The Blessings of Level Scheduling

SEWARD, Alaska - June 9, 2017 - PRLog -- Level scheduling is a concept that receives a great deal of discussion in the manufacturing environment, but illustrations in other business sectors can be used to show the tool's benefits. Level schedules help a facility run efficiently while using a minimum amount of resources. Let's examine the need for level scheduling, show an example outside of manufacturing that illustrates its benefits and discuss how this example applies to production facilities.

A urological office has a flow of value like a value stream with one interesting caveat: The material flowing through the value stream is one of the customers of the system. On average, the customers take different times depending on their characteristics, and their entrance into the system must be scheduled in a level manner to optimize the efficiency of the medical office.

Leveling production tends to be the most effective way to minimize waste and increase the value add in a value stream. This is done by scheduling product in a level manner, which allows the resources needed to produce the product (often people and material) to use more of their time adding value for the customer. This, in the end, increases productivity.

Material also flows in a more level manner in a manufacturing environment when the schedule is level. A level schedule allows the material to move in a much more manageable pattern versus the traditional pattern of spikes and stock-outs that lead to expedited shipments.

Leveling production can lead to higher productivity, better utilization, lower inventory levels and more efficient systems by reducing the chaos prevalent in traditional production scheduling. Furthermore, in service processes, implementing a level schedule can help use people at a higher level while increasing customer satisfaction, as shown in our urology office example.

At the doctor's office

A urology office is much like a normal doctor's office.

Patients are scheduled. They enter the office and sign in (new patients, of course, have to complete paperwork as well). They wait to be called back, get their vitals and other simple tests taken, and then are taken to an examination room where they wait for the doctor. After they see the doctor, they check out and either make another appointment or leave the office.


However, patients do not all take the same amount of time to treat, which makes concern for how they are scheduled into the system necessary. The urology practice in question scheduled patients on a first-come, first-served basis. This means that when patients are referred to the urologist, they call the urologist and set up an appointment, and patients are scheduled in the manner they called the office. This scenario causes a lot of problems in a medical practice because doctors don't have the scheduling luxury of spending the same amount of time with each patient.

For this example, the patients are broken into two categories and four subcategories to illustrate the need to develop a level schedule to increase the efficiency of the office's operations. The two categories are new and returning patients because new patients take longer to see than returning patients. Within each category there also is a subcategory by gender. Therefore, the four subcategories are female new patient, female returning patient, male new patient and male returning patient.

For simplicity of illustration, the only time that will be variable is the time for each patient visit, and the times will be in whole numbers. This may not be the case at your location, as you will need careful data collection to verify what is really happening, but it works to illustrate the value of level scheduling.

Site: https://www.urology-jordan.com/