In this four-part series, we take an in-depth look at how to design an effective work environment. Part one discusses the elements of continuous-flow work cells. Part two considers how to enhance the efficiency of such work cells. Part three explores the 5S methodology. In part four of the series, we look at single-minute exchange of die (SMED).

In part one of this series, I discussed the elements of continuous-flow work cells. In this part I will discuss efficiency enhancements. If the production capacity is less than the quantity needed per day, we would have a bottleneck, which we need to address so we can meet the required demand. In lean Six Sigma, a bottleneck is any process that has a cycle time that’s greater than takt time. It is possible to have multiple bottleneck operations. There are several ways of breaking bottlenecks:

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