Welcome to our Maximizing Thruput series! When I was given an old folder full of slides and presentation notes from Mark Garvey written back in 2001, I thought I might be able to find some good content that would still be relevant. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it was ALL still relevant, masterfully written, and broken down like none other than Mark Garvey himself could do. So the content was all there, and 16 years of technological advances have made it so I can now share it with all of you. So enjoy, as we take this journey over the next few weeks through the process of Maximizing Thruput. Without further delay, here is entry one of Maximizing Thruput.
Most packaging lines are put together by buying individual machines and then connecting them with conveyors to get the material from one machine to the next.
The focus is often given to the most expensive pieces of machinery and space is allocated to the line based on the function of the machine components. After the machines are chosen they are then laid out in the line and whatever space is left is dedicated to connecting the machines together with conveyors.
This is why I often joke about the idea that the conveyor manufacturer is the lowest member of the packaging machinery food chain. We get whatever space is left to do what we have to do. It’s amazing to see millions of dollars spent on specific machinery only to connect it together without consideration as to what happens when they all start interacting together.
Gains of 20% – 30% in overall output are commonplace when forethought is given to how you connect the machines together.
Stay tuned for the next installment: The Theory of Constrains is Not a Theory Anymore.