Factories,
People
& Results
Theory of Constraints, Critical Chain Project Management, Lean : industry consulting & training - Marris Consulting
A manufacturer of water meter wanted to reduce his R&D project lead-time R&D to stay a step ahead of his competitors
Approach
The implementation covered several interlinked subjects:
-
Management: training and coaching of the Project Managers and the R&D teams abou Critical Chain Project Management and Lean Engineering (based on the Toyota Product Development System)
-
Standardization: further development of the NPD Standards and revamping of all relevant procedures. Standard Work Breakdown Structures for each of the different family of projects (new product, improvement, etc.)
-
Training on 3 topics: Critical Chain Project Management, Lean Engineering and Project Management Best Practices (PMI)
-
Risk Management: better initial identification of risks and strengthened risk management practices
-
…
Results
-
Realistic, robust and yet very ambitious NPD Project Planning
-
Task durations revisited according to Critical Chain logic: divided by 2, 5, or 10
Plus reduction by several weeks of the project duration thanks to the optimization of the critical chain tasks.
-
Reduction of the critical supplier deadlines via the creation of partnerships, the participation of suppliers from the first phases of the project (co-design), incentive contracting, etc.
-
A simple visual management of project execution using the Fever Chart
-
Mascots used to symbolize the concept of the relay race
-
Excellent anticipation of problems and implementation of appropriate solutions
About Marris Consulting
Marris Consulting is an industry consulting and training company specialized in the Theory of Constraints (ToC) and Critical Chain Project Management. We focus on improving the performance of manufacturing and process industries by using Constraints Management combined with Lean and Six Sigma. To boost project performance, we also use Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), which we sometimes combine with Lean Engineering. Our 2-day performance audits, our performance consulting services and our project management, Lean, ToC & CCPM training by our industry consultants offer a wide range of solutions to help our clients around the world reach the highest possible levels of performance.