Book review on Finite Capacity Scheduling, Part II

Now add ten more car wash trucks, with theHeroes have been made of hunches yet FCS
corresponding work to be done and add two morescheduling would have prevented this error. They
shifts to each truck to achieve maximum capacityscrewed up. We would have beat them anyway, but
and what do you have? 12 hours worth of scenarioit would have come at a much higher price as in one
scheduling and moving around resources to see whator two of our carriers also. Ask our torpedo bomber
fits best. What if a computer did it in 20 minutes? Ithero, and former President George Bush Sr. he was
can you know. Even though Swartzkoff has an IQ ofinvolved in this type of tactical strategy at a very
165 it does not mean he does not need to use thepersonal level. It almost killed him. 3 days in a tiny
finite capacity scheduling methods to help him arriveone-man life raft in the Pacific was bad enough plus
at the most efficient scenario. It just so happensthrow in ditching a torpedo bomber in the water
that it will work and he can use his brainpower towithout flipping it when it has been battle
decide which scenario will work based on hisdamaged.Will Rogers was quoted in this book when
knowledge of human motivation which may or mayhe said Common sense is not common. With that
not be computer ready, based on the battle at hand.truth revealed. It is much easier to fix the problem,
Another reason why it is not such a bad idea to sendfirst admit you have the problem and then reason
unmanned fighter planes into a battle zone to fightthrough a logical answer using ALL the facts. This is
and why it is necessary to have a missile defensewhy I also recommend the book Total Capacity
system set up at our perimeters. FCS schedulingManagement by CJ McNair and Richard
works in all the tests our strategic team has placedVangermeersch. It is interesting the differences cited
on it from a Blitz marketing mission to a customerin this book in types of capacity management in that
response system for services real time usingyou cannot predict total capacity management unless
e-commerce. FED Ex does use a finite capacityyou have pushed the envelope to new heights and
approach to overnight package delivery. It does notfind that in fact the capacity was underestimated as
look like one on the surface yet it most certainly is.new innovations occur out of necessity. Such as
As teams of people use all resources at hand andattempting to build more muskets in the North in the
move the flow real time to the next job asCivil War to arm the troops to fight the South.
completed. All with such precision that it is trulyRemembering the at the same time the South was
predictable to schedule. Impossible? Go to Memphiscommandeering factories and turning them into war
at midnight and take the $200.00 tour. Everymanufacturing plants to compete to arm their side.
President of the US should go see it once. EveryTotal Capacity today is not the same as tomorrow
executive of every company who wants to be herewhen some lunatic entrepreneur goes and breaks all
in five years ought to see it. Few companies do it asthe norms and industry standards. Once the barriers
well as Fed Ex. I believe the FCS model taken to itsof thought and the limits of time, space, distance and
fullest could actually increase the Fed Ex system,speed are reduced or increased then the boundaries
although at first glance it would be hard to believeof that industry are no longer relevant. It would also
that anything could be more efficient than that.FCSbe interesting to consider that the total capacity of
can handle just about anything, I put togetheranything is everything or nothing, depending on how
scenarios of rain, energy shut downs, union walkouts,you look at it. As many motivational speakers will tell
overruns, demand increase post commencedyou with the connect the dot trick, make one cut
projects, delivery date changes, weekends, holidays,trick or paper cut out trick. The glass may actually be
force majuers, increased prices, material missedbottom less and completely empty although to you it
shipments. It can all be accounted for a re-scheduledappears half full. In the instance of Gold Mining when
without stopping production using these methods.raw dirt and rock are processed and what appears
When Nokia and Erickson lost the chips they needed,to contain no gold has over 8 ounces in it. And
which were produced in NM and the fires burnedtherefore if all the cubic dirt and rock where
down the Philips plant producing the chips last year.processed then the total capacity of that element
FCS would have saved Erickson, and perhaps theywithin that area would be astronomical in economic
would still be in the cell phone business today,terms. Problem is how to mine it efficiently and there
instead, huge write-downs unfulfilled orders andin is the other Total Capacity problem. If one could
exiting of the market sector. Nokia would have beenconvert lead into gold it sure would be easier, the
killed too, except they scrambled and produced halftotal capacity of conversion would be the issue.
the demand necessary. Each company althoughThese authors talk about tactical and operational
would have been effected would have beenmanagement and define the two types. Operational
effected less using these methods, that I am surebeing getting the supplies near the work stations to
of. And producing a computer model to give theuse, which in itself involves many vendors and who
answers needed is possible because the computeralso have a scheduling systems to deliver as
can re-tabulate and change no matter how far frompromised. Tactical involves the decision making
normal.In wartime you create the fires in the enemiesprocess used to decide while flow of production is in
supply chain or distribution channels, which pissed offprocess. I believe that FCS can be integrated into this
the FTC when Microsoft played out side the normalprocess and improve it. There is one last component
battle field of what was considered and went to theto add to move this to service based applications,
supply side to wage war, as skilled practioners of thesuch as with the car wash guys. By adding the
game often do, but are seldom taught. Why woulde-commerce and real-time call center demands from
they not wage war there since they built thecustomers and knowing that we can deliver a car
distribution channels in the first place? They werewash in 30 minutes or less, keeping in mind that Tom
previous victories and trophies on the wall, andMonahan had a bigger problem and that was making
Netscape wanted them for free, even though theythe Pizza, which had its own processes. Think of the
had a half a billion dollars in an IPO to build their own.simplicity for initiating the system. Now look at the
In the civil war the North needed the rivers to movepossibilities of watching the process real-time with
supplies and troops even though they were in theGPS, systems, on-line transactions, using a zone
souths territory. Look at a disease, its job is todefense pattern which can change to man-to-man
spread to procreate and take over living in its host,coverage with some or all of the fleet of units. Now
our job is to kill the disease since it will kill us first. Itadd in the possibility of 24-hour operations washing
spreads anyway it can. To prevent it, it maybemultiple types of items, scheduled and known
necessary to think outside the box and quarantine anaccounts and on the fly call in Absolutely, Positively
entire country like Africa until volunteer efforts canhas to be washed overnight. Is this impossible? No it
go and stabilize the situation, which might take 10is easy, but complex. Look at the 1-800 flower
years. We have to kill its supply chain. Each time acase-study, combine that with Fed Ex delivery, and
person gets on a plane and travels to another placeDominos Pizza computer system remembering the
it spreads, that is its supply chain. You could actuallycustomers name and last order. Well do not stop
build a finite capacity-scheduling model to determinehere, Mr Walton was no idiot either, he knew what
when a disease will be eradicated or how a terroristwould sell and how much of it to whom and when. A
might attack the water supply of the US to kill thelife time of studying your market dynamics will
most number of people in the quickest time. Then byessentially drive any man to act like that, think like
doing a reversal of the FCS scheduling you couldhim and come to the same conclusions.With the
easily find a way to combat such an effort orwhole World dirty and everything needing a wash
prevent its overall effect if not prevent its start. Andand different elements being washed at different
knowing this why would you not use such a modeltimes, why would it not be possible to have crews
on everything that is a system or process either toon top of crews who had scheduled work and then
roll it out or prevent it.Saddam continually knew thatfill in the gaps of any extra space. Total Capacity
he had 90 minutes move surface to air sites andManagement right? Yes in the service sector. Does
re-camouflage them, and to move aircraft while theanyone else do this? Yes a few companies one out
satellites could not see them. Of course we alsoof Austin Texas, which hauls dirt and does
playing the game to maximum efficiencyconstruction, another out of Sacramento and Bay
recommissioned some SR-71s for random fly bysarea CA who does this to do short deliveries. But
during the 90-minute lapse. Unknown to them we hadthey are doing it half way. Richoccet in the Bay area
the advantage of superior knowledge of our enemieshas real time solutions for Palm PC users and it is
position. We effectively took the time out of hiseasily possible to use the C-Store methods for
model. Nowhere to run, no time to hide. Bingo.Generalkeeping track of inventories to keep track of pizzas
Patton use to say an army moves on its stomach,delivered, Fed Ex packages taken in or Inventory
well then move them further faster and feed themrealized and real-time ordering as in 7-11. By adding in
less between locations. The faster they move thea center half back as in a soccer game to take care
more distance they travel between meals andof the call in orders while the other crews handled
therefore less food per mile. Precisely the objectivethe normal accounts, until which times scheduled
of the FCS model. The book does point out that ifcrews reversed their positions and falled back on the
the whole team is not on the same page then theincreased call ins on a day before a three day
FCS methods do not work. Look at the Battle ofweekend. Thus taking all the work and increasing
Midway where the Japanese were caught with theircash flow and good will amongst customers by
pants down. Guessing rather than playing it safe,servicing everyones needs.