Quick Response Manufacturing

QRM stands for Quick Response Manufacturing. QRM is a strategy that focuses the company on growth and is particularly suitable for an environment in which a high number of variants with low unit numbers is typical, such as in the project business. Lean management, on the other hand, is well suited for low variant diversity and high unit numbers (Figure 1).

QRM was developed in the 1980s by Rajan Suri at the University of Wisconsin and consists of four core elements (Figure 2):

The importance of time What is special about QRM is that time is centrally focused. Even with Lean, we say that lead time is the most important key figure. However, experience from countless Lean projects shows that efficiency (costs) is usually the main focus, not time. This is completely different with QRM. Here, all efforts are aimed at uncompromisingly reducing the so-called MCT (Manufacturing Critical-Path Time). MCT is essentially the same as lead time from the customer's point of view. It includes not only the lead time in production, but also in administration.

The MCT is visualized with the help of the MCT map (Figure 3). The MCT map shows at a glance where action is needed, namely in the so-called "white space" (idle times), and not in the "grey space" (value-adding times).

QRM offers various tools to reduce MCT. If the MCT can be reduced significantly, this has an immediate positive effect on the customer: He gets his order delivered much faster. This can mean a major competitive advantage and thus contribute to growth.

There is an empirical correlation between MCT reduction and cost reduction. The evaluation of many QRM projects shows that the more the MCT is reduced, the more the costs decrease (Figure 4).

Focused Target Market Segments (FTMS) and QRM cells

The term FTMS refers to a business segment for which a shortening of the DLZ creates a significant competitive advantage and thus growth opportunities. In order to achieve a high level of responsiveness to

To reach customers, a high degree of flexibility is required. For this reason, QRM throws department-oriented organizational forms out the window and forms highly flexible QRM cells. A QRM cell is a set of dedicated, multifunctional resources that can perform a complete sequence of operations in one place for all orders of the FTMS concerned. Four structural changes are made organizationally (Figure 5).

The entire performance process is the responsibility of the team

QRM cells are highly autonomous and self-organizing. They take full responsibility for the timely and cost-efficient production/delivery of qualitatively flawless products of their FTMS. They take on the detailed planning and control of orders, the maintenance of equipment, deal with malfunctions independently and organise themselves in terms of working hours, days off and holidays. QRM cells consist of employees who train each other (cross-training) and thus become very polyvalent over time.

Managing variability with system dynamics

Under the term system dynamics we understand the relationships between variability, utilization and DLZ. All of us know the traffic jam in road traffic. Traffic jams occur because there is a high degree of variability on the roads and, at the same time, the capacity utilization is too high. Variability comes thereThe entire performance process is the responsibility of the team QRM cells are very autonomous and organize themselves. They take full responsibility for producing/delivering quality products of their FTMS on time and on budget. They take on the detailed planning and control of orders, maintenance of equipment, deal with breakdowns independently and organise themselves in terms of working hours, days off and holidays. QRM cells consist of employees who train each other (cross-training) and thus become highly polyvalent over time. Managing variability with system dynamics By the term system dynamics, we mean the relationships between variability, workload and DLZ. All of us know the traffic jam in road traffic. Traffic jams are caused by the fact that there is a high variability on the roads and at the same time the load factor is too high. Variability comes from the fact that traffic volumes are not always the same, cars drive at different speeds, accelerate/brake differently, maintain different distances, drivers react differently and disruptions such as road works, breakdowns and accidents also occur.

Exactly the same variability exists in the company. Customer orders do not come in regularly, employees do not work at the same speed, not all products have the same process sequence or the same cycle times. In addition, employees drop out, machines break down, material or information is missing.

The mathematical relationship between variability, utilization and DLZ is as follows (Figure 6): DLZ = Waiting time + Processing time = AV × M × JT + JT

AV: = variability

M: = Utilization multiplier =

U / (1-U) U: = load factor

JT: = Processing time

The utilization multiplier M and thus the waiting time becomes very high at high utilization U, cf. Table 1.

If we utilize our available resources to 100% with a variability greater than zero, then we get very long DLZs. Moreover, it becomes very difficult to plan accurately, because the smallest changes have a large impact on the DLZ in the steep part of the curve.

"Focus on flow saves costs - focus on costs destroys flow" (Carol A. Ptak).

In order to keep DLZ under control with high variability, reserve capacity must be available. This contradicts the widespread (lean) view that capacity utilization must always be as high as possible for cost reasons. However, the supposedly high efficiency is eaten away by a large planning and control effort. The result is angry customers who have to wait forever for their orders. The higher the variability, the higher the reserve capacity should be (Figure 7).

We gain reserve capacity with the well-known lean methods.

Further information

• Literature: Rajan Suri, It's about Time, Taylor & Francis Inc.; ISBN 978-1439805954
• Wertfabrik AG offers QRM exclusively in Switzerland under the brand Q-Time (www.q-time.ch). Q-Time is the sole member in Switzerland of the international network "QRM Institutes".