Strategy: Using Customized Software Powered by Time Study Data

The time study data we collect is like our bible and has had a major impact on our efficiency and profitability. Our lab has been collecting this data since it was just my father and two technicians; he would time himself doing tasks and then, given his level of experience, add a 20% buffer for the other technicians. He has always been hyper-focused on capacity and how many units could be done in a day without sacrificing the quality he expected.

The system we use now is an adaptation of his process and is driven by a sophisticated software program we built for this purpose. To initially gather the data, each technician filled out an excel sheet for five consecutive days; it had four columns: each fabrication step done that day, number of units scheduled, total time it took for each unit, and average time spent per unit. We then took an average of those times for each fabrication step for each individual technician over the five-day period.

We entered the...