ABSTRACT
The goal of a manufacturer is to reduce the total time that a customer must wait from the time that they place their order to the time that they receive their order free of defects. Waste is any activity performed by the manufacturer that adds a delay to the time that the customer must wait and adds a cost to the price that the customer must pay. There are Seven Types of Waste that result in administrative, manufacturing, distribution, and other delays – Overproduction, Waiting, Overprocessing, Scrap and Rework, Transportation, Operator Motion, and Inventory. To satisfy a customer, a manufacturer must fulfill three goals – Quality, Cost, and Delivery. Lean limits many manufacturers with its focus on cost reduction through waste elimination. In contrast, Theory Of Constraints is a competing manufacturing strategy that sets three goals for any manufacturer: Maximize Throughput, Reduce Inventories, and Reduce Operating Costs.
