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....
Articles
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 Scheduling vs ERP: Why Job Shops Still Struggle
Last updated: September 5, 2025 TL;DR on AI Job Shop Scheduling 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...
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...
Step-by-Step Setup Reduction for Job Shops
Setup Reduction to Increase Flow and Productivity for Job Shops and Machine Shops Setup Reduction for Job Shops can be a challenge, no doubt. We often hear job shops explain that they can’t increase FLOW & PRODUCTIVITY because they have long setups. We’ve found...
Drum Buffer Rope (DBR) Summary
What is Drum Buffer Rope? Drum Buffer Rope (DBR) is the Theory of Constraints scheduling process focused on increasing flow and Throughput by identifying and leveraging the system constraint. DBR was developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt (Eli Goldratt), the father of...
The Goal book by Eliyahu Goldratt SUMMARY
The path to publishing The Goal book was difficult. In 1984 there were no business novels. Eliyahu Goldratt or Eli would tell a story about publishers passing on his book because it was a business book and a “love story”, and they did not know what shelf to put it...
