The resource utilization trap

genius

anyone has an online mural board version of this?

A great (and fun) demonstration.
Cold you make one, where one of the workers is slower thank the others (or perhaps even absent)?

Very very interesting and insightful.
One issue I see is that some tasks aren't one-man's jobs. For instance in the world of software development, one typical step is the code review stage, which takes time and is on the critical path to delivery. But it's not the job of a single person, I mean no one would agree to only do this all day. Devs will typically do it in addition to their other coding tasks.
So in the metaphor here, it's as if the 4 guys were often changing place according to some arbitrary rules, which would definitely slow down the delivery even in pull mode.
Still very inspiring, thanks!

This was a really easy visualisation to follow. Would be simple to run this demo with my team!

Gracias por el video quedo calrisimo el metodo push o pull

Nice try but in when it comes to resource utilization it's about making sure no one is idle and that all resources have got their hands full of work. The first scenario does not, in my view, represents a true scenario as there's a continuous flow floating from stage a to b. Scenario 2 was complete without any structured flow where scenario 3 was same as scenario 1 but continuous.

Pull is restricted by managers dictating outcomes and restricting pull by offering task partially understood by them, not by the team. Irrelevant managers is always a bottleneck. Generic management is the problem in many companies.

Very creative :)

something does not click in my head about this process but a good demo to get me thinking. everything depends on the planning and resources. in an ideal world, resource will pull but when money is in another hand they don't do an efficient pull. let's get real there has been no formula yet discovered for 100% resource utilization (hence the 8 hours/day 5 days/week). if we could get 80% then that project should do well if there is a ~proper planning. There should be an optimum (magic!) between a pull and a push. And that is the skill of a planner (in this video manager). The guy should be accountable and responsible else let him go.

Thanks for sharing

So simple. I'm bookmarking this, because I have seen so many companies fall into this trap.

Great explained i got clear picture about resource utilisation it is not keeping busy it should be something value delivered to customer

Wonderful video

Genius

This has been the single best explanation about why a pull methodology create efficiency.

Though the pull idea is good, the way the whole thing is demonstrated is quite confusing and illogical!

I would like to call team members as "Knowledge Workers" (or better name perhaps), rather than calling them "Resources". Humans are not resources / commodity, i feel & due respect need to be given possible for people working for creating customer value !

Great video! I translated the subtitles into brazilian portuguese, would you mind upload them? I can send you the file.

Great explanation!!! Thanks!

Not exactly. If the narrator had increased the input push, the throughput and utilization would rise too.
The difference wasn't push or pull, but the introduction of a storage - the bag - at the beginning.
Now put a bag in between every processor. Those working faster to fill the following bag, will get time to visit the toilet or have a coffee. Actually everyone would get the chance.
What would be different is the amount of work in process (the balls in the bags).

Now Just-in-time removes those bags. And reduces utilization, and resilience to exceptions, e.g. snow on the road, or a sick child of one worker.

Every electronic system has capacitors and coils to store energy and release energy when needed. Remove those capacitors and a sudden impulse at the input can destroy the CPU. A typical case of save the penny to lose the pound.

only problem with this video is calling us "resources"; not cool

Thank you for the video! Also it'd be good to see some women in your team :)

Excellent...yet simple

thanks a lot, Henrik :) - you're fantastic demonstrator!

Wonderful demonstration, thank you. It's a shame that gendered language was used for the nonexistent manager and supervisor. And, of course, that they're assumed to be men. Will share nonetheless.

Excellent demonstration! good one

Are you looking for quality or quantity? How many tasks one person should be responsible for?

Excellent demonstration!

Thanks for that video ! Clear; precise and fun !

So cool!!!! Amazing Demo 🙌

Infinite??? WTF? You just stopped execution and claim that team will never finish ANY tasks

excellent!

Nice but one thing I would change. You said that option will deliver 0 and delivery time is infinite. This is simply not true. You stopped it just before it was about to deliver few balls at the time. To be fair all round should have the same lenght. For example 5 minutes. Otherwise you don't prove anything.

Thank for your helpful video.

Simple! Got it!

That's was so effective. Thank you

Awesome

Incredible, what a simple way to explain what most fin difficult to understand.

Wonderful video, but Henrik in reality how we can keep the balance between the teammates who have load of work and the one who don't commit to enough work?

Can I "thumbs-up" this more than once? :)

Super cool Henrik!

Ready go! Try touching the ball at the same time. Flow time should be less.

terrific !

One-piece-flow rediscovered ... thank you ... an element reducing LT and time-to-customer. However, for the resource utilization it is more complex to define whether batch-based production or a piece-flow-based one is better. It depends on type of production (not always discrete or assembly process), its layout, supply chain characteristic, even legal regulations (pharmacy) and of course high/low-mix/volume dependencies. To some extent those aspects should be also discussed - otherwise someone may become immediately biased. In other words - every solution has its weaknesses - not discussing them may be a sign of an unprofessional education. Anyway - nice workshop. I like "pause" moments.

Kanban!

Brilliant

Excellent demonstration! Also, the video URL contains the word "Cost" - LOL