In order to analyze a process for better efficiency, one must understand the different constraints that go with a process
and how to utilize the constraints in order to create a more efficient flow in the system.
· Blocking: Causes the system to halt as the employee has to hold onto the item and cannot move onto the next item due to there being no place to deposit it
· Buffering: This is a storage area between stages where an item is stockpiled before moving further downstream.
· Starving: This happens when a stage in the process has no work occurring and the employee is idle because of something happening in the system beforehand therefore there is underutilization.
· Bottleneck: This is a part of the process that is accumulating the longest queue and is directly linked to the throughput (rate of production) of the production line.
Understanding the elements of a flowchart is important in order to add efficiency to the system and reduce waste. Such as buffering the production line in order to reduce blocking and starving from occurring as well as identifying the bottleneck operations. It is also important to understand the different kinds of processes that we’re faced with as well as further analysis of the process through mathematical calculations.
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