, in a more complex system or in a make-to-order production environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This research gives another insight on the method that yields the most benefits to improve the throughput of a flow shop production system, contributing to a strict range of works, such as Godinho & Uzsoy (2014), Godinho & Utiyama (2015) and Wu et al (2020).…”

Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through computer simulation, Godinho & Utiyama (2016) studied the effects on lead time when repair lead time is reduced from one of three strategies: repair time mean, repair time variability or eliminating the worst cases repair times. Wu et al (2020) state that the definition of bottleneck presented by TOC, "any resource whose capacity is equal to or less than the demand placed upon it" (Goldratt & Cox, 2014), is limited, does not properly consider the effects of variability and neither it is strict from the point of view of queuing systems. From a mathematical modeling based on queuing systems, later demonstrated in case studies, the authors concluded that improvements in frontend stations allow greater impact on system performance when compared to improvements focused on the bottleneck station.…”

Section: Continuous Improvement On the Shop Floor And The Toc Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of production resources improvement strategies in make-to-stock environments managed by the simplified drum-buffer-rope system

et al. 2021

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Theory of Constraints (TOC) states that every system has a single constraint that limits its performance, on which improvement efforts should be concentrated. This paper compared, through computer simulation, several methods of identifying the capacity-constrained resource in the perspective of a process of continuous improvement. Six make-to-stock (MTS) production line configurations managed by the Simplified Drum-Buffer-Rope (S-DBR) system were simulated, in which six improvement methods were applied, three of them based on the TOC literature, and their performance measured and compared in terms of cycle time and order fill rate. The results showed that, in balanced systems, improvements spread over all resources allowed better results, because, in this case, it is necessary to improve everything to benefit the overall performance. In unbalanced environments, on the other hand, the three methods recommended by TOC, which recommend efforts concentrated on the weakest point of the system, achieved superior performance, with emphasis on the strategy based on the level of utilization. In addition to advancing the frontiers of knowledge in continuous improvement and TOC, the research results show that managers should focus their attention on the resource with the highest degree of utilization to get better and faster performance gains.

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Section: Theoretical Implicationssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Continuous Improvement On the Shop Floor And The Toc Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Analysis of production resources improvement strategies in make-to-stock environments managed by the simplified drum-buffer-rope system

et al. 2021

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“…The variability reduction itself is cost-effective for improving cycle time (Wu et al, 2020). This reduction is achieved with the DMAIC approach (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) on the sources of waste and variability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of lean six sigma at pharmacy unit on hospital profitability before and during Covid-19 pandemic

Iswanto

2021

IJLSS

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare the impact of lean six sigma (LSS) implementation carried out in a pharmaceutical unit on the profitability of outpatient and inpatient care before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/method/approach The data were analyzed descriptively to see the development patterns in four periods: before implementation, during the implementation before the pandemic, during the pandemic and during the enforcement of new normal, in general, and by the length of stay (LOS). Findings The inventory purchase in the pharmaceutical unit dramatically decreased after implementation even during the pandemic and new normal wherein the pre-pandemic it decreased by 27%, during the pandemic 29% and in the new normal 37% compared to pre-LSS. The hospital deficit decreased after implementation before the pandemic by 26% and during the pandemic by 10% from the pre-LSS time. However, during the new normal, the deficit increased by 29%, indicating a diminished effect of LSS on the hospital profits. Research limitations/implications This research raised the possible implication that the implementation of LSS needed to be carried out in the entire hospital to have a large effect, especially on the inpatient care and long-term care installations. Originality/value This research provided empirical evidence regarding the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the ability of LSS at the unit level to provide efficiency at the unit level and the entire hospital at various levels of LOS.

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Identification of Superior Improvement Trajectories for Production Lines via Simulation-Based Optimization with Reinforcement Learning

Schuh¹,

Gützlaff²,

Schmidhuber³

et al. 2021

Advances in Production Management Systems. Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable and Resilient Production Systems

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A generalization of the Theory of Constraints: Choosing the optimal improvement option with consideration of variability and costs

Cited by 12 publications

References 31 publications

Analysis of production resources improvement strategies in make-to-stock environments managed by the simplified drum-buffer-rope system

Analysis of production resources improvement strategies in make-to-stock environments managed by the simplified drum-buffer-rope system

Impact of lean six sigma at pharmacy unit on hospital profitability before and during Covid-19 pandemic

Identification of Superior Improvement Trajectories for Production Lines via Simulation-Based Optimization with Reinforcement Learning

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