Pythia Industries

Sample Plant

Implementation plan

1. List one month of jobs by press

The list shows how many large-press hours small molds take.

Action	From the ERP job log, list last month's jobs by press. Beside each job on a large press, note the smallest press its mold ran in during the last twelve months. Mark each job where that press is at least two sizes smaller. Add up the marked hours, and note whether a smaller press was idle at the time.
Owner	Production scheduler
Purchases	None
Decision	Do the marked jobs come to about 25 hours or more in the month?
Fallback	If few jobs are marked, there is little here to fix, and the tags are not worth their time.

2. Tag each mold with its smallest press

Each mold's record names the smallest press the job log shows it has run in.

Action	Add one field to the mold's record in the ERP: its smallest press. Fill it from the job log, with the smallest press each mold ran in during the last twelve months. A process technician confirms the molds that have only run in a large press. A new mold gets its tag when its first run is approved.
Owner	Production scheduler, with a process technician
Purchases	None: about 23 hours of the scheduler's time, about $930
Decision	Does every mold in regular use have its smallest press on its record?
Fallback	If the ERP cannot take a new field, the tags go on a printed list at the scheduling desk.

3. Schedule each job on its tagged press first

A job goes to its smallest press, and up one size only when that press is booked.

Action	When a job is scheduled, try its mold's tagged press first. If that press is booked, take the next size up, not the largest press that is idle. Once a week, look through the large presses' jobs for small molds and move those a smaller press can take. Each month, add up the hours small molds ran on the large presses.
Owner	Production scheduler
Purchases	None: about 1.5 hours per week of the scheduler's time
Decision	Do small molds take fewer hours on the large presses than in the month that was listed?
Fallback	If jobs still land on the large presses, a tagged job needs a written reason to run two sizes up.

Illustrative sample. The plant, the walk and the footage are synthetic.