sDBR episode 01

Dedications
From the book, Manufacturing At Warp Speed, Optimizing Supply Chain Financial Performance by Schragenheim and Dettmer:

To Eliyahu M. Goldratt, profound thinker and educator.
It is better to light a candle than to curse the light.

From me for this series on Simplified Drum-Buffer-Rope (sDBR):
“Constraints are everywhere in life and business. When you find a better mousetrap, you will do well to share it with others.”

First things first: These two gentlemen know the Theory of Constraints (TOC) inside, out. Better yet, they are both life long learners and finally, both are among the world’s [yes, the World’s] best educators. Ever. Thousands if not tens of thousands [or more!] eager students have sat at the feet figuratively [and many of us literally] of these two icons over the past thirty years.

I consider them both friends and have called on them on several occasions when my knowledge was insufficient. Let me tell you about one instance in 2004 when I was working on an LBO [leveraged buy-out] of a custom motorcycle OEM, Red Horse Motorworks in Britt, Iowa.

That is me at Sturgis in 2005 on my Red Horse built custom ProStreet. It all started when I shared my desire to own one in my book, Purple Curve Effect. Dreams do come true! MSRP: $29,740

So, a quick series of “level setting” statements before we jump into sDBR, the tool that could very well double your sales in the next ninety days. If you pay close attention. How many episodes will this take? Only time will tell.

First, I discover Goldratt and TOC when he released the 2nd Edition of The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement in 1992. How? Because in one of my favorite magazines, IndustryWeek, there is a book review of the new edition of The Goal.

Second, after years of study and practice and a number of “almost Kismets” in my business and computer consulting practice, I decide to become a “Jonah” which is TOC’s equivalent of an MBA [Masters of Business Adminstration] or a Lean Sensei. Only better in my opinion as TOC is focused on Systems Thinking and not a particular tool or methodology. More on that in the weeks ahead. Under Bill Dettmer’s guidance, I complete my Jonah “certification” in the Fall of 2002.

Finally, with a number of success stories as a Jonah, I write my book in the winter of 2003/2004 [with the amazing help and insights of my co-author, Thayer Bennett]: Purple Curve Effect — SKI’s Throughput on Command. Complete with Foreword by Dettmer. In fact, during my Jonah classes with Dettmer he told me that he wished he had created a “series” of books instead of “one-offs” and therefore, PCE was “The First in the Applying Common Sense Series.” In my book, I tell of my discovery of Red Horse and the fact that I would love to own one. Perhaps even creating a business around custom motorcycles. (Which I did in 2005, Turismo Cycles when the LBO failed.)

In August 2004 with a business colleague, we attempt the LBO. In short, I go into the business as a consultant and take over the vacant role of Plant Manager and expand my duties, becoming the Director of Manufacturing. It is heavy on purchasing and scheduling and calls on my time in grade in manufacturing and computerized MRP-II “from a former life” as we say.

Enter sDBR

So, now that you have bagged the 800lbs. Gorilla, in this case, the acceptance to proceed with the effort to buy Red Horse, what do you do with it?

Tune in next time

P.S. Previous Episode: sDBR episode 0
#sDBR #ROI #TheoryOfConstraints #JeffSkiKinsey