Drum-Buffer-Rope scheduling is the manufacturing application of the Theory of Constraints. DBR allows the scarce resource to pull work into the system via a scheduling "rope" this limits the amount of inventory in the system because the non-constrained resources have enough capacity to ensure the constraint keeps running.
Drum-Buffer-Rope scheduling is the manufacturing application of the Theory of Constraints. DBR allows the scarce resource to pull work into the system via a scheduling "rope" this limits the amount of inventory in the system because the non-constrained resources have enough capacity to ensure the constraint keeps running.
Drum-Buffer-Rope scheduling is the manufacturing application of the Theory of Constraints. DBR allows the scarce resource to pull work into the system via a scheduling "rope" this limits the amount of inventory in the system because the non-constrained resources have enough capacity to ensure the constraint keeps running.
www.thoughtwarepeople.com Drum-Buffer-Rope(DBR) scheduling is the manufacturing application of the Theory of Constraints, a body of thought developed by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, author of The Goal, It's Not Luck, Critical Chain and Necessary But Not Sufficeint. DBR assumes that within a dependent system there is usually one or, at the least, a limited number of scarce resources, within the system across the aggregate product mix. These scarce resources or critical areas are referred to as constraints and/or bottlenecks. It is these constraints that will actually determine the amount of throughput potential achieved by the system. In other words, a manufacturing facility will only produce as much as its scarce resource or constraint allows. These constraints or bottlenecks are the drums because they are the true pace-setters of the system manage them or they manage you. With that realization, we come to the understanding that, in order to best protect the throughput of the operation, we must protect the constraint - the limiting factor to the system. Delays passed on to it are delays that can be lost forever or, at the very least, can result in costly expediting and the confusion that it introduces to the system. At the same time we have to make sure the constraint keeps produ- cing, we also have to protect against inflationary inventory levels in order to keep overall lead time down as well as control the costs associated with inventory (obsolescence, carrying cost, etc.). In order to break this potential dilemma between having enough work in the system to ensure the constraint keeps running and limiting the overall amount of inventory, DBR allows the scarce resource to pull work into the system via a scheduling "rope". This limits the amount of inventory in the system because the non-constrained resources have enough capacity to ensure that they can quickly pass work on to the constraint. Thus, we tend to observe limited areas of significant queuing within a facility - in front of the drums. It is this queue or "buffer" and the monitoring mechanisms for it, that protects the uptime of the drums as well as provide the necessary information about upstream processes and work orders. Additiona- lly, this buffer protects against natural fluctuations in processes and the accumulation of those delays that tend to impact lead time. Because it is centralized protection, it can be a level of inventory that is less in the aggregate than protecting against fluctuation at each resource. Thus, with a DBR system we have better due date protection as well as a lower overall level of inventory than many KanBan and/or Lean environments. The buffer can also be combined with Statistical Process Control efforts and many Lean tools to identify and deal with problematic processes before they block the constraint and delay work orders. Implementing DBR in your organization Readers of The Goal often have no problem acknowledging that the concepts in the book make a lot of sense. So why are these common sense concepts so hard to implement in our operations? In our experience, the answer is often centered around people's inability to transfer the concepts from The Goal to their unique environment and effectively deal with an organization's resistance to change. There are three critical components in implementing DBR that overcome these problems: 1. The Transfer of Drum-Buffer-Rope Know-How. Before a management team as well as an orga- nization can be expected to put a Drum-Buffer-Rope(DBR) system in place, they must be effectively educated around what DBR really is and how to make decent operational decisions within its fra- mework. Additionally, this is crucial for people that must later sell these concepts to others. How many times have you been forced to explain something that you did not fully understand? What were the results? People have to realize that education is not enough. Too many times organizations stop here and expect results from their people or choose to purchase software with the expectation that they are now in a position to get results from it. How can a manufacturing team deliver results when there is no effective and comfortable blueprint for how the concepts specifically translate to their environment? 2. The Construction of a Unique, Tailored Drum-Buffer-Rope System. Once the education is pro- vided, it must be used to unleash the intuition of an implementation team. In other words, the best people in the world to apply Drum-Buffer-Rope in your facility are sitting in your facility. First, the team must be educated and then their intuition must be organized to fully construct a robust blueprint for the system that makes sense for and to them. This means the critical points that define their system must be fully defined and measures and policies put into place to support their ability to make the right deci- sions at the operational level whether it is around up-front scheduling or decisions around dealing with a crisis. Without this critical step they will struggle to implement anything lasting. Additionally, practical issues including scheduling software options must be addressed. At this point, the organization is able to make an informed choice about supporting software packages. Think about where the implementation team will be at this point; knowledgeable about the concepts of DBR and, most importantly, knowledgeable about how those concepts specifically apply to the envi- ronment that they must make it work in. Now the team is in a much better position to clearly explain to their subordinates as well as other functions within the organization what the system is trying to do and what is expected from them and why. This is a recipe for breaking down people's resistance to change, the single biggest killer of any major improvement initiative. But ensuring initial implementa- tion is not enough. To make long term success assured, people must be left with the ability to inno- vate on top of and improve the existing system. 3. The Transfer of Thought Process Tools For Effective Problem Solving Now and in the Future. An implementation team must have the ability to effectively deal with people's reservations around change. Often the knowledge around the common sense approaches and how they apply to the envi- ronment are enough, but what happens when someone raises a legitimate reservation that was not yet fully considered? We know that the people who run the environment every day have strong intui- tion and, many times, their concerns are very legitimate. Do we scrap the plan? Of course not. What we really need is from our implementation team to have the ability to understand these reserva- tions, solicit or come up with comfortable solutions and re-incorporate them back into the solution. Furthermore, we know the one thing in our environments that is a constant is change. Given that, we need to make sure that people have tools to evolve the system in the face of change. These tools will provide the common language and the DBR education and tailored solution provides the framework in which to communicate. When those two things are present an organization has the ability for rapid and robust solutions to changing conditions. DBR Examples A Simple DBR System Gating Operation Operation X Constraint Operation Operation Y Constraint Buffer The constraint is the drum because it sets the pace for the system. The buffer is a window of time that protects the drum schedule with inven- tory. The rope is the schedule of the release of materials tied back to the gating operation. A More Complex DBR Example This company has combined DBR technology for short cycle times with Replenishment, the TOC Application for distribution, on raw materials for most purchased parts and finished goods for some customers. Stockroom Surface Mount Coat Oven Buffer 10 Hours Order from custo- mer through sales. The Finished Goods Buffer protects availability to the customer and the circuit-board producer from variable demand within a given time frame. Internal order to replenish buffer stocks. Hand Insertion Wave Solder and Wash POST WAVE Test Shipping Buffer 10 Hours Custom Order Finished Goods Buffer for low mix, high Customer pull WIP Inventory and DBR Is Inventory an asset or liability? Don't be so quick to answer. The answer must be considered in terms of the constraint, the limiting factor in the system. But what is the mechanism can we use to find and maintain this level of inventory? In TOC we use Buffer Management. Buffer management Buffer-Rope system is managed through its buffers. The buffers will tell you about the health of the system and any individual operation, the status of a work order and where to focus improvement. The buffer is sized according to variables including, average process batch size, the rate and volume at which a batch can be transferred to the area to be buffered, the reliability of the processes in front of the buffered area and the potential for other types of "Murphy." A company shouldnt debate for weeks and months calculating this number. Define what is good enough and go with it because it will change on you as you manage and adapt it. To manage the buffer we divide it into three zones, let's call them Red, Yellow, Green. The zones are not always of equal size. X Material Flow 3 hours 3 hours 3 hours A s s e t L i a b i l i t y When inventory drops too low we have an accumulation of delays passed on to the constraint. When WIP is too high we block the flow to the constraint resulting in longer lead times, expedi- ting and confusion. This is the level of inventory that allows us to protect our most critical resource. Inventory Level For our example we have defined a 9-hour buffer. Material flows to the constraint "X" from left to right. Green defines a time frame where we can expect a work order to begin queuing in front of the cons- traint (6-9 hours before it is being run). Green means things are going fine, you don't need to micro- manage this order. When things don't show up in the buffer according to plan, we have what we call a "hole." If we don't see it with six hours left we will penetrate into our yellow zone, which is watch and plan. Walk up the line, find the order and see what the problem is. Begin to make your plans around ensuring that the constraint does not go down. When you penetrate into the red zone act on your plans. If you are always living in the green zone, what do you know about your buffer? It is too large. Re- member that smaller buffers reduce the amount of WIP and with less WIP lead time can be reduced. If you are living in the red zone too often, what do you know about your buffer size? It is too small. Raise the level of inventory for the short term, identify the problematic upstream issue and address it. This will allow to reduce your buffer once the issue has been addressed. Thus, Buffer Management can provide the focus for SPC, Kaizen and Lean tools. Buffer Types Is the Constraint Buffer the only kind of buffer we should have? If we know that the constraint dictates the throughput of our system then we know that anything pro- cessed by the constraint is extremely valuable. Any delay for those work orders in the downstream processes is a delay in throughput. Furthermore, if we know that fluctuations occur in dependent systems and there are dependent events in the downstream process and we must protect our due date performance then we must protect the work orders that have passed through the constraint form those fluctuations. The following are two types of buffers that can help. "X" marks the spot of the constraint. Total System Inventory Implications With a good system of Drum-Buffer-Rope and Buffer Management systemic WIP is the lowest it can be while still ensuring the most throughput for the system. Below is a simple comparison of DBR, JIT/LEAN manufacturing and a more "traditionally run and measured" manufacturing operation. The system will have lower levels of inventory in comparison to JIT because the buffers allow us to centrally protect against fluctuations before they impact the critical points. When we protect centrally we are better able to absorb the accumulation of variation (both positive and negative), thus the level of inventory is less than a JIT environment. The inventory is less than a "traditionally run and measu- red" plant because the release of inventory is dictated by the constraints. Thus, we have a "pull" system based upon the resource that is the limiting factor. For more questions about implementing DBR contact us at: (800) 496-4144 or info@thoughtwarepeople.com A s s e t L i a b i l i t y Inventory Level JIT TOC & Buffer Management Traditionally Run Manufacturing Operation Our e-Workshop series has several modules designed to take the partici- pant(s) through specific aspects of TOC and Thoughtware and how they can relate them to their organization. welcome to the thoughtware revolution! thoughtware revolution! thoughtware revolution! thoughtware revolution! Certified by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), this course is a must for senior level personnel that want to construct holistic information systems for good financial and operational decisions. Small to mid-range operations, contact us to find out more! scheduler@thoughtwarepeople.com