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Capacity shortages don’t need fresh investments!
I have come across several supply chain teams who must deal with capacity shortages – be it in production, packing process, quality inspection, transportation, or storage. They also mention that their request for investing in capacity expansion is facing challenges in getting management approval.
Whenever teams encounter a capacity shortage, the first response is often to go for additional capacity. Is it really required?
My experience suggests that most of the capacity shortage situations are caused by certain flawed policies, processes and practices adopted by the firm. These may have been relevant in earlier times and haven’t changed with the evolving marketplace requirements. Modifying these policies and practices creates significant additional capacity in most cases.
Five Focusing Steps of TOC coupled with the Thinking Processes help in identifying such flawed policies and modifying them.