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32 The PCB Magazine • August 2017 CYCLE TIME REDUCTION THROUGH W.O.R.C. operations. This will require them to also ap- ply a hybrid approach as the traditional finan- cial metrics will still be appropriate for the tra- ditional production shop processes. Strategically Plan for Spare Capacity Traditional Thinking says: "To get jobs out fast, we must maintain a high utilization rate on our machines and people." This is false: as utilization approaches 100% queues get longer and longer. Let me put this into a personal perspective: looking at Figure 2, in your daily commute to work, would you rather be driving on a freeway that is at 100% capacity (bumper-to-bumper traffic), or one that is only at 70% (65 mph)? We are talking about speed and time, and why would we want anything less in our businesses? Reduce Utilization (Increase Spare Capacity) This is not accomplished by adding more re- sources, but rather by reducing: • Setup times • Operation times • Rework and/or scrap • Finished goods inventory • Machine down times • Absenteeism "Plan for a 70 – 85% capacity utilization sweet spot and avoid the temptation to fill up the spare capacity with more work!!!" Bigger Is Not Better: Reduce Batch Sizes Traditional Thinking says: "In order to re- duce our lead times, we have to improve our ef- ficiencies." This is false, not because efficiency in it- self is not bad, but because most measures of efficiency work counter to lead-time reduc- tion. A lot size of one is the holy grail of lean operations management, but is not practical. However, smaller is better and results in im- proved: • Control/traceability • Quality levels • Flexibility • Risk management – Inventory – ECNs – Obsolescence – Scrap & Rework Figure 2: Which freeway would you rather be on?