Reducing WIP and increasing flow

Having lots of Work In Process (WIP) often hides priorities whilst giving resources and departments many choices to improve their own local efficiencies. This is often at the expense of the effectiveness of the business as a whole.

High WIP levels increase lead times as each individual part spends most of its lead time waiting in queues to be processed and not being processed. This has a significant effect on the delivery performance. Reducing WIP is easy to say but can seem daunting and it can be unclear how much to reduce it by.

How can you reduce WIP quickly without making the delivery situation worse?

Stop releasing orders as early as you currently do into operations, instead be brave and hold off the release of orders. Orders should instead be released onto the shop floor much later even as much as 50% later. All other current WIP must be frozen until it is time to start them in accordance with their new release date.

Restricting the release of orders:

1. reduces WIP and therefore increases the speed of flow of products through the shop floor
2. reduces lead times by as much as 50%
3. increases Due Date Performance to <95%
4. reveals up to 50% excess capacity which is currently hidden

Vast experience shows this leads only to good results and to no negative ramifications.