Balance Demand Against Throughput: Kanban Recipe for Success Step 4

Balance Demand Against Throughput

Kanban Recipe for Success: Step Four

Jason Yipj.c.yip@computer.org

jcyip@thoughtworks.com@jchyip

http://jchyip.blogspot.com

HOMEWORK CHECK

What step(s) did you take to start Reducing WIP and Delivering Often?

The Recipe for Success

1. Focus on Quality2. Reduce WIP3. Deliver Often4. Balance Demand Against

Throughput5. Prioritise6. Attack Variability to Improve

Predictability

BALANCE DEMAND AGAINST THROUGHPUT

What’s wrong with this picture?

“…we will set the rate at which we accept new requirements into our software development pipe to correspond with the rate at which we can deliver working code…As work is delivered, we will pull new work (or requirements) from the people creating demand.”

David Anderson, Kanban

HIGHLIGHT THE BOTTLENECK (THEORY OF CONSTRAINTS)

Boy scout story

• http://www.toc.tv/TV/video.php?o=p-16245&ac=sus&mtr=p-16245&open=excerpt&id=17#.UmIfyRa1dF8 (4:40)

Theory of Constraints Five Focusing Steps

1. Identify the constraint2. Exploit the constraint (aka keep

constraint busy all the time)3. Subordinate to the constraint4. Elevate the constraint5. Do not let inertia become the

constraint (aka goto step 1)

Limiting to the constraint creates slack outside of the constraint,

which creates capacity for improvement

THE PACEMAKER SETS THE PACE (TPS)

“…TPS does not allow a bottleneck to set the pace of the value stream. After all, the bottleneck may exist for any number of problematic reasons – excessive downtime, poor quality, long changeover times, etc. Why would I choose to let an operation with such problems determine the way I flow my entire value stream? Of course, I have to deal with the problem operation (the bottleneck), and there are numerous techniques to do so, but I will not let it dictate the pace (takt) of my entire product flow!”

John Shook, http://www.lean.org/Library/Shook_on_VSM_Misunderstandings.pdf

AKA the slowest kid doesn’t set the pace

http://lssacademy.com/2007/04/19/toc-bottleneck-versus-lean-pacemaker_19/

“…we should help Herbie lose weight!”

YOUR FIRST PRIORITY IS NOT FINDING BOTTLENECKS (REINERTSEN)

Product development bottlenecks are stochastic,

not deterministic

What do actual boy scouts do?

• Split up into two groups (aka smaller batches)

• Integration points (stream crossings, forks in the trail)

• Stay in contact: visual + radio• The lead group replenishes water

and prepares camp

“…I always suggest reducing batch size before adding capacity at bottlenecks.”

Don Reinertsen, Principles of Product Development Flow

All very interesting… how might you apply this in practice?

HOMEWORK

What is the smallest step you could take to move 1

level up (or more)?

What is your plan to start that step tomorrow?