By Dr. Lisa Lang, TOCICO Certified Expert and developer of the Velocity Scheduling System TL;DR: Goldratt taught us to simplify. But in job shops, we simplified the wrong thing. We dumbed down our processes instead of building systems smart enough to handle the real...
Articles
How to Leverage AI in Manufacturing Job Shops
TL;DR Your software vendors are making motor swaps - bolting AI onto the same broken logic. That is why 85-95% (MIT Study) of AI investments fail. Redesigning the factory is what works. Your scheduler is probably your highest-leverage thinker trapped in...
AI Shifts the Bottleneck: A Theory of Constraints AI Perspective
TL;DR - Theory of Constraints AI AI does not eliminate constraints. It moves them upstream. When execution becomes cheap, the bottleneck is no longer speed or tools. It's problem selection, framing, and system design. Human attention matters, but attention is just...
Dashboards are dead
Your dashboard just showed you that Job #4721 was not profitable, running 40% over budget. Last week. Your customer already paid the invoice. Your margin is already gone. Sound familiar? Here's what's really happening: You're using rear-view mirrors to drive forward....
AI does not spread new rules. It cements old ones.
My partner Brad won a Lifetime Achievement Award¹ from TOCICO for his breakthrough pricing approach. Yet despite recognition from Theory of Constraints experts, it still isn't mainstream. His thought: If ChatGPT and other LLMs started serving my approach as the...
Scheduling Modules Abandoned
In the AI Job Shop Scheduling article I shared last week, I broke down why ERP scheduling keeps failing job shops and why they often get abandoned. Let’s make the logic airtight. Each flaw triggers the next, creating this chain reaction built into...
Scheduling Nervousness
Ever heard of scheduling "nervousness"? It's a thing. If you haven't read the article I sent last week, here’s the essence: Most “AI scheduling” sits on the same requirements-planning logic from the 1980s. That logic creates oscillations in high-mix job shops. Adding...
AI Job Shop Scheduling vs ERP
Last updated: November 9, 2025 TD;LR Core: "AI sprinkled on top of old ERP logic and scheduling systems won’t create reliable velocity in a custom job shop. It will create faster oscillations." Proof: 52 of 86 manufacturing industries saw labor productivity fall in...
SMART Goals for Manufacturers DON’T Work
Annual Goal Setting and SMART Goals SMART goals for manufacturers DON'T work. Goals are necessary but not sufficient to drive results. I'll explain why (3 reasons) and what you can do instead. It’s that time of year when we’re setting personal and business goals. ...
Does Lean manufacturing work in job shops and machine shops?
Lean manufacturing and lean scheduling do not work for high mix low volume custom job shops or machine shops. Here's why and what DOES work. Lean Manufacturing | Lean Scheduling Why? Lean manufacturing was developed most notably in Toyota. In Toyota's environment...
