The Basic Concepts Model - Analysis of a Single Product or Service

Do you have any Results of Transforming Organisations ?

Calling all Management Consultants, Organisational Experts, University Professors, Lean Professionals, CEOs and UK NHS Health Transformation Managers. Especially World Leaders from Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, etc.

Please could you publish the results of some of your work ?. ie – Results of transforming organisations, reducing throughput time, improving service levels, reducing cost and improving employee morale, etc. For example, results of applying your knowledge and methods in organisations (Manufacturing, Services of Health). In particular there is a lot of discussion surrounding digital transformation. Do you have any results? Names and the identities of the organisations can be obscured.

Note – By Organisational transformation results I refer to transforming both supply chains and internal value adding capability including employee morale. An improvement in a single department or island of efficiency is not really considered an end-to-end transformation. As most readers already know the average value adding time in organisations is less than 15% (When a product is tracked) and I have recorded figures as low as 4% in UK Local Government so there is a lot of waste. I attach some results of applying Time Based Analysis below as an example of the magnitude of change expected.

The Importance of a Time Based Analysis Synchronisation Point.

This post discusses the importance of including a synchronisation point in my time-based analysis framework. The most important first objective within Production and Operations management is the synchronisation of information, people, materials and equipment. When this has been achieved fine tuning of processes such as the control of variation can begin.

Synchronisation of all the elements needed to add value within the shortest time frame is a very old problem, but it still exists today in most organisations. Good early examples of success can be found in the Japanese automotive industry but outside automotive, synchronisation of people, equipment, materials and information is poor and costs plus non-value adding time increase as a result. In my time-based analysis framework, I use a synchronisation point to force a reduction in throughput time. A powerful synchronisation point often used is the supply chain/first value adding operation date, this includes adopting pull type control and removing large amounts of non-value adding time. It can also be the time/date when a customer requests a product or service.

Once a synchronisation point becomes a measurement target a whole new World of focus and energy appears to radically improve performance.

When organisations contain so much waste, why is more action not being taken to remove it?

We often see reports, especially in the UK, that an organisation or health department will need more funding because their services are failing to meet demand. However, when time based analysis is used in these organisations the typical results usually reveal that value is being added to products or services in less than 15% of the calendar time consumed. In local government services it has been found to be as low as 4%. (ie - 4 weeks of value adding work in 104 weeks of Calendar time consumed).

Time based analysis is simple to apply and provides a powerful and visual display of the existing organisations ability to add value to products or services, whilst at the same time measuring the synchronisation of supply chain inputs in relation to the actual need date. It is applied and used by teams of employees.

A lot of people might think they do not need to use time based analysis because they already use a range of Lean tools. However, they could be wrong because a lot of the organisations where poor value adding capability exists were already considered to be Lean.

Identifying Non-Value Adding Time and Poor Supply Chain Synchronisation.

Linking Problems to Solutions via Empowered Employees with In-depth Process Knowledge.

As most of us already know, a lot of waste exists in most organisations (All types in the £500,000 to £28 Billion range). Poor supply chain synchronization is common in ERP/MRP type push-controlled organisations, in addition if you attach yourself to a product, component part or service the value adding touch time is rarely above 15%.

These weaknesses can be removed and value adding capability improved by using a time-based analysis framework to identify problem areas visually and thus guiding value adding employees to systematically remove them. No consultants or software are needed because this powerful transformation methodology is wall map (Paper) based. Some knowledge of time-based mapping is needed but this can be easily understood by looking at examples and characteristics at www.drbobbarker.co.uk in Forum, Basic concepts and in the book.

Key words – Analysis prior to attempting corrective actions. Empowered employees. Visualisation of the total inputs to outputs process is very powerful. Time based analysis never fails to identify waste and untapped potential, even in so called Lean organisations. I would urge readers to carry out some analysis

Time based analysis - Measuring value adding capability and supply chain synchronisation.

Feedback suggests that some people are still unclear how my time based analysis framework is applied in organisations, this post is intended to provide further guidance.

The main characteristics of the method are –

1. Centre out analysis, a central synchronisation point in most organisations or (multiple points in the auto industry) supply chain and value adding operations are compressed towards the points. The synchronisation point is usually the date/time when a customer requests something or places an order. Analysing a product or service group usually takes less than a day.

2. Recording of value adding time and costs in relation to the amount of calendar time consumed.

3. A Line of value adding capability is used at the micro and macro stages, steeper is better. This is used at each process and later extends from the supply chain to the date of completion. An important measure of how much value is being added in a certain amount of time.

4. Division of (+) (Positive) value adding activity above the calendar time axis, and (-) (Negative) non value adding costs below the axis. If the negatives outweigh the positives, the organisation is in trouble.

Looking back at 60 years of organisational development – Prescriptive versus Analytical approaches.

Historical attempts to improve organisations have largely been prescriptive, indeed prescriptive off the shelf solutions are still discussed every day by consultants and CEOs.

The prescriptive approach follows along the lines of let’s try one of the 20 or so lean tools, or let’s try some scientific management, systems thinking, data mining or digital or maybe we need team building. We can see that this approach attempts to get a proposed tool or technique to solve a yet unidentified problem. History shows us this has not really been a good way to improve organisations since in 2022 value adding capability is still very low (outside of automotive).

Surprisingly, analysis (that is very powerful) prior to unclear or blurred implementations, is mostly ignored.

Results of analysis provides knowledge and guidance. The analytical approach v the prescriptive identifies non value adding time, weaknesses and constraints that need attention. This approach is far more structured, in my experience, time-based analysis always identifies waste and untapped potential and is better than guesswork.

It remains a mystery why so many still attempt to use off the shelf solutions without any prior analysis of needs when success is limited.

If you are serious about transforming value adding capability in organisations.

What is the value adding capability in your manufacturing, health or service operation? The plain fact is, few people know. Unless you track a product, service or health patient, how will you know. At this stage many people will say we don’t need to do that because we just installed the latest ERP system, we use a lot of lean tools, or ?

I myself listened to these arguments for a long time, but then I began to use time-based analysis to measure what all this software and lean tools had really achieved, this is when I got a shock. Value adding touch time in UK local government as low as 4% (ie it took 104 weeks to do just 4 weeks of value adding work), in aircraft component production, figures as low as 6%, indeed across all the organisations (£500,000 to £28 Billion groups) I never found hardly anybody above 15%, except in automotive.

In might be hard to accept but in 2022 you could go on talking about shall we try this or that new improvement fad, or should we simply analyse what is happening in our organisation and fix it.

Why is value adding capability in the UK public sector so poor?

Time based analysis in local government services and central government agencies has revealed some very low figures, 4% value adding touch time in one case. Since a majority of services are office based and free of the constraints commonly encountered in industry where large items of equipment are often a barrier, this low capability remains a mystery. Within the public sector there also appears to be a dearth of case studies surrounding transformation.

A common characteristic in my experience is the separation of service tasks into many different stages, all separated by large non value adding time gaps. In the example shown below there were 28 task stages but only 4 professional skills needed, so it really makes a lot of sense to not only remove the non-value adding time, but also combine some tasks together. This would improve services and reduce costs. ie – There would be more output per employee.

Another fear is that poor process and value adding capability will be ignored and simply digitised. Roughly similar to entering bad data into a production control system. Let’s hope CEOs carry out some analysis and transform their services in 2022.

The value adding capability of organisations – Existing standards are low.

Most organisations contain a lot of waste and untapped potential when viewed through the lens of time (Time based analysis). Current value adding capability, measured by tracking a single product, customer order or service is usually less than 15% touch time. It can be as low as 4% in UK local government services.

Main questions, areas of weakness and concern are - 1. After 60 years of lean, why is value adding capability still so poor? 2. Push type control is still being used. 3. Employee empowerment is still not fully embraced. 4. There is very little analysis of existing organisations prior to attempts to improve performance, many teams are thus working in the dark. 5. The contribution from universities is not clear. 6. There is much debate and confusion regarding which tools to use. Please comment.

My sample range £500,000 to £28 Billion groups, All types of manufacturing (Switchgear to aircraft), UK, Germany, France, Poland, Austria, etc. UK Local government/central government agencies.

As an alternative to “If you always do what you have always done” I would urge readers to carry out some time-based analysis in 2022 in preparation for improvement and transformation.

Some thoughts on the subject of resistance to change in organisations.

Supporters of Lean say we have all the Lean Tools but analysis of the problems to be solved is often too weak in my opinion, this can cause confusion and lets stakeholders argue – Time Based Analysis is much clearer, a visual representation of the value adding process that reveals how well, or otherwise value is added. Indeed, help comes in the form of a time-based framework that is a blank representation onto which real live data is superimposed, data collected by tracking a product or service through the end-to-end process. This includes synchronising supply chains, identifying non value adding time, rough cut and fine-tuning stages with a division of Positive value adding activity and Negative non value adding costs. All very powerful, but also very revealing.

Because the results of TBA always reveal high amounts of waste and untapped potential, plus usually sub 15% value adding touch times (In non-automotive), CEOs, Directors, Managers often become defensive. TBA might therefore be too revealing because a main problem in organisations trying to transform their performance often surrounds, arguments, failures to agree and high amounts of waste found, these often reflect on management ability. Brave leaders required.

Elements of Value Adding Capability - More Detail and Context.

Measurement in organisations has become obscure and combinations of financial costs do nothing to indicate and identify where untapped potential exists.

Financial performance measurement cannot identify waste or untapped potential since it simply calculates the cost of the existing value adding system. My results of tracking a single product in a wide range of organisations using time-based analysis has revealed that value adding touch time is usually less than 15%. When I have compressed the throughput time and focused the entire inputs to outputs value adding system towards product or service flow, performance has improved and costs are reduced.

Some basics – employee empowerment is necessary, since value adding employees carry out the analysis and put data on the framework. Secondly analysis usually reveals supply chains are not very well synchronised because a majority of organisations use push type control, I always replace this with pull and inventory can be reduced by up to 60% in addition to other benefits.

Importantly – Analysis prior to attempts at corrective action is a must, otherwise you will be working in the dark and your efforts may not correct the weakest areas in the value adding chain.

Self-Doubt and Low Confidence in the World of Transforming Organisations.

In 2021 I can see that self-doubt and a perception that organisations are too complex is becoming a barrier to action when transformation is contemplated. This feeling of being overwhelmed and risk averse is purely a mindset problem and the actual work is not that difficult. However, you should note that action is required and you must get beyond “talking, having meetings and arguing”.

In my experience some transformation and step change managers tend to make things more difficult than they are to justify slow progress. When time-based analysis reveals it is not complex, funny things happen. Examples – A UK university admin dept TBA mapping reveals many weaknesses in a half day workshop, response go away, you made it look simple. Northern UK City council services TBA reveals 4% value adding capability, how can something that seemed so complex be visually so simple. Aircraft manufacture France, results (one day of mapping) revealed such a low VA capability, it cannot be published.

Summary – The fear of transforming organisations is a lot worse than the mechanics of getting the process mapped and empowered employees engaged. Time based analysis provides the linkage and a guiding framework.

Time based organisations provide improved performance and lower operating costs.

Many organisations contain a lot of waste and untapped potential but struggle to improve their performance and transform their value adding capability. This is because of a number of historical barriers.

1. Financial measurement is dominant but is really very weak because it simply records output from a particular company and cannot measure untapped potential or waste. Some organisations have been closed when they really could have been transformed into successful entities.

2. Analysing the existing value adding capability, areas of weakness and constraints is rarely undertaken prior to applying tools and techniques which may be totally unsuitable. “Let’s try this or that” is typical.

3. Even organisations that have implemented a lot of Lean tools still have very low value adding capability and unsynchronised supply chains. Analysis (Tracking a single product, service or health patient) often reveals a sub 15% value adding capability.

A time based approach can radically improve transformation and solve the above weaknesses. It is used by empowered employees that are guided by a framework to analyse weaknesses prior to development actions. The amount of improvement possible can be seen in the example below. See www.drbobbarker.co.uk for examples.

Modifications and simplification of an existing ERP/MRP Push system in conversion to Pull type triggering.

Select a product group, ask the IT dept to mark the MRP action sheets with the words “Under Pull Type Control” so items don’t get ordered twice. Install lineside or in cell bins (locations) for the parts, starting point = one week’s stock. The supplier receives weekly electronic triggers of demand or visits the cells to swipe barcodes and fills bins. A “fill from the back take from the front rule” is introduced. To begin with a three-bin rotation can be used until the system is stable. Refine as required and then include more product groups. Automotive will be fulfil in hours. The above provides both an accelerator and brake pedal.

Objectives – Reducing the amount of time between knowing an item is required and providing the supplier with that information. Reducing inventory, fast reaction to demand change. Expect up to 60% reduction in inventory levels. All suppliers can be included, travel time will be added for those overseas.

Details discussed in The Time Based Organisation – Recreating and Transforming Existing Organisations by Robert Barker, available on Amazon.com, Amazon UK, etc as an e-book, also in paperback ISBN 9798653501593

Improving value adding capability and reducing waste in public sector services.

Tracking services and mapping how work is undertaken in UK Local and Central government using the lens of time (Time based analysis) has revealed very low value adding capability. In some cases, it took 104 weeks of calendar time to complete just 4 weeks work. Given the pressure being placed on Government to reduce costs and maintain service levels I would have expected to see more results of developments being publicised, but they appear few and far between.

Time based analysis can be undertaken and driven by empowered staff and does not require management consultants or expensive computer software, yet little work appears to be underway.

I would urge all Local Government CEO’s, heads of department and NHS managers to attach themselves to a service, contract or health patient to measure the value adding capability of their systems and remove non value adding time. More guidance and examples at www.drbobbarker.co.uk Look in Forum, then Basic concepts (All free access).

Value adding employees are the key to transforming organisations.

Many management consultants often say that value adding employees cannot contribute when transforming organisations because they don’t know, what they don’t know. All this changes however when a time-based analysis framework is used.

Let’s look at this in the context of a typical rapid transformation programme.

Number of employees 650, results of analysis reveal a 15% value adding time capability when products are tracked through the inputs to outputs processes. In such situations, isolated islands of improvement driven by a team of say 4 to 6 consultants, using whatever methods they employ will have very little overall company wide impact.

Alternatively, my results from a wide range of transformations using time-based frameworks have shown that when all employees are trained in time-based analysis for just a matter of hours, they can map out the existing capability of their departments and begin to remove a lot of waste in every area of the organisation. In practice the time-based framework guides them to identify and remove all non-value adding waste and then measure and illustrate their progress visually. www.drbobbarker.co.uk

Does your organisation contain a lot of time barriers ?

Most organisations simply evolved, some have had a lot of lean treatments, some have even been designed, but the most important element, time, is often ignored.

Organisations develop in a haphazard, ad hoc way, they get a new production control or customer service system, a new machine, maybe new robots are added. In all these development actions the amount of calendar time consumed (Throughput time) is usually never ever given any consideration. The result – attach yourself to a product or service and the value adding touch time is typically less than 15% of the calendar time consumed.

Multiple time barriers exist in almost every organisation. Looking through the eyes of the product, the service or health patient there are frequent stoppages, queues or re-visits at every value adding stage of the process. The weaknesses in the haphazard way we have developed organisations are highly visible, even after 60 years of Lean, 5S, VOC, CTQ, KCs, PDCA, OEE, etc. Hence there is little point in endless discussions of whether it is 5S or 7S, Gemba or Genba.

If you want to really transform your manufacturing, service or health organisation, become time based.

Some Organisational Improvement Errors.

1. The greater the cost of the proposal, the better, the result. Not true

2. More complex proposals provide better results. Not true.

3. Adding more computer based proposals is the right way forward. Not true.

4. Applying proposed solutions without first analysing the problem is OK. Not true.

5. Financial performance measurement can identify waste and untapped potential, if the figures don’t look good, close the company. Very not true.

6. Your value adding employees are not your best consultants, ignore them, they know nothing. Very, very not true.

7. Keep quoting what lots of famous people said who were talking about something completely different or a different organisation, it always helps. Not true. The question still remains, what do I do now.

As a (free) alternative and a good starting point to the above please ask your value adding employees to track a single product or service through the entire organisation and record value adding time (This will be about 15% or less) and by default record non value adding time.

To provide guidance and visually powerful understanding of existing value adding capability use a time based analysis framework. www,drbobbarker.co.uk. Look in forum, basic concepts.

Time based analysis explained –

Time based analysis is a visual representation of an organisations value adding capability, look upon it as an organisational fingerprint. It measures the existing capability of any organisation. See examples of “before and after” below.

A time based framework is a blank representation upon which real live data, the result of tracking a product, service or health patient is superimposed.

Supply chain synchronisation standards are also measured, this is the time/date when materials or information arrive at point of use in relation to the need time/date.

All organisations have a certain value adding capability, this pulses slightly but the fingerprint will not change without transforming actions.

My results of time based analysis across a wide range of organisations in the £500,000 to £28 Billion group range reveal very low value adding capability and poor supply chain synchronisation. Attach yourself to a product or service and the value adding touch time in relation to calendar time consumed is often less than 15%. Standard cost accounting, financial performance measurement and many other metrics only measure the output from an organisation and not untapped potential or waste.

Resistance to analysis is often high because results invariably reveal large amounts of waste.

Absolutely agree with this methodology.

1- Get the worker input.

2- Draw the "Actual" map on a big piece of paper.

3- Think and discuss. See the opportunities.

4- Draw the "Futur" map.

5- Implement.

6- Start over.

Fragmented continuous improvement that is not guided by time-based analysis will never be successful.

For the last 60 years we have implemented a mixture of CI and development tools that ranged through Lean to Six sigma to OEE to digital, etc in a blind and fragmented way. Arguments then take place on a daily basis in forums, board rooms and the shop floor to debate the merits of one tool or the other or the (irrelevant) true meaning of Japanese words.

The question we must now ask ourselves is - How effective and successful has this fragmented approach been ? I would argue that success has been limited in non-automotive companies. This is based on the fact that if a product or service is tracked through an organisation (The total inputs to outputs process) the value adding touch time is often less than 15%. In fact, time-based analysis usually reveals huge amounts of waste and untapped potential.

During the last 60 years, application of isolated improvements without prior analysis to identify areas of needs has had a very limited impact on transforming entire organisations and lot of waste remains. Analysis prior to action is critical and this could be completed within a day.

Value Stream Mapping versus Time Based Analysis

The characteristics of my time-based analysis framework are –

1. Centre out analysis, a central synchronisation point for the supply chain and value adding actions. The synchronisation point is usually the point in time when a customer requests something or places an order. In the case of services, the supply chain will include information or data and not necessarily materials.

2. Line of value adding capability, steeper is better. This extends from the supply chain to the point of delivery. An important measure of how much value has been added.

3. Analysis of each value adding profile to minimise time consumed and maximise value added.

4. Division of (+) (Positive) value adding activity above the calendar time axis, and (-) (Negative) non value adding activity below the time axis. If the negatives outweigh the positives, the organisation is in trouble.

5. The ability to visually identify bottlenecks and constraints.

Looking through the lens of time - Results of tracking a single product or service through the inputs to outputs processes usually reveal that value adding touch time is less than 15%.

See www.drbobbarker.co.uk in forum, basic concepts for examples and animations.

Where, Who and What should we transform in Organisations to obtain the best results ?

I have had a lot of discussions with people in various parts of the World and it appears there are a wide range of starting points when it comes to attempting to transform an organisations capability to add value, be it in manufacturing or services.

People attempting to improve an organisation come from a variety of backgrounds such as Blackbelt, Lean, ERP/MRP, JIT, Systems, Software, etc and how they attempt improvements varies greatly. In my experience there is always another major starting point, this is a focus upon when events occur (The islands of efficiency) and not all the non-value adding time gaps. A combination of the above two constraints can lead to isolated minimum gains rather than global larger improvements.

If all the above appears familiar I suggest that some visual time-based analysis of the total inputs to outputs system could resolve conflicts and offer guidance. Analysing the value adding capability of an organisation prior to action identifies non value adding time gaps, bottleneck, constraints and poor supply chain synchronisation, etc. More information at www.drbobbarker.co.uk

What will CEO’s, Directors and Managers do today to improve their organisations ?

The answer to this question is –

90% will do nothing. Why should they, its risky, if anything goes wrong, its better to keep your head down. Wait for a development meeting, then everybody can blame each other if it goes wrong.

Result = Organisations full of waste and untapped potential with non-engaged/non-empowered employees.

5% will try to apply something that sounds technically advanced without really knowing the benefit. How about internet of things, something digital, some new control software, a robot here or there.

Result = Little or no benefit, an impact on one or two islands of efficiency. Very little employee involvement.

5% will analyse their existing value adding capability and supply chain synchronisation using time based analysis. This will be completed by value adding employees, those people that understand the process better than anyone else, not consultants.

Result. They will find that the existing value adding capability is less than 15% and the supply chain is not synchronised. They will identify areas of waste and non value adding time, when this is removed the organisation will be transformed and there will be company wide employee empowerment.

Most organisations hold large amounts of waste because non value adding time is often ignored.

Historically all CEO’s and Directors have measured the performance of an organisation using financially based procedures and accounting controls. Banks, investors and the stock market love this common and universal measure but it hides a lot of untapped potential and waste. Another major weakness is that many organisations that have adopted a wide range of lean six sigma methods still contain a lot of non-value adding time and still rely solely on financial performance measurement.

At this point it is important to distinguish between measuring outputs from a set of processes and attempting to measure the untapped potential that exists. When we look at an organisation through the lens of time things get interesting because we begin to see a lot of waste. This results from two time loss areas – 1. The interprocess non value adding time gaps and - 2. The interdepartmental non value adding time.

When a product or service is tracked through an organisation, the average value adding touch time is often less than 15%. This analysis can be undertaken by value adding employees, examples at www.drbobbarker.co.uk

Time Based Analysis – Aircraft Components.

Results of time-based analysis in the attached jpg file below illustrate the result of tracking an aircraft part through a manufacturing process, this reveals a 22% value adding capability. Experience in aircraft manufactures provides evidence of some very good and innovative processes where flow methods have been introduced. However, in contrast some very low value adding figures have been found. In all it would appear that Aircraft manufacturers have put a huge amount of effort into control of processes with a lot of blackbelt training and statistical process control work along with voice of the customer, critical to quality and key characteristics, etc. Much less work however has gone into removing the non value adding time gaps, indeed I can never remember a manager asking someone to study when things are not happening.

It is also a little bit strange that although aircraft manufacturers employ a range of specialists to manage supply chains, warehouses are still being used in most cases as buffers instead of pure lineside feed systems. This may have its roots in national security and supply chain protection. In summary a lot has been achieved but much more could be done.

Are Performance Measurement Systems and Education in Organisations fit for Purpose?

An overwhelming focus upon measuring end results and outcomes in organisations rather than untapped potential is dangerous. On the surface all appears OK but, in my experience, value adding capability is usually very poor. This behaviour is re-enforced by a business environment that constantly states -

1. Our Business Schools are winning higher awards for their expertise in World Class education.

2. Our management control systems are digital, smart, lean, agile and better than ever.

3. Our accounting and financial control is fully computerised, activity based and accurate to a cent.

All looks well, but what is measuring the time consumed, waste and untapped potential? In fact, everything seems great until you track a product or service through an organisation, that’s when you get a big shock. The value adding touch time will probably be between around 5 and 15% of the total calendar time consumed. Doubtful readers should try some time based analysis. It’s not difficult, but it is different, so mindsets need to change from just measuring financial outcomes to measuring untapped potential. In other words, are your organisational results saying 60mpg when you are really only getting 35?

Developing Organisations and Improving Performance – What Really Happens.

Attempting to improve and transform organisations has a strange history. Usually, the senior management team and Directors sit around the board room table when they are faced with growing pressure from the market place, loss of order input or a need to merge group sites, etc. The senior team will often decide to make a decision based on either their past experience, influence from someone they know (A consultant or past colleague), cost cutting or “let’s try this or let’s try that”.

What action should be taken is often decided without any analysis of existing value adding operations or analysis of inputs to outputs conversion times (VA v NVA) or indeed any feedback from value adding employees.

In 2021 however there is a better alternative to working this way, it involves value adding employees tracking a product or service through the organisation and recording VA v NVA time using Time Based Analysis. Visually displaying the value adding time per product or service (which is usually less than 15%) and then driving focused improvements makes a great deal of sense. This analysis includes supply chain synchronisation standards, which are frequently poor.

What is the Value Adding Capability in Your Organisation ?

A lot of organisations are using Lean and Six Sigma to improve business performance, but how successful has this been ? One way you can measure the results is by using time based analysis.

But beware, looking at organisations through the lens of time will usually reveal a lot of waste, untapped potential and poor supply chain synchronisation. To carry out the analysis simply attach yourself to a single product or service and measure value adding time on a calendar time line, this is usually less than 15% of the total time consumed, and might even be as low as 4%. See more results, animations at www.drbobbarker.co.uk in Forum, Basic concepts (All free access). Results are always welcome at dr.bobbarker.co.uk@gmail.com

In the analysis below, it can be seen how a product or service can be tracked through an organisation using a time based framework and the value adding operations recorded visually on a calendar time line. Also, since each value adding operation consumes materials and information, the arrival on site or production dates of these inputs can be recorded to measure standards of supply chain synchronisation.

Converting from ERP/MRP to a Pull Type System of Control.

There still appears to be a lot of nervousness surrounding converting Push type ERP/MRP to the far simpler and superior Pull type system of control. In the video below, it can be seen how the modified system operates and links directly to the sales order processing system. The major change is to remove ERP/MRP Push type triggers and replace them with Pull, which is of course linked directly to customer demand.

Conversion is incremental, product by product, so there is no need for nervousness. During conversion existing ERP/MRP action reports are marked with a message by the IT department “Now under Pull type control” this avoids double ordering. In my experience the conversion will reduce inventory by around 60%, reduce the number of purchase orders, reduce floor area needed, kitting of parts should also be used, as should visual demand boards in component areas.

You will have already seen from my previous posts that when organisations are viewed through the Lens of Time, a lot of waste and untapped potential is revealed. In my opinion an organisation cannot become time based using Push Type control. www.drbobbarker.co.uk (All research is shared openly to improve organisations).

CEO’s and Senior Management Hold the Keys to the Gates of Change.

Time based analysis is a highly structured way of identifying waste and untapped potential in all organisations. Analysis prior to transformation ensures that improvement actions are targeted in the correct areas. Further audits using time can then measure if value adding capability is improving. Supply chain synchronisation standards are also included in this improvement programme. Since my research findings to date reveal that tracking a single product or service results in less than 15% value adding touch time, it is not unusual to find huge amounts of waste, in all its forms.

I have found however that some CEO’s and leaders who hold the keys to driving change are often unsupportive, even when results of analysis prove that change is needed. Given that I have now created a precise and structured way of removing waste from the end to end processes, it makes sense to stop working blind without any prior analysis. Why would we want to do anything else? Imagine the disastrous consequences if you went into an hospital and without any examination, medics said “let’s try this or let’s try that” it would be disastrous.

As I gather more and more results from viewing organisations through the Lens of Time a big question arises, why is there so much waste ?

In the last 60 years, we have thrown Lean, Systems Thinking, Theory of Constraints, ERP/MRP, Analytics, Digital, Smart, Industry 4.0, and Cloud at our organisations plus our Business Schools are winning ever bigger awards. Yet, time based analysis reveals that manufacturing and service organisations in the (£500,000 to £28 Billion Group range) still hold huge amounts of untapped potential. Attach yourself to a product or service and you will find value adding capability is very low, between 6 and 15% value adding touch time is typical

The second big question, does anybody care ?. A lot of CEO’s Directors and even Government Departments seem very relaxed about the situation.

Transforming organisations is not difficult and can be undertaken by value adding employees, not consultants. A time-based framework is a blank representation onto which real live data is superimposed, this guides the team to identify non value adding activity and waste. See www.drbobbarker.co.uk for research results, animations and guidance. All free of cost.

Transforming Organisations – Lean and Time Based Analysis Compared.

In this post I attempt to use an analogy to explain two different approaches to transforming organisations, they are Lean and Time Based Analysis.

It is common for managers, staff and employees to be trained in 15 - 20 Lean tools or techniques and then asked to apply them in their place of work. The trained people then try to apply them. Some of the tools are appropriate to the problem, some are not. In most cases this approach has limited success.

In contrast the time based approach analyses the end to end, input/output processes so the areas of waste can be identified. A single product is tracked and data superimposed on the framework.

Analogy - If you are in poor health and go to a hospital, medics scan you, take measurements and readings to identify the problem. Once the problem is known, the most suitable treatment or medication and care plans are applied.

Time based analysis is like the example directly above, but it is designed to measure the health of organisations and the synchronisation of supply chains. Its objective is time compression and removing waste, followed by fine tuning value adding capability. www.drbobbarker.co.uk

Transforming Organisations – Lean and Time Based Analysis Compared.

In this post I attempt to use an analogy to explain two different approaches to transforming organisations, they are Lean and Time Based Analysis.

It is common for managers, staff and employees to be trained in 15 - 20 Lean tools or techniques and then asked to apply them in their place of work. The trained people then try to apply them. Some of the tools are appropriate to the problem, some are not. In most cases this approach has limited success.

In contrast the time based approach analyses the end to end, input/output processes so the areas of waste can be identified. A single product is tracked and data superimposed on the framework.

Analogy - If you are in poor health and go to a hospital, medics scan you, take measurements and readings to identify the problem. Once the problem is known, the most suitable treatment or medication and care plans are applied.

Time based analysis is like the example directly above, but it is designed to measure the health of organisations and the synchronisation of supply chains. Its objective is time compression and removing waste, followed by fine tuning value adding capability. www.drbobbarker.co.uk

Time Based Analysis Allows Every Employee to See How They Can Transform Their Organisation.

From applications in the (£500,000 to £28 Billion size range) Manufacturing and Services. UK, France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Finland, etc. Time Based Analysis has two important features.

1. Teams of value adding employees can analyse and measure the value adding capability of their production department or office by tracking a single product or service and recording value adding time and by default the non-value adding time gaps. When this is undertaken the value adding touch time is usually less than 15%.

2. Employees who are often unsure of how they contribute to the success of an organisation can see visually (Often for the first time) how they are adding value and their relationship to other employees and departments. This has been found to have a massive positive impact on morale and improves benchmarking, either within a group or with other offices or locations.

One problem. High amounts of waste are often found and CEO's/managers react differently, managers often fail to take action to remove waste.

Analysis by the value adding team usually takes 2-3 hours. More at www.drbobbarker.co.uk in Forum, Basic Concepts (All free access)

Time Based Analysis – Multiple Value Adding Cells with Direct Material Feeds.

In this video an example of a production line with multiple stations and direct cell feeds of material and components is shown. Time based analysis measures the arrival of materials in relation to the actual need time or date and the value adding capability of the production cells. Here the profile of each value adding process is important, some processes can add a lot of value very quickly whilst others consume more throughput time. The non-value adding gaps that often appear between the process islands are displayed, these need minimising where possible.

Quite obviously the type of value adding capability being displayed in this video is typical of automotive plants and far superior to general manufacturing where I quite often record value adding capability of less than 15% (ie = to 15 days of value adding touch time in 100 days of elapsed calendar time) results obtained by tracking a single product through the end to end inputs/outputs process. Sadly, this poor VA capability is often associated with poor supply synchronisation, parts arriving too early, too late and high inventory. More research results www.drbobbarker.co.uk

The justification for more Time Based Analysis - Comparisons.

Our measurement of organisations, discussions and suggested cures appears to be lacking in a lot of areas. I base my opinions and point of view on the following experience (Last 35 years) and the fact that if you attach yourself to a product or service (In 2021) the value adding touch time will invariably be less than 15%.

1. Systems Thinking. I will say here that Prof Checkland and soft systems should have impacted organisations more, but it did not. I suspect it was seen as too academic.

2. ERP/MRP. Push type control has always been alluring but as all of you will know from experience, its cumbersome and the theory is never achieved in practice. Better to remove it ASAP and replace with pull type control. Expect a 60% reduction in inventory.

3. Lean Adoption. This is a mystery and could be an East v West culture problem. The structure and where all the lean tools fit together is confusing for many. More recently a lot of consultants want to discuss the thoughts of Ohno, etc, which gets us further from the problem.

4. Standard Cost Accounting. Measures results and not potential.

Time Based Analysis Training Slides and Notes

I have received a number of requests from Academics around the World to supply them with Time Based Analysis training and awareness slides. In response I have put together a pdf file that contains 21 slides and 7 pages of training notes. The training slides discuss looking at organisations through the lens of time, this will provide clarity for supply chain and operations management students at all levels.

Time based analysis is a highly structured way of recreating and transforming existing organisations where existing supply chain synchronisation and value adding capability are both poor. Since research results using the method have revealed high amounts of waste and untapped potential, there is a real opportunity for major operational improvements.

Results to date across a wide range of organisations (Both in Manufacturing and Services) have always been very good. The methodology is visually powerful and designed to be used and driven by value adding employees and staff, not specialists or consultants. www.drbobbarker.co.uk

Time Based Analysis – Basic Concepts and Gathering Data.

Time based analysis measures the operational effectiveness of people, equipment, processes, culture, technology and equipment within organisations. It is a true measure of an organisations capability to add value to products or services, unlike financial performance measurement it can identify waste and untapped potential. The time based framework shown below is a blank representation onto which real live data from an organisation is superimposed.

Measurement of throughput time corrects the past focus on islands of efficiency and silos that can result in poor management of the inputs to outputs process. Indeed, non-value adding time gaps in the total process can often account for up to 85% of the calendar time consumed and have a negative impact, but are often ignored.

Most organisations claim to have high performance levels but when measured through the lens of time, a different picture emerges. It is impossible to create a time based organisation when the amount of calendar time consumed is overlooked.

In summary, financial outcomes might still remain the dominant universal measure of results, but time based analysis is a powerful way of obtaining the best results. www.drbobbarker.co.uk

Time Based Analysis in Office and Services – Basic Concepts.

1. If the non value adding costs and activity under the horizontal calendar time axis exceed the value being added above the calendar time axis, the organisation is in trouble.

2. When the amount of throughput time to complete tasks increases, so do the costs.

General findings to date – Value adding capability in manufacturing (Excluding automotive) is around 15%, UK public service sector lowest figure recorded = 1%. (Days of value adding touch time per product, service or health patient in relation to 100 days of elapsed calendar time). There is a big value adding capability void between the best time based organisations with high value adding capability and the worst case industrial or service organisation. In all organisations negative costs erode service levels, profit margins or budgets.

In services, office and health care, there is no selling price only a departmental budget which may be overspent as excessive amounts of calendar time consumed by poor organizational design increase costs.

In this model the line of negative cost has been added. Non value adding time gaps give rise to an increase in the negative costs as non value adding time increases.

www.drbobbarker.co.uk