By Dr. Lisa Lang, TOCICO Certified Expert and developer of the Velocity Scheduling System Last updated: April 18, 2026 Flow-based scheduling is a production management approach that prioritizes moving work through the shop as quickly as possible by reducing queues and...
Articles
Increase Job Shop Productivity NOW!
Whether you’ve continued to manufacture or you’re ramping back up after COVID-19, you may find yourself with fewer people for any number of reasons: People out sick People not wanting to come to work Fewer people can work at one time for social distancing Layoffs you...
Backlog Problems – Max Profit Part 9
Job Shop Scheduling - Sales Backlog, Is it too Big or too Small? Brad: “It is common for job shop owners and managers to keep a close eye on the size of their Sales Backlog. It is a barometer of how things are going. Usually it is expressed in dollars. It is also...
Job Shop Strategy – Max Profit Part 5
Maximizing Profitability the TOC Way #5 of 9 Brad: “Let’s talk about job shop strategy. After all, it’s that time of year again when many stops start looking ahead. It's time to start planning for next year!” Dr. Lisa: “Yes, in the big companies you and I used to...
Job Shop Productivity – Max Profit Part 4
Maximizing Profitability the TOC Way #4 - Job Shop Productivity & Machine Shop Productivity Brad: “So you have recommended that improving productivity is a great first step for maximizing profitability for highly custom job shops and machine shops. But that...
Machine Shop Profitability the TOC Way – Max Profit Part 3
This is the third in the 9 part series of conversations on the maximizing profitability of job shops and machine shops the Theory of Constraints way! Brad: “If a job shop or machine shop business owner could start (1) by improving company productivity, or (2) by...
Job Shop and Machine Shop Profitability – Part 2
Maximizing Profitability using Theory of Constraints #2 Brad: “Just what should a highly custom job shop or machine shop company set as a profitability goal? What is reasonable? How high is up? Is there a way to know what's possible?” Dr. Lisa: “I’ll give you Dr...
Job Shop and Machine Shop Profitability – Max Profit Part 1
This starts a 9 part series of conversations about Maximizing Profitability the TOC (Theory of Constraints) Way. While Science of Business, Inc. focuses on highly custom job shop scheduling and machine shop scheduling, we will make sure the content of these...
The biggest constraint we find is … (part 2)
The Allocation Mind-set We have worked with companies around the globe and the constraint is always the same. It's how we think. In particular, it's how the business owner or leader of the company thinks. Last time, in Part 1, we discussed the efficiency mind-set...
The biggest constraint we find is … (part 1)
Theory of Constraints for Job Shops and Machine Shops (Custom Manufacturers) We have worked with companies around the globe implementing Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma and the constraint is always the same. It’s how we think. In particular, it’s how the...