Method And System For Determining The Relative Priority Of In-Process Work And Focusing Process Improvements

An electronic data processing system for determining the relative priority of in-process work and focusing process improvements, comprising:

• a processor to execute computer program instructions, a user interface, a data input interface to receive data from an external source, a display device, and a memory to store computer program instructions executable by the processor, for performing the steps of:
• selecting a particular item that is in a predefined process flow;
• utilizing transaction data that relates to the particular item and its movement through the predefined process flow;
• extracting from the transaction data particular transaction data that was captured at a regular Reporting Intervals (RI) and Reporting Points (RP);
• providing data that represents a planned movement of the selected item along the predefined process flow;
• processing the extracted data to determine the selected item's actual movement along the predefined process flow and comparing the actual movement of the selected item to the planned movement of the selected item through the predefined process flow;
• determining the variance between the actual movement of the selected item and the planned movement of the selected item;
• providing a total planned Time Buffer (TB) for the movement of the selected item along the predefined process flow;
• processing the determined variance to compute the actual amount of downstream Time Buffer Remaining (TBR) in relation to the total planned Time Buffer (TB);
• comparing the actual amount of downstream Time Buffer Remaining (TBR) to the Planned amount of downstream Time Buffer Remaining (TBRP) at each Reporting Point (RP) and computing the ratio TBR/TBRP wherein said ratio yields a Buffer Recovery Percent (BRP) for the selected item;
• and
• determining the Buffer Recovery Percent (BRP) for every item as it moves in a predefined process flow from one Reporting Point (RP) to another Reporting Point (RP) and setting relative priorities to all the items wherein the item with the lowest Buffer Recovery Percent (BRP) has the highest priority.

A computer-executable program product for determining the relative priority of in-process work and focusing process improvements, the computer-executable program product comprising computer executable instructions tangibly embodied on a computer readable medium that when executed by the computer perform the method steps comprising:

• selecting a particular item that is in a predefined process flow;
• utilizing transaction data that relates to the particular item and its movement through the predefined process flow;
• extracting from the transaction data particular transaction data that was captured at a regular Reporting Intervals (RI) and Reporting Points (RP);
• providing data that represents a planned movement of the selected item along the predefined process flow;
• processing the extracted data to determine the selected item's actual movement along the predefined process flow and comparing the actual movement of the selected item to the planned movement of the selected item through the predefined process flow;
• determining the variance between the actual movement of the selected item and the planned movement of the selected item;
• providing a total planned Time Buffer (TB) for the movement of the selected item along the predefined process flow;
• processing the determined variance to compute the actual amount of downstream Time Buffer Remaining (TBR) in relation to the total planned Time Buffer (TB);
• comparing the actual amount of downstream Time Buffer Remaining (TBR) to the Planned amount of downstream Time Buffer Remaining (TBRP) at each Reporting Point (RP) and computing the ratio TBR/TBRP wherein said ratio yields a Buffer Recovery Percent (BRP) for the selected item;
• and
• determining the Buffer Recovery Percent (BRP) for every item as it moves in a predefined process flow from one Reporting Point (RP) to another Reporting Point (RP) and setting relative priorities to all the items wherein the item with the lowest Buffer Recovery Percent (BRP) has the highest priority.